ALEXANDER  GOLDSTEIN 


LIFE 


OP 


ABEAHAM  LINCOLN, 


PRESENTING 

HIS  EARLY  HISTORY,  POLITICAL  CAREER,  AND  SPEECHES  LN 

AND  OUT  OF  CONGRESS;  ALSO,  A  GENERAL 

VIEW  OF  HIS  POLICY  AS 


x»(  tfa 


WITH   HIS 

MESSAGES,  PROCLAMATIONS,  LETTERS,  ETC., 

AND   A 

HISTORY  OF  HIS  EVENTFUL  ADMINISTRATION,  AND  OF  THE 

SCENES  ATTENDANT  UPON  HIS  TRAGIC 

AND  LAMENTED  DEMISE. 


BY 

JOSEPH    H.J3ARRETT, 

COMMISSIONER   OF   PENSIONS,  WASHINGTON,  D.  0. 


PUBLISHERS: 

MOORE,  WILSTACH  &  BALDWIN, 

25  WEST  FOURTH  STREET,  CINCINNATI. 
NEW  YORK,  60  WALKER  STREET. 

1865. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1800,  by 

MOORE,  WILSTACH,  KEYS  &  CO., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  Ohio. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1864,  by 

MOORE,  WILSTACII  &  BALDWIN, 

In  the  Ckrk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the   United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  Ohio. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  18G5,  by 

MOORE,  WILSTACH.  &  BALDWIN, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
•    District  of  Ohio. 


THE  first  part  of  the  sketch  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  life  herewith  pre 
sented  to  the  public,  was  mainly  prepared  for  th.e  press  in  Juno, 
I860 — only  slight  modifications  having  been  made,  and  brief 
additions,  so  as  to  embrace  the  period  terminating  with  his  inau 
guration.  This  portion  of  the  work  embodies  a  condensed  view 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  speeches,  which  can  not  fail  to  interest  the 
attentive  student,  who  seeks  for  information  concerning  his  early 
political  life.  The  second  part,  after  a  summary  of  National 
events  immediately  preceding  March  4,  1861,  gives  a  condensed 
history  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Administration,  including  a  narrative  of 
military  operations,  down  to  the  present  time.  The  most  import 
ant  public  papers,  addresses  and  occasional  letters  of  the  Presi 
dent,  will  also  be  found  in  the  following  pages. 

It  has  been  the  fortune  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  be  called  to  the  Chief 
Magistracy,  at  an  epoch  when  a  long-maturing  conspiracy  for  the 
dismemberment  of  the  Union  has  culminated  in  a  war  of  unpre 
cedented  magnitude.  The  President,  tried  as  none  of  his  prede 
cessors  ever  were,  has  so  wisely  exercised  his  power  as  to 
command  the  hearty  support  of  all  loyal  men  at  home,  and  the 
admiration  of  enlightened  thinkers,  unperverted  by  anti-demo 
cratic  prejudice  in  Europe.  It  was  a  late  member  of  the  British 
Parliament  who  pointed  out  single  passages  from  an  address  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  as  worth  "all  that  Burke  ever  wrote."  His  able 
statesmanship  has  justified  the  confidence  of  the  people,  whilo 
his  sterling  qualities  of  heart,  his  humane  sympathies,  his  purity 
of  life,  and  his  power  of  winning  the  love  and  trust  of  his  coun 
trymen,  have  contributed  to  deepen  the  earnestness  of  the  popu 
lar  wish  for  his  continuance,  during  another  term,  in  the  high 

office  he  providentially  fills. 
3 


IV 


PREFACE. 


It  is  hardly  to  be  hoped  that  the  present  attempt  to  treat  so 
wide  a  subject,  within  so  small  a  compass,  will  satisfy  all  readers. 
Many  minor  details,  of  special  interest  to  individuals,  have  neces 
sarily  been  omitted.     Some  accounts  of  military  and  naval  unde 
takings,  which  might,  of  themselves,  have  filled  an  entire  volume, 
have  been  given  with  perhaps  a  disappointing  brevity, 
suffice  to  say,  here,  that  no  pains  have  been  spared-as  no  requi 
site  facilities  for  obtaining  correct  data  have  been  lacking- 
make  the  work  not  only  trustworthy  and  complete  in  regard  t 
matters  of  salient  interest,  but  also  as  acceptable  as  possible  to 
all  classes  of  loyal  readers. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  14,  1864. 

The  Third  Part  of  this  work  comprises  the  events  of  the  last 
year  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  life,  with  his  public  papers  and  addresses 
of  the  same  period,  as  well  as  many  letters  and  speeches  of  an 
earlier  date,  not  given  in  the  previous  parts.  The  summary  of 
the  closing  campaigns  of  the  war  has  been  prepared  with  care, 
as  well  as  the  political  history  of  the  time.  No  year  of  the 
nation's  existence  has  been  more  memorable  than  that  commenc 
ing  on  the  1st  of  May,  1864.  Before  its  close,  a  gigantic  rebellion 
was  finally  crushed,  and  our  great  and  good  President,  after 
witnessing  the  triumph  of  his  labors,  fell  a  martyr-to  the  cause 
he  had  so  firmly  upheld  through  the  darkest  hours.  Would  that 
the  work  were  more  worthy  the  theme.  No  name  vail  be  more 
sacred  in  our  country's  annals,  or  more  perpetual  in  the  memory 
of  the  world,  than  that  of  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  20,  1865.  J.  H.  B. 


CONTENTS. 


PART     I. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Arcestry  of  Abraham  Lincoln— Their  Residence  in  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia— 
His  Grandfather  Crosses  the  Alleghauies  to  join  Bonne  and  his  Associates — 
"The  Dark  and  Bloody  Ground  "—His  Violent  Death— His  Widow  Settles  in 
Washington  County — Thomas  Lincoln,  his  Son,  Marries  and  Locates  near 
Hodgenville — Birth  of  Abraham  Lincoln — LaRue  County — Early  Life  and 
Training  in  Kentucky -. V 

CHAPTER    II. 

Removal  from  Kentucky — An  Emigrant  Journey — The  Forests  of  Southern  Indi 
ana — New  Home — Indiana  in  181H — Slav-,>ry  and  Free  Labor — Young  Lincoln  at 
His  Work — His  Schools  and  Schoolmasters — Self-Education — A  Characteristic 
Incident — Acquaintance  with  River  Life — His  First  Trip  to  New  Orleans  as  a 
Flatboatman—  Death  of  His  Mother — His  Father's  Second  Marriage — Recollec 
tions  of  an  Early  Settler — Close  of  an  Eventful  Period  in  Young  Lincoln's 
History 21 

CHAPTER    III. 

The  French  Settlements — The  North-West— The  Advance  of  Emigration — Four 
Great  States  Founded — North  and  South  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois — Senti 
ments  of  Southern  Emigrants — The  First  Emigrations — A  Coincidence  of  Dates— 
Mordecai  an-i  Josiah  Lincoln — Removal  to  Illinois — Settlement  on  the  San- 
gamon,  in  Macon  County — Locality  Described — Abraham  Lincoln  Engaged  in 
Splitting  Kails— Removal  of  His  Father— He  Settles  in  Coles  County— Abraham 
Lincoln  makes  another  Trip  as  a  Flatboatman — Becomes  Clerk  in  a  Store  on 
His  Return — Postmaster  at  New  Salem 21 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Breaking  Out  of  the  Black  Hawk  War— The  Invasion  of  1831— The  Rock-river 
Country  Threatened— Prompt  Action  of  Gov.  Reynolds — Retreat  of  Black 
Hawk— Trea'y  of  1804— Bad  Faith  of  the  Indians— Invasion  of  1832— Volun 
teers  Called  For — Abraham  Lincoln  one  of  a  Company  from  Menard  County — 
He  is  chosen  Captain — Rendezvous  at  Beardstown— Hard  Marches  across  the 
Country  toOtjuawka,  Prophetstown,  and  Dixon — Expected  Battle  Avoided  by 
the  Enemy — Discontent  among  Volunteers — They  are  Disbanded — Captain  Lin 
coln  Remains,  Volunteering  for  Another  Term  of  Service — Skirmishing  Fights — 
Arrival  of  New  Levies— Encounter  at  Kellogg's  Grove— Black  Hawk  at  Four 
Lakes — He  Retreats — Battle  on  the  Wisconsin — Hastens  Forward  to  the  Mis 
sissippi — Battle  of  Bad-ax — End  of  Lincoln's  First  Campaign — Autobiographic 
Note 37 

CHAPTER    V . 

A  New  Period  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  Life — His  Political  Opinions — Clay  and  Jackson — 
Mr.  Lincoln  a  Candidate  for  Representative — Election  in  1834 — Illinois  Strongly 
Democratic — Mr.  Lincoln  as  a  Surveyor — Land  Speculation  Mania — Mr.  Lin 
coln's  First  Appearance  in  the  Legislature — Banks  and  Internal  Improve 
ments— Whig  Measures  Democratically  Botched— First  Meeting  or* Lincoln 
•with  Douglas— The  Latter  Seeks  an  Office  of  the  Legislature,  and  Gets  it— Mr. 
Lincoln  Re-elected  in  1&36 — Mr.  Douglas  also  a  Member  of  the  House — Distin 
guished  Associates — Internal  Improvements  Again — Mr.  Lincoln's  Views  on 
Slavery — The  Capital  Removed  to  Springfield — The  New  Metropolis — Revulsion 
of  1837 — Mr.  Lincoln  Chosen  fora  Third  Term — John  Calhoun,  of  Lecompton 
Memory — Lincoln  the  Whig  Leader,  and  Candidate  for  Speaker — Close  Vote — 

5 


VI  CONTENTS. 

First  Session  at  Springfield— Lincoln  Re-elected  in  1810— Partisan  Remodeling 
of  the  Supreme  Court — Lincoln  Declines  Further  Service  in  the  Legislature — 
His  Position  us  a  Statesman  at  the  Close  of  this  Period— Tribune  of  the  People,  47 

CHAPTER    VI. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Law  Studies— His  Perseverance  tinder  Adverse  Circumstances- 
Licensed  to  Practice  in  18.'5G — His  Progress  in  his  Profession — His  Qualities  as 
an  Advocate — A  Romantic  and  Exeitinir  Incident  in  his  Practice — Reminiscence 
of  his  Early  Life — Secures  an  Acquittal  in  a  Murder  Case,  in  Spite  of  a  Strong 
Popular  Prejudice  Against  the  Prisoner — Affecting  Scene — Mr.  Lincoln 
Removes  to  Springfield  in  1837 — Devotes  Himself  to  his  Profession,  Giving  up 
Political  Life — II is  Marriage — Family  of  Mrs.  Lincoln— Fortunate  Domestic 
Relations— His  Children  and  their  Education — Denominational  Tendencies — 
Four  Year's  Retirement G2 

CHAPTER    VII. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Devotion  to  Henry  Clay — Presidential  Nominations  of  184-1 — The 
Campaign  in  Illinois — Mr.  Lincoln  makes  an  Active  Canvass  for  Clav — John 
Ca'boun  the  Leading  Polk  Elector— The  Tariff  Issue  Thoroughly  Discussed— 
Method  of  Conducting  the  Canvass — Whigs  of  Illinois  in  a  Hopeless  Minority — 
Mr.  Lincoln's  Reputation  as  a  Whig  Champion — Renders  Efficient  Service  in 
Indiana — Mr.  Clay's  Defeat,  and  the  Consequences — Mr.  Lincoln  a  Candidate  for 
Congressman  in  18*40 — President  Polk's  Administration — Condition  of  the  Coun 
try — Texas  Annexation,  the  Mexican  War,  and  the  Tariff— Political  Character 
of  the  Springfield  District — Lincoln  Elected  by  an  Unprecedented  Majority — 
His  Personal  Popularity  Demonstrated 68 

CHAPTER     VIII. 

The  Thirtieth  Congress — Its  Political  Character — The  Democracy  in  a  Minority 
in  the  House— Robert  C.  Winthrop  Elected  Speaker— Distinguished  Members  iu 
both  Houses— Mr.  Lincoln  takes  his  Seat  as  a  Member  of  the  House,  and  Mr. 
Douglas  for  the  first  time  as  a  Member  of  the  Senate,  at  the  same  Session — Mr. 
Lincoln's  Congressional  Record  that  of  a  Clay  and  Webster  Whig — The  Mexi 
can  War — Mr.  Lincoln's  Views  on  the  Subject — Misrepresentations — Not  an 
Available  Issue  for  Mr.  Lincoln's  Opponents — His  Resolutions  of  Inquiry  in 
Regard  to  the  Origin  of  the  War — Mr.  Richardson's  Resolutions  Indorsing 
the  Administration  —  Mr.  Richardson's  Resolutions  for  an  Immediate  Dis 
continuance  of  the  War — Are  Voted  Against  by  Mr.  Lincoln — Resolutions 
of  Thanks  to  Gen.  Taylor— Mr.  Henley's  Amendment,  and  Mr.  Ashmun's  Addi 
tion  thereto — Resolutions  Adopted  without  Amendment — Mr.  Lincoln's  First 
Speech  in  Congress,  on  the  Mexican  War — Mr.  Lincoln  on  Internal  Improve 
ments — A  Characteristic  Campaign  Speech — Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  Nomination  of 
Gen.  Taylor;  the  Veto  Power  ;  National  Issues  ;  President  and  People  ;  Wil- 
niot  Proviso;  Platforms;  Democratic  Sympathy  for  Clay  ;  Military  Heroes  and 
Exploits;  Cass  a  Progressive  ;  Extra  Pay  ;  the  Whigs  and  the  Mexican  War; 
Democratic  Divisions — Close  oi' the  Session — Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  Stump — Gen. 
Taylor's  Election — Second  Session  of  the  Thirtieth  Congress — Slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia — The  Public  Lauds — Mr.  Lincoln  as  a  Congressman — He 
Retires  to  Private  life 72 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Mr.  Lincoln  in  Retirement  for  Five  Years — Gen.  Taylor's  Administration — The 
Slavery  Agitation  of  1850— The  Compromise  of  Clay  and  Fillmore— The  "Final 
Settlement  "  of  1852— How,  and  by  Whom  it  was  Disturbed— Violation  of  the 
Most  Positive  Pledges— The  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill— Douglas,  the  Agitator- 
Popular  Indignation  and  Excitement — Mr.  Lincoln  Takes  part  in  the  Canvass 
of  1854— Great  Political  Changes— The  Anti-Nebraska  Organi/at ion—Springfield 
Resolutions  of  185-1 — Results  of  the  Election — A  Majority  of  Congressmen  and 
of  the  Legislature  Anti-Nebraska— Election  of  United  States  Senator  to  Suc 
ceed  Gen.  Shields — Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Trumbtill — A  Magnanimous  Sacrifice — 
Mr.  Trumbull  Elected 119 

CHAPTER    X  . 

The  Republican  Party  Orgnni/ed — Their  Platform  Adopted  at  TSloomington  —  The 
Canvass  of  1850 — Mr.  Lincoln  Sustains  Fremont  and  Dayton — His  Active  Labors 
on  tbe  Stump— Col.  Bissell  Elected  Governor  of  Illinois— Mr.  Buchanan  Inau 
gurated—His  Kansas  Policy— Mr.  Douglas  Committed  to  it  in  .Tune.  1857 — John 
Calhouu  his  Special  Friend — The  Springfield  Speech  of  Douglas — Mr.  Lincoln's 
Reply 127 


CONTENTS.  VU 

CHAPTER    XI. 

Th»  Lecompton  Struggle — The  Policy  of  Donglaa  Changed — Ho  Breaks  with  the 
Administration  and  Loses  Caste  at  the  South — Republican  Sympathies — Douglas 
Falters,  but  Opposes  the.  English  Bill — Passage  of  that  Measure — Democratic 
State  Convention  of  Illinois — Douglas  Indorsed,  and  Efforts  for  his  Re-election 
Commenced— The  Democratic  Bolt — Meeting  of  the  Republican  State  Conven 
tion  iu  June — Mr.  Lincoln  Named  as  the  First  and  Only  Choice  of  the  Republi 
cans  for  Senator — His  Great  Speech  Before  the  Convention  at  Springfield — Doug 
las  and  Lincoln  at  Chicago — Speeches  at  Bloomingtou  and  Springfield — Unfair 
ness  of  the  Apportionment  Pointed  Out  by  Mr.  Lincoln — He  Analyzes  the 
Douglas  Programme — Seven  Joint  Debates — Douglas  Produces  a  Bogus  Plat 
form,  and  Propounds  Interrogatories — "Unfriendly  Legislation" — Lincoln 
Fully  Defines  his  Position  on  the  Slavery  Question — Result  of  the  Canvass — The 
People  for  Lincoln  ;  the  Apportionment  for  Douglas — Public  Opinion 141 

CHAPTER     XII. 

Mr.  Lincoln  in  Ohio — His  Speech  at  Columbus — Denial  of  the  Negro  Suffrage 
Charge— Troubles  of  Douglas  with  his  "Great  Principle  "—Territories  not 
States — Doctrines  of  the  Fathers — His  Cincinnati  Speech — "  Shooting  Over  the 
Line  " — What  the  Republicans  Mean  to  Do — Plain  Questions  to  the  Democracy — 
The  People  Above  Courts  and  Congress — Uniting  the  Opposition — Eastern  Tour — 
The  Cooper  Institute  Speech — Mr.  Bryant's  Introduction — What  the  Fathers 
Held — What  will  Satisfy  the  Southern  Democracy — Counsels  to  the  Republi 
cans — Mr.  Lincoln  Among  the  Children 183 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

The  Republican  National  Convention  at  Chicago — The  Charleston  Explosion — 
"Constitutional  Union  "  Nominations — Distinguished  Candidates  Among  the 
Republicans — The  Platform — The  Ballotings — Mr.  Lincoln  Nominated — Unpar 
alleled  Enthusiasm— The  Ticket  Completed  with  the  Name  of  Senator  Hamlin— 
Its  Reception  by  the  Country— Mr.  Lincoln's  Letter  of  Acceptance — Result  of  the 
Canvass— His  Jouruey  to  Washington — Speeches  at  Springfield  and  Indianopolis.  190 


PAKT    II. 


CH  APT  ER    I. 

Commencement  of  President  Lincoln's   Administration — Retrospect  and    Sum 
mary  of  Public  Events — Fort  Suinter 197 

CHAPTER    II. 

The  Loyal  Uprising — The  Border  Slave  States — Summary  of  Events — Battle  of 
Bull  Run 227 

CHAPTER    III. 

Extra  Session  of  Congress — President  Lincoln's  Message — Rebel  Affairs  at  Rich 
mond 254 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Military  Reorganization— Resume  of  Events  to   the  December  Session  of  Con 
gress — Action  in  Regard  to  "  Contrabands"  and  Slavery 274 

CHAPTER    V. 

The  President's  Message,  December,  1861 — Proceedings  of  Congress — Emancipa 
tion— Confiscation— Messages  and  Addresses  of  Mr.  Lincoln 293 

CHAPTER    VI. 

Military  Events — Inaction  on  the  Potomac — Western  Campaign — Capture  of  New 
Orleans 320 


Viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    VII. 

Military  Events  in  the  East — The  Peninsular  Campaign 835 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

Campaign  of  the  Army  of  Virginia — Withdrawal  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
from  the  Peninsula — First  Invasion  of  Maryland — McClellan  Superseded 384 

CHAPTER    IX. 

A  New  Era  Inaugurated — Emancipation — Message  of  the  President — Last  Session 
of  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress 410 

CHAPTER     X. 

Summary  of  Military  Movements  in  the  West — Army  of  the  Potomac — General 
Hooker  Superseded — Gen.  Meade  takes  Command — Battle  of  Gettysburg 437 

CHAPTER    XI. 

The  Popular  Voice  in  18C3 — First  Session  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress — Am 
nesty  Proclamation — Message — Orders,  Letters,  and  Addresses — Popular  Senti 
ment  in  18G4 — Appointment  of  Lieutenant  General  Grant — Opening  of  the 
Military  Campaigns  of  1804 — Conclusion '451 


PART  III. 

CHAPTER    I. 

A  new  Epoch  of  the  War. — Lieutenant-General  Grant  in  the  East. — Campaign 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  from  the  Rapidan  to  Petersburg. — The  Wilder 
ness. — Spottsylvania  Court  House. — The  .North  Anna. — Cold  Harbor. — Across 
the  James.— Sheridan's  Grand  Raid.— Sigel  and  Hunter  in  the  Shenandoah  Val 
ley. — The  Army  of  the  James. — Averill  and  Crook  in  South-westeru  Virginia. — 
Combined  Armies  before  Petersburg 485 

CHAPTER    II. 

The  Campaign  in  Georgia. — From  Chattanooga  to  Marietta. — Early  Movements 
of  Sherman  and  Thomas. — Capture  of  Dalton. — Battle  of  Resacca. — Retreat  of 
Johnston. — Slight  Engagements. — Occupation  of  Kingston. — Destruction  of 
Rebel  Works  at  Rome. — Advance  to  Cassville. — Battle  near  Dallas  and  Powder 
Spring. — Occupation  of  Acworth  and  Big  Shanty. — Attempts  on  Sherman's 
line  of  Communications.—  Kenesaw  Mountain. — Battle  of  Nickojack  Creek. — 
Pause  at  Marietta. — Louisiana  and  Arkansas. — Another  Invasion  of  Kentucky. — 
Movements  of  the  Navy , 518 

CHAPTER    III. 

Sir.  Lincoln's  Administration  in  issue  before  the  People. — Disadvantages  of  the 
Hour. — Opposition  in  Official  Quarters,  and  on  the  Union  side  in  Congress  — The 
"Radical"  Movement. — Recapitulation  of  the  Administration  Policy  in  regard 
to  Virginia  and  Missouri. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Method  with  the  Insurrectionary 
States. — Gen.  Fremont's  Military  Administration  in  Missouri. — His  Removal. — 
Personality  of  the  Missouri  Feud. — How  Mr.  Lincoln  Regarded  it. — His  Letter 
to  Gen.  Schofield.— His  Reply  to  the  Demands  of  the  "  Radical  "  Committee.— 
The  Situation  in  Louisiana. — Military  Governorship  in  Tennessee. — State  Re-or 
ganization  in  Arkansas. — Factious  Opposition. — Uprising  of  the  People  for  Mr. 
Lincoln. — The  Baltimore  Convention. — The  Nominations. — Responses  of  Mr. 
Lincoln.— Address  of  the  Methodist  General  Conference.— The  President's 
Reply 531 


CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Congress.— The  Constitutional  Amendment  prohibiting  Slavery.— Its  Defeat  In 
the  House. — Repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Laws. — New  Bureaus  Established. — 
Other  Important  Legislation. — "Reconstruction." — Opposition  to  the  Presi 
dent'*  P-'liry.— The  Davis  Bill.— Disagreement  of  the  two  Houses  thereon.— Its 
Final  Passage. — The  President  withholds  his  Signature. — His  Proclamation  on 
the  Subject.— The  Wade-Davis  Manifesto. — Letters  of  Mr.  Lincoln  iu  regard  to  . 
Matters  iu  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis. — President  Lincoln's  Speech  at  the  Phil 
adelphia  Fair. — A  Democratic  National  Convention  Called  and  Postponed. — 
Clay,  Thompson  and  other  Conspirators  in  Canada. — The  Greeiey  Negotiations 
with  them. — President  Lincoln's  Action  in  the  Case. — North-westeru  Conspi 
racy. — The  Chicago  Nominations  and  Platform,  1804 559 

CHAPTER    V. 

Military  Operations  before  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  from  June  to  November, 
180't.—  Gen.  Hunter's  Campaign.— Movements  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley. — 
Early's  Invasion  of  Maryland.— His  Demonstration  against  Washington. — Ilia 
Retreat  up  the  Valley,  and  Second  Advance  to  the  Potomac. — Burning  of 
Chambersburg.— Successes  of  Gen.  Averill.— Battle  of  Moortield.— Gen.  Sheri 
dan  takes  Command  iu  the  Valley. — Admiral  Farragut  before  Mobile. — Brilliant 
Naval  Victories. — Movements  of  Sheridan. — Important  Successes  in  the  Val 
ley. — Thanksgiving  Proclamation  of  President  Lincoln 685 

CHAPTER    VI. 

Gen.  Sherman's  Campaign  in  Georgia. — From  Marietta  to  Atlanta. — Passage  of 
the  Chattahoochee. — Rousseau's  Raid. — Battles  before  Atlanta. — Heavy  losses 
of  the  Rebels  after  Hood  Succeeds  Johnston. — Cavalry  expeditious  under  Stone- 
man  and  McCook. — Their  Failure. — Operations  around  Atlanta. — Kilpatrick's 
Raid. — Sherman's  Army  on  the  Macon  Railroad. — Battle  of  Jouesboro. — Cap- 
tr.re  of  Atlanta. — Rebel  Raids. — Hood's  operations  in  Sherman's  Rear. — Price's 
Invasion  of  Missouri. — General  Results  of  the  South-western  Campaigns 604 

CHAPTER    VII. 

The  Presidential  Canvass  of  1864  concluded. — Spirit  of  the  Opposition. — The 
North-western  Conspiracy. — The  Issue  Concerning  the  Habeas  Corpus  and  Mili 
tary  Arrests. — Letters  of  Mr.  Lincoln  on  these  Subjects. — Efforts  of  the  Rebel 
Cabal  in  Canada  to  influence  the  Election.— The  State  Elections  of  September 
and  October.— The  Voice  of  the  Soldiers.— The  Presidential  Vote.— The  Presi-  ' 
dent's  Gratitude  to  the  Army  and  Navy. — Maryland  a  Free  State. — Mr.  Lincoln's 
Speech  to  Marylanders. — Cipher  Dispatches,  and  Schemes  of  the  Canadian 
Cabal.— Affairs  in  Tennessee.— The  Canvass  in  New  York 622 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

Second  Session  of  the  Thirty-Eighth  Congress.— President  Lincoln's  last  Annual 
Message. — Cabinet  Changes. — Mr.  Blair  withdraws,  and  Gov.  Dennison  becomes 

Postmaster-General. — Mr.  Speed  Succeeds  Judge  Bates,  as  Attorney-General. • 

Death  of  Chief  Justice  Taney.— Mr.  Chase  his  Successor.— Our  Relations  with 
Canada. — The  Reciprocity  Treaty  to  Terminate. — Call  for  300,OUO  mure  Sol 
diers. — Amendment  of  the  Constitution  Prohibiting  Slavery,  Concurred  in  by 
the  House.— Popular  Rejoicing.— The  Rebel  Treatment  of  Union  Prisoners.— 
Retaliation  Discussed  in  the  Senate,  but  Repugnant  to  Public  Sentiment. — The 
Wharncliffe  Correspondence. — Testimony  of  Goldwin  Smith. — Peace  Memorial 
from  Great  Britain.— Correspondence  Thereon.— Congratulatory  Address  of  the 
Workingmen  of  Great  Britain.— Speech  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  Reply  to  the  Sue- 
dish  Minister. — Speech  of  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  Death  of  Edward  Everett. — Polit 
ical  aff;tirs  in  Tennessee,  Louisiana  and  Arkansas.— Abortive  Peace  Negotia 
tions.— Full  Details  of  the  Hampton  Roads'  Conference.— Rebel  accounts  of  the 
Same.— Affairs  in  Richmond.— Close  of  the  Thirty-Eighth  Congress.— Creation 
ot  the  Bureau  of  Freedmen,  and  other  Legislation 665 

CHAPTER     IX. 

Winter  Campaigns  of  1864-5.— Movement  of  Sherman  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah. 
— Fort  McAllister  Carried  by  Assault. — Communication  Opened  with  Admiral 
Dahlgren'a  Fleet. — Savannah  Occupied  by  Sherman.— Movements  of  Huod  and 
Beauregard.— Campaign  in  Tennessee.— Battle  of  Franklin.— The  Armies  Before 
Nashville.— Raid  of  Stonoman  and  Burbridge.— Battle  of  Nashville.— Defeat 
and  Rout  of  Hood's  Army.— Movements  Against  Wilmington.— Failure  of  the 


£  CONTENTS. 

First  Attack  on  Fort  Fisher.— Success  of  the  Second  Expedition.— Fort  Fisher 
Captured  by  Terry  and  Porter. — Movements  of  the  Army  Before  Petersburg. — 
Sherman's  Campaign  in  the  Caroliuas. — Capture  of  Charleston  and  Wilming 
ton. — Advance  ot  Sehofield  and  Terry  on  Goldsboro— Battles  of  Averysboro  and 
Bentonville. — Occupation  of  Goldsboro  and  Union  of  the  Three  Armies  in  North 
Carolina. — Movements  in  Virginia. — Conference  at  City  Point 725 

CHAPTER    X 

Close  of  President  Lincoln's  First  Term. — Order  to  Gen.  Grant  in  regard  to  Peace 
Negotiations.— The  Fourth  of  March.— Inauguration  Ceremonies.— Mr.  Lin 
coln's  Second  Inaugural  Address. — Contrasts. — Cabinet  Changes. — Indisposi 
tion  of  the  President. — His  Speech  at  the  National  Hotel  on  Negro  Soldiers  in 
the  Rebel  Annies. — He  Visits  Gen.  Grant's  Headquarters. — The  Military  Situa 
tion.— Conference  with  his  Chief  Generals. — Movement  of  the  Forces  under 
Meade  and  Sheridan.— Fighting  near  Diinviddie  Court  House.— Sheridan's  Vic 
tory  at  the  Five  Folks. — Attack  of  Wright  and  Parkeon  the  Lines  before  Peters-* 
Vurg. — The  Sixth  Corps  Carry  the  Enemy's  Works. — Peten>burg  Evacuated. — 
Pursuit  of  the  Enemy.— Richmond  Taken.— Dispatches  of  Mr.  Lincoln.— The 
Nation's  Joy. — Lee's  Army  Closely  Pressed. — Captures  at  Sailor's  Creek.— Sur 
render  of  Lee.— Mr.  Lincoln  at  Richmond.— His  Visit  to  the  City  Point  Hospi 
tal. — His  Return  to  Washington. — Peace  Rejoicings. — Speeches  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln. — Important  Proclamations. — Demand  on  Great  Britain  fur  Indemnity. — 
Closing  Military  Movements.— Reduction  of  the  Army.— Mr.  Lincoln's  Last 
Meeting  with  His  Cabinet. — Celebration  at  Fort  Sumter 753 

CHAPTER    XI. 

Last  Days  of  Mr.  Lincoln. — His  Assassination. — Attack  on  Mr.  Seward. — Remains 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  lying  in  State.— Obsequies  at  Washington.— Removal  of  the 
Remains  to  Springfield,  Illinois. — Demonstrations  along  the  route. — Obsequies 
at  Springfield. — '1  he  Great  Crime,  its  authors  and  abettors. — The  Assassin's 
End.— The  Conspiracy.— Complicity  of  Jefferson  Davis.— How  assassins  were 
trai:. ed  to  their  work. --Tributes  aud  Testimonials. — Mr.  Lincoln  as  a  Lawyer. — 
Incidents  and  Reminiscences. — Additional  Speeches. — LettertoGuv.  Halm,  ou 
Negro  Suffrage. — Letter  to  Mrs.  Gurney. — Letter  to  a  Widow  who  had  lost  live 
Sons  iu  the  War.— Letter  to  a  Centenarian.— A  Letter  written  in  early  life.— 
A  Speech  made  in  1831). — Letter  to  Mr.  Choate,  on  the  Pilgrim  Fathers. —  Letter 
to  Dr.  Maclean,  ou  receiving  the  Degree  of  LL.D. — Letter  to  Gov.  Fletcher,  of 
Missouri,  on  the  restoration  of  order. — A  message  to  the  Miners. — Speech  at 
Independence  Hall  in  1601. — Concluding  remarks 790 


I. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  EARLY  BOYHOOD  IN  KENTUCKY. 

Ancestry  of  Abraham  Lincoln. — Their  residence  in  Pennsylvania  and 
Virginia. — His  Grandfather  Crosses  the  Alleghanies  to  join  Boone 
and  his  Associates. — "The  Dark  and  Bloody  Ground." — His  Vio 
lent  Death. — His  Widow  Settles  in  Washington  County. — Thomas 
Lincoln,  his  Son,  Marries  and  Locates  near  Hodgenville. — Birth  of 
Abraham  Lincoln. — La  Rue  County. — His  Early  Life  and  Training 
in  Kentucky. 

THE  ancestors  of  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  were  of  English 
descent.  We  find  the  earliest  definite  traces  of  them  in  Berks 
county,  Pennsylvania,  though  this  was  almost  certainly  not  the 
first  place  of  their  residence  in  this  country.  Their  location, 
and  their  adherence  to  the  Quaker  faith,  make  it  probable 
that  the  original  emigration  occurred  under  the  auspices  of 
William  Penn.  It  was  doubtless  a  branch  of  the  same  family 
that,  leaving  England  under  different  religious  impulses,  but 
with  the  same  adventurous  and  independent  spirit,  settled,  at 
an  earlier  date,  in  Old  Plymouth  Colony.  The  separation  may 
possibly  have  taken  place  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  not 
beydhd.  Some  of  the  same  traits  appear  conspicuously  in  both 
these  family  groups.  One  tradition  indeed  affirms  that  the 
Pennsylvania  branch  was  transplanted  from  Hingham,  Massa 
chusetts,  and  was  derived  from  a  common  stock  with  General 
Benjamin  Lincoln,  of  Revolutionary  fame.  There  is  a  notice 
able  coincidence  in  the  general  prevalence,  in  each  American 
branch,  of  Scriptural  names  in  christening — the  Benjamin, 
Levi,  and  Ezra,  of  Massachusetts,  having  their  counterpart  in 
the  Abraham,  Thomas,  and  Josiah,  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky. 
The  peculiarity  is  one  to  have  been  equally  expected  among 
sober  Friends,  and  among  zealous  Puritans. 


12  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Berks  county  was  not  very  long  the  home  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
immediate  progenitors.  There  can  hardly  have  been  more 
than  a  slender  pioneer  settlement  there,  when  one  or  more  of 
the  number  made  another  remove,  not  far  from  the  year  1750, 
to  what  is  now  Piockingham  county,  Virginia.  Old  Berks  was 
first  settled  about%1734 — then,  too,  as  a  German  colony — and 
was  not  organized  as  a  county  until  1752  ;  before  which  date, 
according  to  family  traditions,  this  removal  to  Virginia  took 
place. 

This,  it  will  be  observed,  was  pre-eminently  a  pioneer  stock, 
evidently  much  in  love  with  backwoods  adventure,  and  con 
stantly  courting  the  dangers  and  hardships  of  forest  life. 

Buckingham  county,  Virginia,  though  situated  in  the  beau 
tiful  valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  and  inviting,  by  its  natural 
resources,  the  advances  of  civilization,  must  nevertheless  have 
been,  at  the  time  just  mentioned,  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
wilderness.  Now,  it  is  one  of  the  most  productive  counties  of 
Virginia,  having  exceeded  every  other  county  in  the  State, 
according  to  the  census  of  1850,  in  its  crops  of  wheat  and  hay. 
A  branch  of  the  family,  it  is  understood,  still  remains  there,  to 
enjoy  the  benefits  of  so  judicious  a  selection,  and  of  the  labors 
and  imperfectly  requited  endurances  of  these  first  settlers. 

From  this  locality,  about  the  year  1782,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
grandfather  of  him  who  was  to  make  the  name  illustrious, 
started  Westward  across  the  Alleghanies,  attracted  by  the 
accounts  which  had  reached  him  of  the  wonderfully  fertile  and 
lovely  country  explored  by  Daniel  Boone,  on  and  near  the 
Kentucky  river.  During  all  his  lifetime,  hitherto,  he  ctuld 
have  known  little  of  any  other  kind  of  existence  than  that  to 
which  he  had  been  educated  as  an  adventurous  frontiersman. 
The  severe  labor  of  preparing  the  heavily-timbered  lands  of 
Shenandoah  for  cultivation,  the  wild  delights  of  hunting  the 
then  abundant  game  of  the  woods,  and  the  exciting  hazards  of 
an  uncertain  warfare  with  savage  enemies,  had  been  almost  the 
sole  occupation  of  his  rough  and  healthful  life.  Perhaps  the 
settlements  around  him  had  already  begun  to  be  too  far 
advanced  for  the  highest  enjoyment  of  his  characteristic  mode 
of  living  ;  or  possibly,  with  others,  he  aspired  to  the  possession 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  13 

of  more  fertile  fields,  and  to  an  easier  subsistence.  Whatever 
the  reason,  lie  set  out  at  the  time  just  stated,  with  his  wife  and 
several  young  children,  on  his  long  journey  across  the  moun 
tains,  and  over  the  broad  valleys  intervening  between  the  She- 
nandoah  and  the  Kentucky. 

At  this  date,  and  for  ten  or  twelve  years  later,  the  present 
State  of  Kentucky  formed  part  of  the  old  Commonwealth  of 
Virginia.  "  The  dark  and  bloody  ground,"  as  afterward 
named  for  better  reasons  than  the  fiction  which  assigns  this 
meaning  to  its  Indian  appellation,  had  then  been  but  recently 
entered  upon  by  the  white  man.  Its  first  explorer,  Daniel 
Boone,  whose  very  name  suggests  a  whole  world  of  romance 
and  adventure,  had  removed,  when  a  mere  boy,  among  the 
earlier  emigrants  from  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  to  Berks  county. 
Here  he  must  have  been  a  contemporary  resident,  and  was  per 
haps  an  acquaintance,  of  some  of  the  younger  members  of  the 
Lincoln  family.  At  all  events,  as  substantially  one  of  their 
own  neighbors,  they  must  have  watched  his  later  course  with 
eager  interest  and  sympathy,  and  caught  inspiration  from  his 
exploits.  At  eighteen,  Boone  had  again  emigrated  with  his 
father,  as  before,  to  the  banks  of  the  Yadkin,  a  mountain  river 
in  the  north-west  of  North  Carolina,  at  just  about  the  same 
date  as  the  removal  of  the  Lincolns  to  Virginia.  Some  years 
later,  Boone,  in  his  hunting  excursions,  had  passed  over  and 
admired  large  tracts  of  the  wilderness  north  of  his  home,  and 
especially  along  a  branch  of  the  Cumberland  river,  within  the 
limits  of  what  is  now  Kentucky.  It  was  not  until  1-769,  how 
ever,  that,  with  five  associates,  he  made  the  thorough  explora 
tion  of  the  Kentucky  valley,  which  resulted  in  the  subsequent 
settlements  there.  The  glowing  descriptions,  which  ultimately 
got  abroad,  of  the  incredible  richness  and  beauty  of  these  new 
and  remote  forest-climes  of  Trans-Alleghanian  Virginia,  and 
of  their  alluring  hunting-grounds,  must  have  early  reached  the 
ears  of  the  boyhood-companions  of  Daniel  Boone,  and  spread 
through  the  neighboring  country.  The  stirring  adventures 
of  the  pioneer  hero,  during  the  next  five  or  six  years,  and  the 
beginnings  of  substantial  settlements  in  that  far-west  country, 
must  have  suggested  new  attractions  thitherward,  to  the  more 


14  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

active  and  daring  spirits,  whose  ideal  of  manhood  Boone  so 
nearly  approached. 

From  the  borders,  in  various  directions,  hundreds  of  miles 
away,  emigration  had  now  begun.  These  recruits  were  from, 
that  class  of  hardy  frontiersmen  most  inured  to  the  kind  of 
toils  they  were  to  encounter  anew  in  the  Kentucky  forests. 
They  went  forward,  fearless  of  the  dangers  to  be  encountered 
from  the  numerous  bands  of  Indians  already  re-commencing 
hostilities,  after  a  temporary  pacification.  Here  was  a  com 
mon  territory  and  place  of  meeting  for  the  tribes,  both  of  the 
North  and  the  South,  and  here,  before  and  after  this  date, 
there  were  many  exciting  adventures  and  deadly  conflicts  with 
these  savages,  whose  favorite  haunts  had  been  thus  uncere 
moniously  invaded. 

It  was  not  far  from  the  date  of  the  disastrous  battle  of  the 
Lower  Blue  Licks,  in  1782,  that  the  grandfather  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln,  with  his  young  family,  reached  the  region  which  had, 
perhaps,  long  been  the  promised  land  of  his  dreams.  The 
exact  place  at  which  he  settled  is  not  known.  According  to 
the  family  tradition,  it  was  somewhere  on  Floyd's  creek,  sup 
posed  to  be  near,  its  mouth,  in  what  is  now  Bullitt  county.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  the  field-book  of  Daniel  Boone,  who  was  a 
deputy-surveyor  under  Col.  Thomas  Marshall,  father  of  Chief 
Justice  Marshall,  is  the  following  memorandum:  "Abraham 
Lincoln  enters  500  acres  of  land,  on  a  Treasury  Warrant — No. 
5,994 — beginning  opposite  Charles  Yancey's  upper  line,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  river,  running  south  200  poles,  then  up  the 
river  for  quantity,  llth  December,  1782."  *  Yancey's  land, 
as  appears  from  the  same  book,  was  on  the  north  side  of  the 
"main  "  Licking  Creek,  as  then  designated. 

The  emigrant  had  made  but  a  mere  beginning  in  his  new  pio 
neer  labors,  when,  while  at  work  one  day,  at  a  distance  from  his 
cabin,  unsuspecting  of  danger,  he  was  killed  by  an  Indian,  who 
had  stolen  upon  him  unaware.  His  widow,  thus  suddenly  bereaved 


*Boone's  field-book  is  now  in  the  hands  of  L.  C.  Draper,  Esq.,  of 
Madison,  Wisconsin,  to  -whom  I  am  indebted  for  the  copy  given  in  the 
text.  The  "treasury  warrant"  was  issued  by  the  State  of -Virginia. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  15 

in  a  new  and  strango  land,  had  now  their  three  sons  and  two 
daughters  left  to  her  sole  protection  and  care,  with  probably  little 
means  for  their  support.  She  soon  after  removed  to  what  became 
Washington  county,  in  the  same  State,  and  there  reared  her  chil 
dren,  all  of  whom  reached  mature  age.  One  of  the  daughters 
was  married  to  a  Mr.  Grume,  and  the  other  to  a  man  named 
Bromfield.  The  three  sons,  named  Thomas,  Mordecai  and 
Josiah,  all  remained  in  Kentucky  until  after  their  majority. 

Thomas  Lincoln,  one  of  these  sons,  was  born  in  1778.  He 
was  a  mere  child  when  his  father  removed  to  Kentucky,  and 
was  but  six  years  old  at  the  time  of  the  latter's  death.  The 
date  of  this  event  was  consequently  about  1784.  Of  the  early 
life  of  the  orphan  boy,  we  have  no  knowledge,  except  what  can 
be  learned  of  the  general  lot  of  his  class,  and  of  the  habits  and 
modes  of  living  then  prevalent  among  the  hardy  pioneers  of 
Kentucky.  These  backwoodsmen  had  an  unceasing  round  of 
hard  toils,  with  no  immediate  reward  but  a  bare  subsistence 
from  year  to  year,  and  the  cheering  promise  of  better  days  in 
the  future.  But  even  their  lands,  as  in  the  case  of  Boone, 
they  were  not  always  so  fortunate  as  to  retain  in  fee. 

More  comfortable  days,  and  a  much  improved  state  of  things 
had  come,  before  Thomas  arrived  at  maturity ;  but  in  his  boy 
hood  and  youth,  he  must  have  known  whatever  was  worst  in 
the  trials  and  penury  of  the  first  generation  of  Kentucky 
frontiersmen,  with  few  other  enjoyments  than  an  occasional 
practice  with  his  rifle.  His  training  was  suited  to  develop  a 
strong,  muscular  frame,  and  a  rugged  constitution,  with  a  char 
acteristic  quickness  of  perception  and  promptness  of  action. 
The  Kentuckian  of  that,  and  the  succeeding  generation  had 
generally  a  tall,  stalwart  frame,  a  frank  and  courteous  heart, 
and  a  humorous  and  slightly  quaint  turn  of  speech ;  a -fondness 
for  adventure  and  for  the  sports  of  hunting ;  a  manly  self- 
respect,  and  a  fearless  independence  of  spirit. 

"Pride  in  their  port,  defiance  in  their  eye, 
•*#•### 

Intent  on  high  designs,  a  thoughtful  band, 
By  forms  unfashioned,  fresh  from  nature's  hand, 
Fierce  in  their  native  hardiness  of  soul, 
True  to  imagined  right,  above  control." 


16  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

This  generation  began  its  life  with  the  independent  existence 
of  the  nation,  and  partook  largely  of  the  spirit  of  exultant 
self-confidence  then  abroad  through  the  land. 

These  were  the  circumstances  and  associations  under  which, 
in  those  primeval  days  in  Kentucky,  Thomas  Lincoln  passed 
through  the  period  of  boyhood  and  youth.  At  the  date  of  the 
political  separation  from  Virginia,  in  1792,  and  the  formation 
of  a  new  State,  this  orphan  boy,  struggling  to  aid  his  mother 
in  the  support  of  the  ill-fortuned  family,  had  reached  the  age 
of  fourteen.  The  currents  of  emigration  had  become  enlarged 
and  accelerated,  meantime,  until  the  population  was  swelled, 
as  early  as  1790,  to  more  than  73,000;  and  during  the  next 
ten  years  it  was  more  than  trebled,  reaching  220,000.  The 
wilderness  that  once  was  around  Boonesborough,  Harrodsburg, 
and  Lexington,  was  now  blossoming  as  the  rose.  Still,  how 
ever,  there  was  ample  space  unoccupied,  within  the  limits  of 
the  new  State,  for  those  who  craved  the  excitements  and  the 
loneliness  of  a  home  in  the  wilderness. 

In  1806,  Thomas  Lincoln,  being  then  twenty-eight  years  of 
age,  was  married  to  Nancy  Hanks,  a  native  of  Virginia,  and 
settled  in  what  was  then  Hardin  county,  Kentucky.  It  does- 
not  appear  that  the  parents  of  Miss  Hanks  ever  removed  to 
Kentucky,  though  others  of  the  family  did  so.  Of  the  history 
of  her  ancestry,  we  have  no  definite  particulars.  Her  position 
in  life  appears  to  have  been  not  dissimilar  to  that  of  her  hus 
band.  That  she  possessed  some  rare  qualities  of  mind  and 
heart,  there  is  reason  to  believe ;  although,  dying  at  an  early 
age,  and  having,  from  the  time  of  her  marriage,  passed  her 
days  on  obscure  frontiers,  few  recollections  of  her  remain. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  was  born  of  these  parents  on  the  12th 
day  of  February,  1809.  The  place  where  they  at  this  time 
resided,  is  in  what  is  now  LaRue  county,  about  a  mile  and  a 
half  from  Hodgenville,  the  county-seat,  and  seven  miles  from 
Elizabethtown,  laid  off  several  years  previously,  and  the  county- 
seat  of  Hardin  county.  He  had  one  sister,  two  years  his 
senior,  who  grew  up  to  womanhood,  married,  and  died  while 
young.  He  had  a  brother,  two  years  younger  than  himself, 
who  died  in  early  childhood.  Mr.  Lincoln  remembers  to 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  17 

Have  visited  the  now  unmarked  grave  of  this  little  one,  along 
•with  his  mother,  before  leaving  Kentucky.  These  were  the 
only  children  of  Thomas  Lincoln,  either  by  the  present  or  by 
a  subsequent  marriage,  hereafter  to  be  noticed.  ABRAHAM 
has  thus,  for  a  long  time,  been  the  sole  immediate  representa 
tive  of  this  hardy  and  energetic  race. 

LaRue  county,  named  from  an  early  settler,  John  LaRue, 
was  set  off  and  separately  organized  in  1843,  the  portion  con 
taining  Mr.  Lincoln's  birthplace  having  been,  up  to  that  date, 
included  in  Hardin  county.  It  is  a  rich  grazing  country  in 
its  more  rolling  and  hilly  parts,  and  the  level  surface  produces 
good  crops  of  corn  and  tobaccco.  In  the  northern  borders  of 
the  county,  on  the  Rolling  Fork  of  Salt  river,  is  Muld- 
rough's  Hill,  a  noted  eminence.  Hodgenville,  near  which  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  born,  is  a  pleasantly  situated  town  on  Nolin 
creek,  and  a  place  of  considerable  business.  About  a  mile 
above  this  town,  on  the  creek,  is  a  mound,  or  knoll,  thirty  feet 
above  the  banks  of  the  stream,  containing  two  acres  of  level 
ground,  at  the  top  of  which  there  is  now  a  house.  Some  of 
the  early  pioneers  encamped  on  this  knoll ;  and  but  a  short 
distance  from  it  a  fort  was  erected  by  Philip  Phillips,  an  emi 
grant  from  Pennsylvania,  about  1780  or  1781,  near  the  time 
Mr.  Lincoln's  ancestor  arrived  from  Virginia.  John  LaRue 
came  from  the  latter  State,  with  a  company  of  emigrants,  and 
settled,  not  far  from  the  same  date,  at  Phillips'  Fort.  Robert 
Hodgen,  LaRue's  brother-in-law,  purchased  and  occupied  the 
land  on  which  Hodgenville  is  built.  Both  these  pioneers  were 
men  of  sterling  integrity,  and  high  moral  worth.  They  were 
consistent  and  zealous  members  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  one 
of  their  associates,  Benjamin  Lynn,  was  a  minister  of  the  same 
denomination.  Such  were  the  influences  under  which,  more 
than  twenty  years  before  Thomas  Lincoln  settled  there,  this 
little  colony  had  been  founded,  and  which  went  far  to  give  the 
community  its  permanent  character. 

It  is  needless  to  rehearse  the  kind  of  life  in  which  Abra 
ham  Lincoln  was  here  trained.  The  picture  is  similar  in  all 
Buch  settlements.  In  his  case,  there  was  indeed  the  advantage 
of  a  generation  or  two  of  progress,  since  his  grandfather  had 


18  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

hazarded  and  lost  his  life  in  the  then  slightly  broken  wilder 
ness.  The  State  now  numbered  some  400,000  inhabitants,  and 
had  all  the  benefits  of  an  efficient  local  administration,  the 
want  of  which  had  greatly  increased  the  dangers  and  difficul 
ties  of  the  first  settlers.  Henry  Clay  had  already,  though 
little  more  than  thirty  years  of  age,  begun  his  brilliant  politi 
cal  career,  having  then  served  for  a  year  or  two  in  the  United 
States  Senate. 

Yet,  with  all  these  changes,  the  humble  laborers,  settled 
near  »  Hodgen's  Mills,"  on  Nolin  Creek,  had  no  other  lot  but 
incessant  toil,  and  a  constant  struggle  with  nature  in  the  still 
imperfectly  reclaimed  wilds,  for  a  plain  subsistence.  Here  the 
boy  spent  the  first  years  of  his  childhood.  With  apparently 
the  same  frowning  fortune  which  darkened  the  eai  !y  days  of 
Robert  Burns,  it  was  not  destined  that  young  Lincoln's  father 
should  succeed  in  these  first  endeavors  to  secure  a  competency. 
Even  before  the  date  of  his  earliest  distinct  recollections,  he 
removed  with  his  father  to  a  place  six  miles  distant  from  Hod- 
genville,  which  was  also  ere  long  to  be  surrendered,  as  we 
shall  presently  see,  for  a  home  in  the  far-off  wilderness,  and 
for  frontier  life,  in  its  fullest  and  most  significant  meaning. 

The  period  of  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN'S  Kentucky  life  extends 
through  a  little  more  than  seven  years,  terminating  with  the 
autumn  of  1816.  If  it  be  tine  as  a  rule  (as  Horace  Mann  was 
wont  to  maintain),  that  the  experiences  and  instructions  of  the 
first  seven  years  of  every  person's  existence,  do  more  to  mold 
and  determine  his  general  character,  than  all  subsequent  train 
ing,  then  must  we  regard  Mr.  Lincoln  as  a  Kentuckian  (of  the 
generation  next  following  that  of  Clay),  by  his  early  impres 
sions  and  discipline,  no  less  than  by  birth. 

In  those  days  there  were  no  common  schools  in  that  country. 
The  principal  reliance  for  acquiring  the  rudiments  of  learning 
was  the  same  as  that  to  which  the  peasant-poet  of  Ayrshire 
was  indebted.  Education  was  by  no  means  disregarded,  nor 
did  young  Lincoln,  poor  as  were  his  opportunities,  grow  up  an 
illiterate  boy,  as  some  have  supposed.  Competent-  teachers 
were  accustomed  to  offer  themselves  then,  as  in  later  years, 
who  opened  private  schools  for  a  neighborhood,  being  sup- 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  19 

ported  by  tuition  fees  or  subscription.  During  his  boyhood 
days  in  Kentucky,  Abraham  Lincoln  attended,  at  different 
times,  at  least  two  schools  of  this  description,  of  which  he  has 
clear  recollections.  One  of  these  was  kept  by  Zachariah  Riney, 
a  Roman  Catholic,  whose  peculiarities  have  not  been  wholly 
effaced  from  the  memory  of  his  since  so  distinguished  pupil. 
But  although  this  teacher  was  himself  an  ardent  Catholic,  he 
made  no  proselyting  efforts  in  his  school,  and  when  any  little 
religious  ceremonies,  or  perhaps  mere  catechising  and  the  like, 
were  to  be  gone  through  with,  all  Protestant  children,  of  whom, 
it  is  needless  to  say  that  young  Abraham  was  one,  were  accus 
tomed  to  retire,  by  permission  or  command.  Riney  was  prob 
ably  in  some  way  connected  with  the  movement  of  the 
"  Trappists,"  who  came  to  Kentucky  in  the  autumn  of  1805, 
and  founded  an  establishment  (abandoned  some  years  later) 
under  Urban  Guillet,  as  superior,  on  Pottinger's  Creek.  They 
were  active  in  promoting  education  especially  among  the 
poorer  classes,  and  had  a  school  for  boys  under  their  imme 
diate  supervision.  This,  however,  had  been  abandoned  before 
the  date  of  Lincoln's  first  school-days,  and  it  is  not  improbable 
that  the  private  schools  under  Roman  Catholic  teachers  were 
an  offshoot  of  the  original  system  adopted  by  these  Trappists, 
who  subsequently  removed  to  Illinois. 

Another  teacher,  on  whose  instructions  the  boy  afterward 
attended,  while  living  in  Kentucky,  was  named  Caleb  Hazel. 
His  was  also  a  neighborhood  school,  sustained  by  private 
patronage. 

With  the  aid  of  these  two  schools,  and  with  such  further 
assistance  as  he  received  at  home,  there  is  no  doubt  that  he 
had  become  able  to  read  well,  though  without  having  made 
any  great  literary  progress,  at  the  age  of  seven.  That  he  was 
not  a  dull  or  inapt  scholar,  is  manifest  from  his  subsequent 
attainments.  With  the  allurements  of  the  rifle  and  the  wild 
game  which  then  abounded  in  the  country,  however,  and  with 
the  meager  advatages  he  had,  in  regard  to  books,  it  is  certain 
that  his  perceptive  faculties,  and  his  muscular  powers,  were 
much  more  fully  developed  by  exercise  than  his  scholastic 
talents. 


20  LITE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

While  lie  lived  in  Kentucky,  he  never  saw  even  the  exterior 
of  what  was  properly  a  church  edifice.  The  religious  services 
he  attended  were  held  either  at  a  private  dwelling,  or  in  some 
log  school-house,  or  in  the  open  grove  : 

"Fit  shrine  for  humble  worshiper  to  hold 
Communion  with  his  Master.     These  dim  vaults, 
These  winding  aisles,  of  human  pomp  or  pride 
Report  not.     No  fantastic  carvings  show 
The  boast  of  our  vain  race,  to  change  the  form 
Of  Thy  fair  works.     But  Thou  art  here,  Thou  fill'st 
The  solitude."* 

Unsatisfactory  results  of  these  many  years'  toil  on  the  lands 
of  Nolin  Creek,  or  a  restless  spirit  of  adventure  and  fondness 
for  more  genuine  pioneer  excitements  than  this  region  con 
tinued  to  afford,  led  Thomas  Lincoln,  now  verging  upon  the 
age  of  forty,  and  his  son  beginning  to  be  of  essential  service 
in  manual  labor,  to  seek  a  new  place  of  abode,  far  to  the  west, 
beyond  the  Ohio  river. 

*Bryant. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  21 


CHAPTERII. 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  EARLY  LIFE  IN  INDIANA. 

The  Removal  from  Kentucky. — Ah  Emigrant  Journey. — The  Forests 
of  Southern  Indiana. — New  Home  of  the  Lincoln  Family. — Indiana 
in  1816. — Slavery  and  Free  Labor. — Young  Lincoln  at  His.  Work. — 
His  Schools  and  Schoolmasters. — Self-Education. — A  Characteristic 
Incident. — Acquaintance  with  River  Life. — His  First  Trip  to  New 
Orleans  as  a  Flatboatman. — Death  of  His  Mother. — His  Father's 
Second  Marriage. — Recollections  of  an  Early  Settler. — Close  of  an 
Eventful  Period  in  Young  Lincoln's  History. 

EARLY  in  the  autumn  of  1816,  an  immediate  departure  for 
the  new  wilds  of  Indiana,  was  determined  on  by  Thomas  Lin 
coln.  It  was  no  very  imposing  sight,  certainly,  as  the  little 
family,  bidding  the  old  Kentucky  home  adieu,  moved  forward 
upon  their  long  and  winding  pioneer  march.  Many  sad 
thoughts  there  undoubtedly  were  in  that  small  group,  and 
perhaps  some  forebodings,  also,  as  their  former  place,  gradually 
receding,  at  length  disappeared  from  their  reverted  eyes.  But 
these  emotions  must  soon  have  been  lost  in  the  excitements  of 
their  journey. 

It  was  no  novel  picture  which  they  presented,  for  that  period, 
as  they  advanced  on  their  lonely  way,  for  the  days  required 
to  bring  them  to  the  place  whence  they  were  to  cross  the 
"  Beautiful  River."  The  plain  wagon,  with  its  simple  cover 
ing  as  a  shelter  for  its  lading  of  household  utensils,  articles  of 
food,  and  "  varieties,"  was-  drawn  by  a  not  too-spirited  or  over 
fed  horse,  in  a  harness  probably  compounded  of  leather  and 
hempen  cords  of  an  uncertain  age.  In  the  forward  part  of  this 
conveyance,  sat  the  emigrant  wife  and  her  daughter,  nine  years 
old,  while  the  father  and  his  son,  now  past  seven,  walking  in 
the  rear,  took  care  that  the  indispensable  cow  kept  pace  to  the 


22  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

music  of  the  jolting  wheels.  Underneath  the  wagon,  or  scout 
ing  at  pleasure  through  the  surrounding  woods,  was  of  course  a 
large  dog,  constant  to  the  fortunes  of  his  master's  family,  and 
ready  for  any  fate  to  which  their  migrations  might  lead  him. 
Arrived  at  the  appointed  landing  on  the  tanks  of  the  Ohio,  it 
only  remained  to  embark  the  little  caravan  upon  a  flatboat,  and 
to  cross  the  stream,  now  swelled  to  fair  proportions  by  the  autumn 
rains.  Finally,  after  reaching  the  Indiana  side,  the  adven 
turers  landed  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  Anderson's  Creek,  now 
the  boundary  between  the  counties  of  Perry  and  Spencer,  about 
one  hundred  and  forty  miles  below  Louisville,  by  the  river, 
and  sixty  above  Evansville.  In  a  direct  line  across  the  country 
from  their  fprmer  residence,  the  distance  is,  perhaps,  hardly  one 
hundred  miles. 

The  place  at  which  Mr.  Lincoln  settled,  at  the  end  of  this 
journey,  is  some  distance  back  from  the  Ohio  river,  near  the 
present  town  of  Gentryville.  Under  the  earliest  organization, 
this  was  in  Perry  county,  of  which  Troy  was  the  county-seat. 
Two  years  later,  Spencer  county  was  formed,  embracing  all 
that  part  of  Perry  west  of  Anderson's  Creek,  and  including  the 
place  at  which  Mr.  Lincoln  had  located  himself. 

Here  his  emigrant  wagon  paused,  and  aided  by  the  busy 
hands  of  his  son,  a  log  cabin  was  speedily  built,  which  was  to 
be  their  home  through  many  coming  years.  The  particular  site 
of  his  dwelling  was  doubtless  determined,  as  usual,  by  the  dis 
covery  of  a  living  spring  of  water,  after  fixing  on  his  selection 
for  a  farm.  This  completed,  and  a  shelter  provided  for  their 
stock,  the  next  business  was  to  clear  up  a  space  in  the  forest 
which  should  produce  a  crop  of  grain  for  their  sustenance  the 
next  season.  Hard  work  had  begun  in  good  earnest  for  the 
young  Kentuckian.  He  was  to  learn  the  realities  of  genuine 
pioneer  life,  such  as  he  had  before  but  imperfectly  understood, 
unless  by  tradition  and  the  evening  tales  of  his  father. 

Indiana,  at  this  date,  was  still  a  Territory,  having  been 
originally  united  under  the  same  government  with  Illinois, 
after  the  admission  of  Ohio  as  a  State,  "  the  first-born  of  the 
great  North-west,"  in  1802.  A  separate  territorial  organization 
was  made  for  each  in  1809.  A  few  months  before  the  arrival 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  23 

of  Thomas  Lincoln,  namely,  in  June,  1816,  pursuant  to  a 
Congressional  "enabling  act,"  a  Convention  had  been  held 
which  adopted  a  State  Constitution,  preparatory  to  admission 
into  the  Union.  Under  this  Constitution,  a  little  later,  in 
December,  1816,  Indiana  became,  by  act  of  Congress,  one  of 
the  United  States. 

The  population  of  Indiana  was  now  about  65,000,  distributed 
chiefly  south  of  a  straight  line  drawn  from  Vincennes,  on  the 
"Wabash,  to  Lawrenceburg,  on  the  Ohio.  Yincennes  was  long 
the  territorial  capital,  and  with  the  surrounding  country,  had 
been  occupied  by  French  emigrants,  many  years  before  the 
Revolution.  In  1800,  the  whole  number  of  residents  in  these 
colonies  was  less  than  5,000.  These,  like  other  French  set 
tlements,  made  little  progress  of  themselves.  From  1800  to 
1810,  there  had  been  a  large  increase,  mostly  by  emigrations  to 
Southern  Indiana  from  Kentucky,  swelling  the  population  to 
24,520,  at  the  latter  date.  In  1811  had  occurred  serious  diffi 
culties  with  the  Indians,  terminating  in  the  decisive  victory 
over  them  at  Tippecanoe.  So  general  had  become  the  settle 
ments,  eastward  from  Vincennes  and  up  the  Ohio  river,  that 
the  capital  was  removed  far  eastward  to  Corydon,  in  1813,  as  a 
central  location.  This  place,  the  capital  of  Harrison  county, 
is  about  twenty-five  miles  west  from  Louisville,  and  more  than 
a  hundred  south  of  the  present  metropolis  of  the  State.  But 
one  county  intervened  between  Harrison  and  Perry,  and  Gen- 
tryville  is  hardly  forty  miles,  in  a  direct  line,  from  Corydon. 
This  place  continued  to  be  the  seat  of  government  for  the  State 
until  1824,  as  it  had  been  for  the  Territory  during  the  three 
years  next  preceding  1816.  It  was  but  natural,  therefore,  that 
emigration  should  be  prominently  directed  to  this  part  of  the 
State,  at  the  period  under  consideration.  In  1820,  the  popu 
lation  had  increased  to  over  147,000,  or  more  than  six -fold 
during  ten  years,  and  nearly  thirty-fold  since  1800. 

There  is  little  doubt  that,  in  emigrating,  Thomas  Lincoln  had 
fallen  in  with  a  prevalent  contagion  in  his  own  State,  and  that 
he  took  up  his  residence  in  the  part  of  Indiana  then  deemed 
most  desirable  of  all  that  was  unoccupied.  It  is  common  to 
attribute  these  extensive  migrations  from  the  border  slave- 


24  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

holding  States  into  the  non-slaveholding  North-west,  to  a  pre 
ference  for  institutions  based  upon  free  labor  to  the  exclusion 
of  slavery.  This  was,  beyond  question,  a  powerful  inducement 
with  many,  yet,  by  no  means  the  only  one  ;  and,  with  some, 
it  did  not  exist  at  all.  In  the  earlier  days  of  Kentucky,  the 
proportion  of  slaves  to  the  free  white  population  was  small, 
and  in  many  places  slavery  can  hardly  have  been  an  appre 
ciable  element.  But  in  1816,  the  number  of  slaves  must  have 
exceeded  100,000,  and  their  ratio  of  increase  was  becoming 
very  high.  Upon  a  man  in  the  circumstances  of  Mr.  Lincoln, 
with  a  young  family  to  rear,  this  consideration  undoubtedly 
had  its  weight,  among  the  others  we  have  suggested  as  the 
cause  of  his  removal  to  Indiana.  We  have  at  least  the  fact, 
that,  though  painfully,  and  with  an  exile's  sadness,  he  yet 
turned  his  back  forever  on  a  State  that  tolerated  slavery,  to 
seek  a  new  home  where  free  labor  had  been  sacredly  assured 
exclusive  rights  and  honors. 

The  next  thirteen  years  Abraham  Lincoln  spent  here,  in 
Southern  Indiana,  near  the  Ohio,  nearly  midway  between' 
Louisville  and  Evansville.  He  was  now  old  enough  to  begin 
to  take  an  active  part  in  the  farm  labors  of  his  father,  and  he 
manfully  performed  his  share  of  hard  work.  He  learned  to 
use  the  ax  and  to  hold  the  plough.  He  became  inured  to  all 
the  duties  of  seed-time  and  harvest.  On  many  a  day,  during 
every  one  of  those  thirteen  years,  this  Kentucky  boy  might 
have  been  seen  with  a  long  "gad"  in  his  hand,  driving  his 
father's  team  in  the  field,  or  from  the  woods  with  a  heavy 
draught,  or  on  the  rough  path  to  the  mill,  the  store,  or  the 
river  landing.  He  was  specially  an  adept  at  felling  trees, 
and  acquired  a  muscular  strength  in  which  he  was  equaled 
by  few  or  none  of  those  about  him.  In  the  sports  of  hunt 
ing  and  fishing,  he  was  less  skilled. 

A  vigorous  constitution,  and  a  cheerful,  unrepining  disposi 
tion,  made  all  his  labors  comparatively  light.  To  such  a  one, 
this  sort  of  life  has  in  it  much  of  pleasant  excitement  to  com 
pensate  for  its  hardships.  He  learned  to  derive  enjoyment 
from  the  severest  lot.  The  "  dignity  of  labor,"  which  is  with 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  25 

demagogues  mere  hollow  cant,  became  to  him  a  true  and  appre 
ciable  reality. 

Here,  as  in  Kentucky,  he  attended  private  schools,  and  in 
other  ways  increased  his  little  stock  of  learning,  aided  by  what 
he  had  already  acquired.  The  same  want  of  systematic  public 
instruction,  and  the  same  mode  of  remedying  this  lack,  pre 
vailed  in  Indiana,  as  in  his  former  home.  One  of  his  teachers 
was  named  Andrew  Crawford,  to  whom  he  used  to  be  occasion 
ally  indebted  for  the  loan  of  books,  to  read  at  such  leisure 
hours  as  he  could  command.  His  last  teacher  was  Azel  W. 
Dorsey,  who  had  the  satisfaction,  in  later  years,  of  taking 
his  former  scholar  by  the  hand,  rejoicing  to  recognize  the  once 
obscure  boy  as  one  of  the  foremost  leaders  of  the  people. 
Dorsey  was  lately  residing  in  Schuyler  County,  Illinois,  where 
he  also  had  sons  living. 

That  we  may  estimate  Mr.  Lincoln  in  his  true  character,  as 
chiefly  a  self-educated  man,  it  should  be  stated  that,  summing 
up  all  the  days  of  his  actual  attendance  upon  school  instruc 
tion,  the  amount  would  hardly  exceed  one  year.  The  rest  he 
has  accomplished  for  himself  in  his  own  way.  As  a  youth  he 
read  with  avidity  such  instructive  works  as  he  could  obtain, 
and  in  winter  evenings,  by  the  mere  light  of  the  blazing  fire 
place,  when  no  better  resource  was  at  hand. 

An  incident  having  its  appropriate  connection  here,  and 
illustrating  several  traits  of  the  "man,  as  already  developed  in 
early  boyhood,  is  vouched  for  by  a  citizen  of  Evansville,  who 
knew  him  in  the  days  referred  to.  In  his  eagerness  to  acquire 
knowledge,  young  Lincoln  had  borrowed  of  Mr.  Crawford  a 
copy  of  Weems'  Life  of  Washington — the  only  one  known  to 
be  in  existence  in  the  neighborhood.  Before  he  had  finished 
reading  the  book,  it  had  been  left,  by  a  not  unnatural  oversight, 
in  a  window.  Meantime,  a  rain  storm  came  on,  and  the  book 
was  so  thoroughly  wet  as  to  make  it  nearly  worthless.  This 
mishap  caused  him  much  pain;  but  he  went,  in  all  honesty,  to 
Crawford  with  the  ruined  book,  explained  the  calamity  that 
had  happened  through  his  neglect,  and  offered,  not  having 
sufficient  money,  to  "work  out"  the  value  of  the  book. 

"  Well,  Abe,"  said  Crawford,  "  as  it's  you  I  wont  be  hard  on 


26  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

you.  Come  over  and  pull  fodder  for  me  for  two  days,  and  we 
will  call  our  accounts  even/' 

The  offer  was  accepted  and  the  engagement  literally  fulfilled. 
As  a  boy,  no  less  than  since,  Abraham  Lincoln  had  an  honor 
able  conscientiousness,  integrity,  industry,  and  an  ardent  love 
of  knowledge. 

The  town  on  the  Ohio  river,  nearest  his  home,  was  Troy,  the 
capital  of  Perry  county  down  to  the  date  of  its  division.  This 
place,  at  the  mouth  of  Anderson's  Creek,  had  been  settled  as 
early  as  1811,  and  was  a  place  of  some  consequence,  both  for  its 
river  trade  and  as  the  county-seat.  After  this  latter  advantage 
was  lost,  by  the  formation  of  a  new  county  in  181 8,  Troy  dwindled 
away,  and  is  now  a  place  of  only  about  five  hundred  inhabitants. 
Rockport,  nearly  twenty  miles  south-west  of  Gentry  ville,  became 
the  capital  of  Spencer  county,  and  thenceforward  a  point  of  in 
terest  to  the  new  settlers.  It  is  situated  on  a  high  bluff  of  the  Ohio 
river,  and  receives  its  name  from  "Lady  Washington's  Rock,"  a 
picturesque  hanging-rock  at  that  place.  At  these  two  points 
young  Lincoln  gained  some  knowledge  of  the  new  world  of  river 
life  and  business,  in  addition  to  his  farm  experience,  and  to  his 
forest  sports  with  rod  and  rifle.  For  several  months  he  is  said 
to  have  been  ferryman  at  Anderson's  Creek  Ferry. 

It  was  during  one  of  the  later  of  these  thirteen  years,  that 
Abraham,  at  nineteen,  was  permitted  to  gratify  his  eager  long 
ing  to  see  more  of  the  world,  and  to  try  the  charms  of  an  ex 
cursion  on  the  Beautiful  River.  He  had  inherited  much  of  the 
adventurous  and  stirring  disposition  of  his  Virginian  grand 
father,  and  was  delighted  with  the  prospect  of  a  visit  to  New 
Orleans,  then  the  splendid  city  of  Western  dreams.  He  per 
formed  this  journey  on  a  common  flatboat,  doing  service  as  one 
of  the  hands  on  that  long  yet  most  exhilarating  trip.  We  have 
no  particulars  of  this  his  sole  excursion  as  a  flatboatuian  dur 
ing  his  Indiana  days,  yet  to  his  own  mind  it  probably  long 
afforded  many  not  unpleasing  recollections.  He  was  undoubt 
edly  the  life  of  the  little  company,  delighting  them  with  his 
humorous  sallies  no  less  than  with  his  muscular  superiority, 
and  with  his  hilarious  activity  arid  intuitive  tact  in  all  that 
immediately  concerned  their  voyage. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  27 

If  there  had  been  any  forebodings  at  the  time  of  departure 
from  their  first  home  on  Nolin  Creek,  these  were  to  be  ere 
long  realized  by  the  Indiana  emigrants.  Scarcely  two  years 
had  passed,  in  this  changed  climate,  and  in  these  rougher  forest 
experiences,  before  the  mother  of  young  Abraham — perhaps 
too  gentle  to  encounter  the  new  trials  added  to  those  she  had 
before  partially  surmounted,  and  to  endure  the  malarious  influ 
ences  in  which  this  wild  country  abounded — was  called  to  a 
last  separation  from  those  she  had  so  tenderly  loved.  She  died 
in  1818,  leaving  as  her  sole  surviving  children,  a  daughter  less 
than  twelve  years  old,  and  a  son  two  years  younger,  of  whose 
future  distinction,  even  with  a  mother's  fondness,  she  probably 
had  but  an  indefinite  hope.  A  grave  was  made, for  her — 

"Where  the  wind  of  the  West  breathes  its  softest  sigh; 
Where  the  silvery  stream  is  flowing  nigh — 
Where  the  sun's  warm  smile  may  never  dispel 
Night's  tears  o'er  the  form  that  was  loved  so  well — 
Where  no  column  proud  in  the  sun  may  glow, 
To  mock  the  heart  that  is  resting  below."  * 

A  year  or  two  later,  Thomas  Lincoln  contracted  a  second 
marriage  with  Mrs.  Johnston,  a  widow  with  three  children,  that 
were  brought  up  with  those  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Besides  these 
step-children,  there  were  no  additions  to  the  family  as  before 
enumerated. 

In  concluding  this  brief  account  of  the  thirteen  important  years 
which  were  spent  by  Abraham  Lincoln  as  an  Indianian,  the  per 
sonal  recollections  of  a  distinguished  lawyer  and  statesman  of  an 
older  generation,  who  emigrated  to  Indiana  at  nearly  the  same 
date,  will  aid  in  conveying  a  correct  impression  of  those  times,  and 
of  the  circumstances  with  which  the  youth  was  surrounded. 

Indiana,  says  the  late  Hon.  O.  H.  Smith,f  "  was  born  in  the 
year  1816,  with  some  sixty-five  thousand  inhabitants — only 
about  forty  years  ago.  A  few  counties  only  were  then  organ- 


*  J.  B.  Dillon. 

t  Early  Indiana  Trials  and  Sketches.    Reminiscences  by  Hon.  0. 
H.  Smith,  page  285. 


28  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

ized.  The  whole  middle,  north,  and  north-west  portions  of 
the  State  were  an  unbroken  wilderness,  in  the  possession  of 
the  Indians.  Well  do  I  remember  when  there  were  but  two 
families  settled  west  of  the  Whitewater  Valley — one  at  Flat 
Rock,  above  where  Rushville  now  stands,  and  the  other  on 
Brandywine,  near  where  Greenfield  was  afterward  located. 
When  I  first  visited  the  ground  on  which  Indianapolis  now 
stands,  the  whole  country,  east  to  Whitewater  and  west  to 
the  W abash,  was  a  dense,  unbroken  forest.  There  were  no 
public  roads,  no  bridges  over  any  of  the  streams.  The  trav 
eler  had  literally  to  swim  his  way.  No  cultivated  farms,  no 
houses  to  shelter  or  feed  the  weary  traveler,  or  his  jaded  horse. 
The  courts,  years  afterward,  were  held  in  log  huts,  and  the 
juries  sat  under  the  shade  of  the  forest  trees.  I  was  Circuit 
Prosecuting  Attorney  at  the  time  of  the  trials  at  the  falls  of 
Fall  Creek,  where  Pendleton  now  stands.  Four  of  the  pris 
oners  were  convicted  of  murder,  and  three  of  them  hung,  for 
killing  Indians.  The  court  was  held  in  a  double  log  cabin, 
the  grand  jury  sat  upon  a  log  in  the  woods,  and  the  foreman 
signed  the  bill  of  indictment  which  I  had  prepared,  upon  his 
knee ;  there  was  not  a  petit  juror  that  had  shoes  on — all  wore 
moccasins,  and  were  belted  around  the  waist,  and  carried  side- 
knives  used  by  the  hunter.  The  products  of  the  country  con 
sisted  of  peltries,  the  wild  game  killed  in  the  forest  by  the 
Indian  hunters,  the  fish  caught  in  the  interior  lakes,  rivers 
and  creeks,  the  pawpaw,  wild  plum,  haws,  small  berries  gath 
ered  by  the  squaws  in  the  woods.  The  travel  was  confined  to 
the  single  horse  and  his  rider,  the  commerce  to  the  pack-sad 
dle,  and  the  navigation  to  the  Indian  canoe.  Many  a  time 
and  oft  have  I  crossed  our  swollen  streams,  by  day  and  by 
night,  sometimes  swimming  my  horse,  and  at  others  paddling 
the  rude  bark  canoe  of  the  Indian.  Such  is  a  mere  sketch  of 
our  State  when  I  traversed  its  wilds,  and  I  am  not  one  of  its 
first  settlers." 

Thus  it  was  that  young  Lincoln  grew  up  to  the  verge  of 
manhood  ;  he  led  no  idle  or  enervating  existence.  Brought 
up  to  the  habits  of  sobriety,  and  accustomed  to  steady  labor, 
DO  one  of  all  the  working-men  with  whom  he  came  in  contact 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  29 

was  a  better  sample  of  his  class  than  he.  He  had  now  become 
a  Saul  among  his  associates,  having  reached  the  hight  of 
nearly  six  feet  and  four  inches,  and  with  a  comparatively 
slender  yet  uncommonly  strong,  muscular  frame.  He  was 
even  then,  in  his  mental  and  moral  characteristics,  no  less 
than  in  his  physical  proportions,  one  not  to  be  forgotten  or 
unappreciated  by  those  who  knew  him.  Many  reminiscences 
of  those  days  of  his  hardy  endeavor  and  rough  experience 
linger  in  the  minds  of  the  plain,  earnest  people  among  whom 
his  lot  for  a  long  period  was  thus  cast,  and  will  some  time  be 
repeated,  with  such  exaggerations  or  fabulous  glosses  as  are 
wont  gradually  to  gather,  like  the  sacred  halo  of  the  painters, 
around  the  memorials  of  a  recognized  hero.  And  a  hero,  ever 
hereafter,  in  the  traditions  of  Southern  Indiana,  will  be  the 
youthful  Abraham  Lincoln,  gigantic  and  stalwart  in  his  out 
ward  form,  no  less  than  in  the  glowing  and  noble  spirit  already 
beginning  to  foresee  and  prepare  for  a  high  destiny.  Wherever 
he  has  dwelt  becomes  classic  and  consecrated  ground,  and  to  have 
known  him,  even  in  his  obscurest  days,  will  be  deemed  a  cir 
cumstance  to  be  recounted  with  pride.  To  gather  up  such 
recollections  and  to  perpetuate  them  with  the  pen,  will  be  the 
work  of  future  times  and  other  hands. 

This  period  of  young  Lincoln's  life  was  terminated  by 
another  removal  of  his  'father,  as  will  appear  in  the  next 
chapter. 


30  LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  HI. 

FIRST  YEARS  IN  ILLINOIS.— 1830-32 

The  French  Settlements.— The  North-west.— The  Advance  of  Emigra 
tion. — Four  Great  States  Founded  in  the  Lifetime  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
Father. — North  and  South  Meeting  in  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois. — 
Sentiments  of  Southern  Emigrants. — The  First  Emigrations. — A 
Coincidence  of  Dates. — Mordecai  and  Josiah  Lincoln. — Removal  to 
Illinois. — Settlement  on  the  Sangamon,  in  Macon  Count}'. — The 
Locality  Described. — Abraham  Lincoln  Engaged  in  Split  ting  Rails.— 
Another  Removal  of  his  Father. — He  Settles  in  Coles  County. — 
Abraham  Lincoln  makes  Another  Trip  as  a  Flatboatman. — Becomes 
Clerk  in  a  Store  on  his  Return. — Postmaster  at  New  Salem. 

THE  early  French  settlements  of  Illinois,  at  Kaskaskia  and 
Cahokia,  had  proved  as  little  successful  or  permanent  as  those 
of  Indiana  around  Vincennes.  The  territory  had  come  into 
the  possession  of  the  British  Government  just  before  the 
Revolution,  and  emigration  from  "Virginia  had  commenced 
almost  simultaneously  to  that  quarter  and  to  Kentucky.  In 
1787,  as  is  well  known,  the  settlements  here,  in  common  with 
those  scattered  throughout  the  great  expanse  of  United  States 
territory,  north-west  of  the  Ohio  river,  were  brought  under  a 
territorial  government,  as  wide  in  its  local  scope  as  it  was 
apparently  insignificant  in  the  extent  of  its  population  and 
power.  Time  speedily  demonstrated  the  error  of  such  an 
estimate  of  the  remarkable  region  between  the  Ohio,  the  Mis 
sissippi,  and  the  Lakes,  yet,  even  to  this  day,  the  people  of  the 
East  accept  the  idea  of  this  greatness  and  coming  power  rather 
as  an  abstract  proposition  than  as  a  living  reality,  deeply  affect 
ing  their  own  relative  interests  and  the  common  resources  and 
grandeur  of  the  country. 


LIFE  OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  31 

Tlie  rapid  growth  of  Kentucky  on  the  one  side,  and  of  Ohio 
and  Indiana  on  the  other,  we  have  incidentally  seen  in  these 
pages.  The  birth  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  father,  Thomas  Lincoln,  was 
anterior  to,  or  nearly  coeval  with,  the  very  first  settlements  in 
all  those  States,  excepting  only  the  lifeless  French  colonies  of 
Indiana.  The  State  of  Illinois  may  be  added  to  those  of  which 
it  may  be  said,  in  like  manner,  his  own  life  was  the  measure  of 
their  age,  dating  from  the  first  substantial  and  growing  existence 
of  their  colonial  settlements.  In  Illinois,  as  in  Indiana,  the 
eirliest  waves  of  a  healthful  emigration  had  come  from  Ken 
tucky  and  Virginia,  and  in  both  cases  alike,  the  Southern 
portion  was  the  earliest  to  be  occupied.  Between  these  early 
outflowings  of  free  labor  from  the  land  of  slavery,  and  those 
later  ones  from  the  free  States  of  the  East,  on  more  northern 
parallels,  there  is  a  marked  difference,  still  traceable — creating, 
in  a  certain  sense,  in  all  the  States  of  the  North-west  which 
touch  the  imaginary  line  of  Mason  and  Dixon,  a  division  of 
North  and  South.  Experience  and  increased  commingling 
between  these  localities  are  fast  abating  the  distinctness  of 
this  somewhat  indefinite  separating  line,  but  for  years  to  come 
it  can  not  be  wholly  obliterated.  These  two  elements,  combined 
and  consolidated,  growing  into  unity  instead  of  being  arrayed 
against  each  other  in  widening  separation,  will  go  to  constitute 
the  strongest  of  States.  The  Southern  emigration  gave  char 
acter  to  the  earlier  legislation  of  Indiana  and  Illinois  especially. 
With  evidences  of  a  lurking  attachment  to  the  peculiar  institu 
tion  of  the  States  on  the  other  side  of  the  Ohio  river,  the  gen 
eral  tenor  of  public  sentiment  and  action  was  as  positive  and 
distinct,  as  were  the  opinions  of  the  more  Northern  multitudes 
who  came  in  to  fill  up  these  new  commonwealths.  And  yet,  the 
views  of  slavery  prevalent  in  southern  Indiana  and  Illinois, 
were  at  that  time  not  much  diverse  from  those  which  were 
entertained  in  the  communities  from  which  these  settlers  had 
come.  They  regarded  slavery  as  an  evil  to  be  rid  of;  and  to 
make  sure  of  this,  those  who  were  not  already  too  much 
entangled  with  it,  left  in  large  numbers  for  a  region  which,  by 
request  of  Virginia  herself,  was  "forever"  protected  from  the 
inroads  of  this  moral  and  social  mischief. 


82  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

As  we  have  seen,  Indiana  had  more  than  100,000  people 
concentrated  in  the  south,  before  any  real  advance  had  been 
made  in  the  central  and  northern  parts.  Nearly  the  same 
thing  was  true  of  Illinois.  The  territory  had  been  separately 
organized  in  the  same  year  with  the  birth  of  Abraham  Lin 
coln — 1809.  The  next  year's  census  showed  its  entire  white 
population  to  be  only  11,501.  These  were  almost  exclusively 
located  south  of  the  National  Road,  which  crosses  the  Kaskas- 
kia  river  at  Vandalia,  extending  nearly  due  west  to  Alton. 
Notwithstanding  the  severe  labors  of  opening  the  forests  on  the 
rich  western  soil,  and  the  long  period  that  must  necessarily 
elapse  between  the  first  clearing  therein  and  the  perfect  subju 
gation  of  the  selected  lands  into  cultivated  farms,  there  seems 
to  have  been  a  general  avoidance,  even  down  to  comparatively 
a  late  period,  of  the  open  prairie,  which  is  now  thought  to 
offer  such  pre-eminent  facilities  for  cultivation,  with  almost 
immediate  re-payment  for  the  toil  bestowed.  The  settlers  who 
had  gone  into  Illinois,  evidently  placed  a  low  estimate  upon 
the  prairie  lands,  and  always  settled  on  the  banks  of  some 
stream,  on  which  there  was  plenty  of  timber,  seeking  the  forest 
by  preference  for  their  homes.  The  open  character  of  the 
country  undoubtedly  repelled  emigration,  and  caused  it  to  be 
concentrated  on  the  chief  streams,  for  a  long  time,  when  at  last 
it  commenced  in  earnest. 

In  1820,  two  years  after  admission  into  the  Union,  the  entire 
population,  still  almost  entirely  confined  to  the  same  region, 
and  to  similar  localities  as  ten  years  before,  amounted  to  only 
55,211.  From  that  time  to  1830,  there  was  some  extension  of 
the  settlements  northward,  toward  the  center  of  the  State,  and 
up  the  Mississippi  to  Galena,  where  the  mines  were  already 
worked.  The  rivers  along  which  the  principal  settlements  had 
been  made,  aside  from  the  great  boundary  rivers — the  Missis 
sippi,  the  Ohio,  and  the  Wabash — were  the  Kaskaskia,  the 
Embarras,  the  Sangamon,  and  their  branches.  There  were  a 
few  settlements,  also,  in  the  Rock-river  country,  and  on  the 
range  of  Peoria.  The  population,  thus  chiefly  distributed, 
had  now  (1830)  reached  157,445. 

The  brothers  of  Thomas  Lincoln  had  previously  removed 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  33 

to  a  more  northern  location  in  Indiana,  than  that  which  he 
had  occupied.  Both  settled  in  the  Blue  river  country — Mor- 
decai  in  Hancock  county,  where  he  not  long  after  died,  and 
Josiah  in  Harrison  county.  Their  example,  perhaps,  had  its 
influence  upon  Thomas,  who,  however,  took  a  course  of  his 
own.  Whatever  the  immediate  or  remote  occasion,  he  left 
Indiana  in  the  spring  of  1830,  to  seek  another  place  of  abode, 
in  the  State  of  Illinois.  He  had  seen  the  growth  of  Kentucky 
from  almost  the  very  start,  to  a  population  of  nearly  700,000 
and  he  had  lived  in  Indiana  from  the  time  its  inhabitants 
numbered  only  65,000,  until  they  had  reached  nearly  350,000. 
As  he  first  set  his  foot  within  the  limits  of  Illinois,  its  vast 
territory  had,  comparatively,  but  just  begun  to  be  occupied, 
scarcely  at  all,  as  we  have  seen,  except  in  the  extreme  southern 
portion,  and  here  almost  exclusively  along  the  principal 
streams.  In  a  country  so  poorly  supplied  with  wood  and 
water,  as  Illinois,  such  sites  would  naturally  be  the  first  to  be 
taken  up,  arid,  with  a  prairie  addition,  they  suited  the  tastes 
even  of  those  to  whom  the  level,  open  country  was  forbiddin^ 
in  appearance. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  father  pushed  forward  to  the  central  part  of  the 
State,  where  such  locations  were  abundant.  A  more  beautiful 
country  than  that  of  the  Sangamon  valley,  could  not  easily  have 
been  anywhere  discovered  by  an  explorer.  It  was  not  strange 
that  the  report  of  such  lands,  if  he  heard  it  in  his  Southern 
Indiana  home,  should  have  attracted  even  so  far  one  who  was 
bred  to  pioneer  life,  and  inherited  a  migratory  disposition. 
He  first  settled  on  the  Sangamon  "  bottom,"  in  Macon  county. 
Passing  over  the  Illinois  Central  Kailroad,  as  you  approach 
Decatur,  the  county-seat  of  Macon,  from  the  south,  a  slightly 
broken  country  is  reached  two  or  three  miles  from  that  place, 
and  presently  the  North  Fork  of  the  Sangamon,  over  which 
you  pass,  a  mile  from  the  town.  This  stream  flows  westwardly, 
uniting  with  the  South  Fork,  near  Jamestown,  ten  miles  from 
Springfield.  Following  down  this  North  Fork  for  a  distance 
of  about  ten  miles  from  Decatur,  you  come  to  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  first  residence  of  Abraham  Lincoln  (with  his 
father's  family),  in  Illinois. 
3 


34  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Here,  for  the  first  season  of  his  abode  in  the  new  State  he 
continued  to  assist  the  father  in  his  farm-work.  One  of  the 
first  duties  was  to  fence  in  a  field  on  the  rich  bottom -lands, 
which  had  been  selected  for  cultivation.  For  this  purpose, 
with  the  help  of  one  laborer,  Abraham  Lincoln,  it  is  said  split 
three  thousand  rails* — the  crowning  work  of  a  long  laborious 
period  of  his  life.  The  hand  who  aided  him  in  this  exploit, 
named  John  Hanks,  a  distant  relative  of  his  mother,  bears 
earnest  testimony  to  the  strength  and  skill  with  with  which  the 
maul  and  the  wedge  were  employed  on  this  occasion. 

For  some  unexplained  reason,  the  family  did  not  remain  on 
this  place  but  a  single  year.  Abraham  was  now  of  age,  and 
when,  in  the  spring  of  1831,  his  father  set  out  for  Coles  county, 
sixty  or  seventy  miles  to  the  eastward,  on  the  upper  waters  of 
the  Kaskaskia  and  Embarras,  a  separation  took  place,  the  son 
for  the  first  time,  assuming  his  independence,  and  commencing 
life  on  his  own  account.  The  scene  of  these  labors  he  never 
again  visited.  His  father  was  soon  after  comfortably  settled 
in  the  place  to  which  he  had  turned  his  course,  and  spent  the 
remainder  of  his  adventurous  days  there,  arriving  at  a  good  old 
age.  He  died  in  Coles  county,  on  the  17th  day  of  January, 
1851,  being  in  his  seventy-third  year.  The  farm  on  the  San- 
gamon  subsequently  came  into  the  possession  of  a  Mr.  Whitley, 
who  erected  a  mill  in  the  vicinity. 

While  there  was  snow  on  the  ground,  at  the  close  of  the 
year  1830,  or  early  in  1831,  a  man  came  to  that  part  of  Macon 
county  where  young  Lincoln  was  living,  in  pursuit  of  hands 
to  aid  him  in  a  flatboat  voyage  down  the  Mississippi.  The 
fact  was  known  that  the  youth  had  once  made  such  a  trip,  and 
his  services  were  sought  for  the  occasion.  As  one  who  had 
his  own  subsistence  to  earn,  with  no  capital  but  his  hands,  and 
with  no  immediate  opportunities  for  commencing  professional 
study,  if  his  thoughts  had  as  yet  been  turned  in  that  direction, 
he  accepted  the  proposition  made  him.  Perhaps  there  was 
something  of  his  inherited  and  acquired  fondness  for  exciting 
adventure,  impelling  him  to  this  decision.  With  him,  were 

*The  number  is  uncertain,  but  the  main  fact  rests  on  the  best 
Authority. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  35 

also  employed,  his  former  fellow-laborer,  John  Hanks,  and  a 
son  of  his  step-mother,  named  John  Johnston.  In  the  spring 
of  1831  Lincoln  set  out  to  fulfill  his  engagement.  The  floods 
had  so  swollen  the  streams  that  the  Sangamon  country  was  a 
vast  sea  before  him.  His  first  entrance  into  that  county  was 
over  these  wide-spread  waters,  in  a  canoe.  The  time  had 
come  to  join  his  employer  on  his  journey  to  New  Orleans,  but 
the  latter  had  been  disappointed  by  another  person  on  whom 
he  relied  to  furnish  him  a  boat,  on  the  Illinois  river.  Accord 
ingly,  all  hands  set  to  work,  and  themselves  built  a  bo^at,  on  that 
river,  for  their  purposes.  This  done,  they  set  out  on  their 
long  trip,  making  a  successful  voyage  to  New  Orleans  and 
back.  It  is  reported  by  his  friends,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  refers 
•with  much  pleasant  humor  to  this  early  experience,  so  relating 
some  of  its  incidents  as  to  afford  abundant  amusement  to  his 
auditors.  In  truth,  he  was  a  youth  who  could  adapt  himself 
to  this  or  any  other  honest  work  which  his  circumstances 
required  of  him,  and  with  a  cheerfulness  and  alacrity— a  cer 
tain  practical  humor — rarely  equaled.  He  could  turn  off  the 
hardest  labor  as  a  mere  pastime ;  and  his  manly  presence,  to 
other  laborers,  was  as  a  constant  inspiration  and  a  charm  to 
lighten  their  burdens. 

It  was  midsummer  when  the  flatboatman  returned  from 
this  his  second  and  last'  trip,  in  that  capacity.  The  man 
who  had  commanded  this  little  expedition  now  undertook  to 
establish  himself  in  business  at  New  Salem,  twenty  miles 
below  Springfield,  in  Meuard  county — a  place  of  more  relative 
consequence  then  than  now — two  miles  from  Petersburg,  the 
county-seat.  He  had  found  young  Lincoln  a  person  of  such 
sort  that  he  was  anxious  to  secure  his  services  in  the  new 
enterprise  he  was  about  to  embark  in.  He  opened  a  store  at 
New  Salem,  and  also  had  a  mill  for  flouring  grain.  For  want 
of  other  immediate  employment,  and  in  the  same  spirit  which 
had  heretofore  actuated  him,  Abraham  Lincoln  now  entered 
upon  the  duties  of  a  clerk,  having  an  eye  to  both  branches  of 
the  business  carried  on  by  his  employer.  This  connection 
continued  for  nearly  a  year,  all  the  duties  of  his  position  being 
faithfully  performed. 


36  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

It  was  to  this  year's  humble  but  honorable  service — one 
that  would  have  been  ennobled  by  his  alacrity  in  discharging 
it,  as  a  necessity  of  his  lot,  were  the  employment  far  less  dig 
nified  than  it  really  was — that  Mr.  Douglas  tauntingly  alluded, 
in  one  of  his  speeches  during  the  canvass  of  1858,  as  "  keep 
ing  a  grocery."  In  his  reply,  Mr.  Lincoln  declared  his 
adversary  to  be  "  woefully  at  fault  "  as  to  the  fact,  in  alleging 
him  to  have  been  a  grocery-keeper,  though  it  might  be  no 
great  sin  had  the  statement  been  well  founded.  He  added 
that,  in  truth,  he  had  "  never  kept  a  grocery  anywhere  in  the 
world." 

The  business  of  this  cou/itry  merchant  at  New  Salem  did 
not  prove  remarkably  successful.  In  any  event,  the  employ 
ment  was  not  such  as  could  have  permanently  suited  an  active, 
muscular  person,  like  young  Lincoln,  with  a  lurking  passion 
for  adventure,  and  for  more  exciting  scenes.  His  clerkship 
days,  however,  were  brought  to  an  abrupt  close,  probably  much 
sooner  than  they  otherwise  would  have  been,  by  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Black-Hawk  war,  in  which  he  was  eager  to  bear  an 
honorable  part. 

It  was  during  this  year  that  he  was  appointed  Postmaster  at 
New  Salem — not  from  political  affinity  with  the  administration 
of  Jackson,  to  which  he  was,  in  fact,  opposed,  but  because  he 
was  thought  better  fitted  for  the  place  than  any  of  his  neigh 
bors,  lie  discharged  his  duties  well ;  and  instead  of  even 
temporarily  using  any  of  the  public  money  to  supply  his  then 
pressing  wants,  he  carefully  laid  up  whatever  belonged  to  the 
Government,  from  day  to  day,  and  at  the  final  settlement  he 
had  a  bag  of  coin,  containing  the  proper  amount,  ready  to  be 
paid  over. 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  37 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SERVICE   IN  THE   BLACK-HAWK  WAR — 1832. 

Breaking  out  of  the  Black-Hawk  War. — The  Invasion  of  1831. — The 
Rock-river  Country  Threatened. — Prompt  Action  of  Gov.  Reynolds. — 
Retreat  of  Black-Hawk. —Treaty  of  1804  Re-affirmed.  —  Bad 
Faith  of  the  Indians. — Invasion  of  1832. — Volunteers  Called  For. — 
Abraham  Lincoln  one  of  a  Company  from  Menard  County. — He  is 
chosen  Captain. — Rendezvous  at  Beardstown. — Hard  Marches  across 
the  Country  to  Oquawka,  Prophetstown  and  Dixon. — Expected  Battle 
Avoided  by  the  Enemy. — Discontent  among  Volunteers.— They  are 
Disbanded. — Captain  Lincoln  Remains,  Volunteering  for  Another 
Term  of  Service. — Skirmishing  Fights. — Arrival  of  New  Levies. — 
Encounter  at  Kellogg's  Grove. — Black-Hawk  at  the  Four  Lakes. — 
He  Retreats. — Battle  on  the  Wisconsin. — Hastens  Forward  to  the 
Mississippi. — Battle  of  the  Bad-ax. — End  of  Lincoln's  First  Cam 
paign. — Autobiographic  Note. 

WHILE  Abraham  Lincoln  was  quietly  performing  his  duties 
in  the  pioneer  "store,"  in  Menard  county,  reports  were  received 
of  an  alarming  Indian  invasion,  on  the  western  border  of  the 
State.  In  the  spring  of  1831,  the  noted  Black-Hawk,  an  old 
chief  of  the  Sac  tribe  of  Indians,  repudiating  the  treaty  by 
the  terms  of  which  they  had  been  removed  beyond  the  Father 
of  Waters,  re-crossed  the  river  with  his  women  and  children, 
and  three  hundred  warriors  of  the  Sacs,  together  with  allies 
from  the  Kickapoo  and  Pottawatomie  nations.  His  object  was 
again  to  take  possession  of  his  old  hunting-grounds,  and  to 
establish  himself  where  the  principal  village  of  his  nation 
before  had  been,  in  the  Rock-river  country.  The  Indians 
began  committing  depredations  upon  the  property  of  the  white 
settlers,  destroying  their  crops,  pulling  down  their  fences,  dri 
ving  off  and  slaughtering  their  cattle,  and  ordering  the  settlers 
themselves  to  leave  under  penalty  of  being  massacred. 


38  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

In  response  to  the  representations  of  Gov.  Reynolds,  to 
whom  the  settlers  applied  for  protection,  Gen.  Gaines,  com 
mander  of  the  United  States  forces  in  that  quarter,  took  prompt 
and  decisive  measures  to  expel  these  invaders  from  the  State. 
With  a  few  companies  of  regular  soldiers,  Gen.  Gaines  at  once 
took  up  his  position  at  Hock  Island,  and  at  his  call,  several 
hundred  volunteers,  assembled  from  the  northern  and  central 
parts  of  the  State,  upon  the  proclamation  of  Gov.  Reynolds, 
joined  him  a  month  later.  His  little  army  distributed  into 
two  regiments,  an  additional  battalion,  and  a  spy  battalion,  was 
the  most  formidable  military  force  yet  seen  in  the  new  State. 
The  expected  battle  did  not  take  place,  the  Indians  having 
suddenly  and  stealthily  retired  again,  in  their  canoes,  across 
the  river.  The  troops  had  been  advanced  to  Vandruff  s  Island, 
opposite  the  Indian  town,  where  the  engagement  was  antici 
pated,  and  there  was  much  dissatisfaction  among  the  volunteers, 
and  some  complaints  against  the  generals,  Gaines  and  Duncan, 
for  permitting  the  enemy  to  escape. 

Whether  or  not  either  of  these  commanders  was  chargeable 
with  blame,  this  retreat  of  Black-Hawk  only  prolonged  the 
difficulties  impending,  and  prepared  the  way  for  a  more  formid 
able  and  eventful  campaign  the  next  season.  Gen.  Gaines, 
however  had  taken  measures  to  preclude  any  such  possibility, 
so  far  as  the  deliberate  engagements  of  the  uneasy  chief  could 
avail  for  that  purpose.  Intimidated  by  the  threats  of  Gaines 
to  cross  the  river,  and  to  prosecute  the  war  on  that  ground, 
Black-Hawk  sued  for  peace.  A  treaty  was  entered  into,  by 
which  he  agreed  that  he  and  his  tribe  should  ever  after  remain 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  unless  by  permission  of  the  State 
Governor,  or  of  the  President.  Thus  was  the  treaty  of  180-4 
re-affirmed,  by  which  the  lands  they  were  claiming  had  been 
distinctly  conveyed  to  the  United  States  Government,  which,  in 
turn,  had  sold  them  to  the  present  settlers. 

In  express  violation,  however,  of  this  second  deliberate 
engagement,  Black-Hawk  and  his  followers  began,  early  in 
the  spring  of  1832,  as  we  have  seen,  to  make  preparations  for 
another  invasion.  Many  and  grievous  wrongs  have  undoubt 
edly  been  inflicted  upon  the  savage  tribes  by  the  superior  race, 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  39 

that  has  gradually,  but  steadily  driven  the  former  from  their 
ancient  homes.  But  the  bad  faith  shown  in  this  case,  and  the 
repeated  violation  of  deliberate  and  voluntary  agreements,  was 
wholly  without  justification  or  excuse.  No  provocation  or 
plausible  pretext  had  arisen  after  the  treaty  of  the  previous 
June;  yet  Black-Hawk,  under  the  misguided  influence  and 
false  representations  of  the  "  Prophet,"  who  persuaded  him  to 
believe  that  even  the  British  (to  whom  Black-Hawk  had  always 
been  a  fast  friend),  as  well  as  the  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  Winne- 
bagoes  and  Pottawatomies,  would  aid  them  in  regaining  their 
village  and  the  adjoining  lands.  Under  this  delusion,  to  which 
the  wiser  Keokuk  refused  to  become  a  dupe,  though  earnestly 
invited  to  join  them,  Black-Hawk  proceeded  to  gather  as  strong 
a  force  as  possible.  He  first  established  his  headquarters  at  the 
old  site  of  Fort  Madison,  west  of  the  Mississippi.  After  his 
preparations,  of  which  the  people  of  Illinois  were  advised,  had 
been  completed,  he  proceeded  up  the  river  with  his  women 
and  children,  his  property  and  camp  equipage,  in  canoes,  while 
his  warriors,  armed  and  mounted,  advanced  by  land.  In  spite 
of  the  warning  he  had  received,  that  there  was  a  strong  force  of 
white  soldiers  at  Fort  Armstrong,  on  Rock  Island,  he  continued 
on  to  the  mouth  of  Rock  river,  where,  in  utter  recklessnes  and 
bad  faith — paying  not  the  slightest  regard  to  his  solemn  agree 
ment  of  the  last  year — the  whole  party  crossed  to  the  east  side 
of  the  Mississippi,  with  a  declared  purpose  of  ascending  Rock 
river  to  the  territory  of  the  Winnebagoes.  This  was  in  the 
early  part  of  April,  1832.  Black-Hawk,  after  he  had  gone 
some  distance  up  this  latter  river,  was  overtaken  by  a  messen 
ger  from  Gen.  Atkinson,  who  had  command  of  the  troops  on 
Rock  Island,  and  ordered  to  return  beyond  the  Mississippi. 
This  was  defiantly  refused. 

Gov.  Reynolds  again  issued  a  call  for  volunteers  to  protect 
the  settlers  from  this  invasion.  A  company  was  promptly 
raised  in  Menard  county,  in  the  formation  of  which  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  one  of  the  most  active.  From  New  Salem,  Clary's 
Grove,  and  elsewhere  in  the  vicinity,  an  efficient  force  was 
gathered,  and  in  making  their  organization,  Lincoln  was 
elected  Captain.  This  was  the  first  official  honor  he  had  ever 


40  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

received  by  the  suffrages  of  his  fellows,  and  one  that  afforded 
particular  satisfaction  to  his  not  unaspiring,  though  modest 
spirit,  as  he,  long  afterward,  frankly  admitted. 

Their  first  march  was  to  the  rendezvous  appointed  by  Gov. 
Reynolds,  at  Beardstown,  one  of  the  earlier  settlements  on  the 
Illinois  river,  forty  miles  west  of  New  Salem.  Here  eighteen 
hundred  men  were  speedily  assembled,  under  the  direction  of 
the  Governor.  The  forces  were  organized  into  four  regiments, 
with  an  additional  spy  battalion.  Gen.  Samuel  Whiteside,  of 
the  State  militia,  who  had  commanded  the  spy  battalion  in  the 
campaign  of  the  previous  year,  was  now  intrusted  with  the 
command  of  the  whole  brigade.  Gen.  James  D.  Henry  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  spy  battalion. 

This  little  army,  a  more  imposing  force  than  that  of  the 
preceding  year,  set  out  from  Beardstown  on  the  27th  of  April, 
for  the  scene  of  action.  Three  or  four  days'  hard  marching 
across  the  country  brought  the  volunteers  to  Oquawka,  on  the 
Mississippi,  from  whence  they  proceeded,  without  delay,  north 
ward  to  the  mouth  of  Rock  river.  Here  it  was  arranged  with 
Gen.  Atkinson,  commander  of  the  regulars,  that  the  vol 
unteer  force  should  march  up  the  latter  stream  a  distance  of 
about  fifty  miles,  to  Prophetstown,  where  they  were  to  encamp, 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  regulars,  with  provisions,  by  the 
river.  Gen.  Whiteside,  however,  instead  of  following  out 
this  plan,  set  fire  to  the  Prophet's  village,  on  arriving,  and 
pushed  forward  toward  Dixon's  Ferry,  forty  miles  further  up 
the  river. 

These  incessant  marches  must  have  severely  taxed  the 
endurance  of  many  of  the  inexperienced  soldiers,  but  to  Capt. 
Lincoln,  reared  as  he  had  been,  they  rather  Lightened  the 
exhilaration  which  attended  these  adventures  from  the  start. 
The  prospect  of  speedily  overtaking  and  encountering  the 
enemy  in  battle,  and  the  hope  of  winning,  in  the  fight, 
some  special  honors  for  the  little  contingent  under  his  com 
mand,  relieved  the  sense  of  fatigue.  A  short  distance  below 
Dixon's  Ferry,  it  was  ordered  that  the  baggage-wagons  should 
be  left  behind,  and  that  a  forced  march  should  be  made  upon 
that  place.  Arrived  there,  Gen.  Whiteside  halted,  and  sent 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  41 

out  scouting  parties  to  ascertain  the  position  and  condition  of 
the  enemy.  Here  two  battalions  of  mounted  volunteers,  num 
bering  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  men,  joined  them  from 
McLean,  Peoria,  and  other  counties,  eager  to  distingish  them 
selves  by  participating  in  the  war.  Some  of  these  fiery  spirits, 
advancing  without  orders,  and  having  no  other  duty  assigned 
them  than  that  of  scouts,  had  a  little  skirmish  on  the  12th  of 
May,  a  mile  distant  from  their  encampment,  in  Ogle  county, 
with  a  number  of  mounted  Indians,  in  which  three  of  the 
latter  were  killed.  Black-Hawk  and  his  principal  forces  were 
not  far  off,  and  rallying  seven  hundred  men,  he  promptly 
repelled  the  assaults  of  these  scouts,  pursuing  them  in  a  dis 
orderly  condition,  to  their  camp.  These  rash  adventurers 
now  showed  greater  eagerness  in  flight,  than  they  had  before 
to  gain  distinction  in  battle,  and  ran  helter-skelter  over  the 
prairie,  producing  such  confusion  and  dismay  as  to  render  it 
difficult  to  prevent  the  most  serious  effects  from  their  insub 
ordinate  conduct.  As  it  was,  eleven  of  the  men  were  killed, 
the  confidence  of  the  Indians  was  greatly  raised,  and  the  sur 
vivors,  who  came  straggling  into  the  camp  of  General  White- 
side,  were  full  of  panic,  anticipating  an  immediate  and  general 
attack  from  their  pursuers.  Such  was  "  Stillman's  defeat." 

The  consequence  of  this  affair  was  a  council  of  war  at  the 
tent  of  the  commander-in-chief,  and  a  decision  to  march, 
early  next  morning,  to  the  scene  of  that  evening's  misadven 
ture.  The  great  battle  which  Capt.  Lincoln  and  his  fellow- 
volunteers  had  come  so  far  to  participate  in,  seemed  now  on 
the  point  of  becoming  a  reality.  Notwithstanding  the  prema 
ture  advance  of  Whiteside  from  Prophetstown  had  left  them 
without  the  necessary  supplies,  and  subjected  them  to  the 
privations  so  well  known  to  experienced  soldiers,  yet  seldom 
encountered  so  early  in  a  campaign,  they  made  up  for  the 
absence  of  their  reguhir  provisions  as  best  they  might,  and 
were  ready,  with  the  dawn,  for  the  day's  undertaking.  But 
their  enemy  did  not  await  their  coming.  Arrived  at  the  scene 
of  yesterday's  skirmish  and  flight,  they  found  not  a  straggler 
of  all  the  savage  forces.  They  had  partly  gone  further  up 
the  river,  and  partly  dispersed,  to  commit  depredations  in  the 


42  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

surrounding  country.  One  party  of  them  came  suddenly 
upon  a  settlement  near  Ottawa,  and  massacred  fifteen  persons, 
carrying  two  young  women  into  captivity.  This  circumstance 
alone  is  sufficient  to  show  how  utterly  unfounded  was  the  pre 
tense  of  some  that  Black-Hawk  had  no  hostile  purpose,  in 
this  repudiation  of  his  treaty  engagements,  and  to  remove  any 
ground  for  the  mistaken  sympathy  which  many  have  expended 
upon  him. 

After  this  energetic  but  vain  attempt  to  fall  in  with  the 
enemy  and  give  him  battle,  Gen.  Whiteside,  having  buried  the 
dead  of  the  day  before,  returned  to  camp,  where  he  was  joined, 
next  day,  by  Gen.  Atkinson,  with  his  troops  and  supplies. 
The  numbers  of  the  army  were  thus  increased  to  twenty-four 
hundred,  and  a  few  weeks  more  would  have  enabled  this  force 
to  bring  the  war  to  a  successful  close.  But  many  of  the  vol 
unteers,  whose  time  had  nearly  expired,  were  eager  to  be  dis 
charged.  They  had  seen  quite  enough  of  the  hardships  of  a 
campaign,  which,  without  bringing  as  yet  any  glory,  had 
turned  out  in  reality  quite  different  from  what  their  imagina 
tions  had  foretold.  With  the  prevailing  discontents,  but  one 
course  was  possible.  The  volunteers  were  marched  to  Ottawa, 
where  they  were  discharged  by  Gov.  Reynolds,  on  the  27th 
and  28th  of  May. 

This  sudden  disbanding,  without  a  battle,  and  with  no 
results  accomplished,  was  a  disappointment  to  the  young 
captain  from  Menard  county.  Gov.  Reynolds  had  previously 
issued  a  call  for  two  thousand  new  volunteers,  to  assemble  at- 
Beardstown  and  Hennepin.  In  accordance  with  the  wishes 
of  Lincoln,  and  others,  who  were  still  ready  to  bear  their  share 
of  the  campaign,  to  its  close,  the  Governor  also  asked  for  the 
formation  of  a  volunteer  regiment  from  those  just  discharged. 
Lincoln  promptly  enrolled  himself  as  a  private,  as  did  also 
General  Whiteside. 

Before  the  arrival  of  the  other  levies,  a  skirmishing  fight 
with  the  Indians  was  had  at  Burr  Oak  Grove,  on  the  18th  of 
June,  in  which  the  enemy  was  defeated,  with  considerable 
loss,  and  on  the  side  of  the  volunteers,  two  killed  and  one 
wounded. 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  43 

The  Winnebagoes  and  Pottawatomies  now  showed  a  deci 
dedly  hostile  disposition  toward  the  whites,  and  an  inclination 
to  join  the  movement  of  Black-Hawk.  Accordingly,  with  the 
appearance  of  the  new  levies,  which  had  been  divided  into 
three  regiments,  and  tH^ir  junction  with  the  regular  and  volun 
teer  forces  already  in  the  field — the  whole  number  of  volunteers 
alone  being  thirty-two  hundred — the  army  was  placed  in  a 
formidable  and  effective  attitude  for  offensive  warfare.  Mean 
time  the  Indian  atrocities  continued,  their  acts  of  signal 
treachery  and  cruelty  rendering  an  efficient  prosecution  of  the 
war,  to  its  termination,  indispensable.  Galena,  then  a  village 
of  about  four  hundred  inhabitants,  was  surrounded  by  the  des 
perate  enemy,  and  in  imminent  danger  of  attack.  Apple 
River  Fort,  twelve  miles  from  Galena,  had  already  been  made 
the  object  of  a  fierce  and  persevering  attack,  by  Black-Hawk 
himself  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  of  his  warriors,  and  obstinately 
defended  by  twenty-five  men,  during  fifteen  hours  of  constant 
fighting,  ending  with  the  retreat  of  the  Indians,  with  no  slight 
loss.  Within  the  fort,  one  man  was  killed  and  another 
wounded.  Straggling  parties  of  Indians,  at  various  points, 
made  attacks  upon  the  whites,  producing  constant  alarm  and 
excitement  through  that  part  of  the  country. 

The  new  forces,  under  command  of  Gen.  Atkinson,  of  the 
regular  army,  were  at  length  put  in  motion,  detachments 
being  sent  out  in  different  directions.  A  severe  fight  was  had 
at  Kellogg's  Grove,  in  the  midst  of  the  Indian  country,  on  the 
25th  of  June,  resulting  in  the  retreat  of  the  Indians,  with 
much  loss.  Five  whites  were  killed,  and  three  wounded.  A 
detachment  under  Gen.  Alexander  was  stationed  in  a  position 
to  intercept  the  Indians,  should  they  attempt  to  re-cross  the 
Mississippi. 

Meanwhile,  it  was  understood  that  Black-Hawk  had  concen 
trated  his  forces,  in  a  fortified  position,  at  the  Four  Lakes, 
awaiting  the  issue  of  a  general*  battle.  Gen.  Atkinson  moved 
in  that  direction,  with  all  possible  celerity,  and  encamped  a 
mile  above  Turtle  Village,  on  the  open  prairie,  not  far  from 
Rock  river,  on  the  30th  of  June.  The  appearance  of  hostile 
Indians,  prowling  around  his  encampment,  showed  that  their 


44  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

progress  was  watched,  but  they  were  not  attacked.  Next  day, 
with  numerous  re-enforcements,  Gen.  Atkinson's  troops  reached 
Burnt  Village,  a  Winncbago  town  on  the  Whitewater  river. 
They  were  now  in  a  strange  country,  in  which,  for  want  of 
correct  information,  they  were  obliged  to  advance  slowly  and 
cautiously.  There  were  traces  of  hostile  Indians  in  the  vicin 
ity,  and  next  day  two  soldiers,  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
camp,  were  fired  upon  by  them,  and  one  seriously  wounded. 
But  from  this  point  it  was  difficult  to  discover  the  trail  of  tho 
enemy. 

Nearly  two  months  had  now  passed  since  the  opening  of  the 
campaign,  and  its  purpose  seemed  as  remote  from  accomplish 
ment  as  ever.  The  new  volunteers  had  many  of  them  become 
discontented,  like  the  former  ones.  Their  number  had  in  fact 
become  reduced  one-half.  The  wearisome  marches,  the  delays, 
the  privations  and  exposures3  had  proved  to  them  that  this 
service  was  no  pastime,  and  that  its  romance  was  not  what  it 
seemed  in  the  distance.  They  sickened  of  such  service,  and 
were  glad  to  escape  from  its  restraints.  Not  so,  however,  with 
Lincoln,  who  had  found  in  reality  the  kind  of  exciting  adven 
ture  which  his  spirit  craved.  While  others  murmured,  and 
took  their  departure,  he  remained  true  and  persistent,  no  less 
eager  for  the  fray,  or  ambitious  to  play  a  genuine  soldier's 
part,  than  at  the  beginning.  Hardship  was  not  new  to  him, 
and  he  had  a  physical  energy  and  endurance  that  would  not 
be  wearied  into  untimely  discouragement. 

It  was  not  destined,  however,  that  he  should  bo  actively 
engaged  in  any  battle  more  serious  than  those  encounters 
already  mentioned.  The  forces  were  divided  and  dispersed  in 
different  directions,  on  the  10th  of  July,  with  a  view  to  obtain 
ing  supplies.  Two  days  later,  news  was  received  that  Black- 
Hawk  was  thirty-five  miles  above  Gen.  Atkinson,  on  Rock 
river.  A  plan  of  Generals  Alexander,  Henry,  and  others,  to 
take  him  by  surprise,  without  awaiting  orders,  was  frustrated 
by  their  troops  refusing  to  follow  them.  Gen.  Henry  finally 
set  out  in  pursuit  of  the  Indians,  on  the  15th  of  July,  but 
was  misled  by  treachery.  He  continued  on  for  several  days, 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  45 

acauirin-  better   information,  passing  the  beautiful  country 
a round  tie  Pour  Lakes,  the  present  site  of  Madison,  Wiscon- 
Bin,  and  after  another  day's  hard  march  came  close  upon   he 
ret  eating  Indians,   and  finally  overtook  them  on   the  21st. 
They  were  immediately   charged  upon,  and  driven  along  the 
V,h  bluff*  of  the  Wisconsin,  and  down  upon, the  river  bottom. 
The  Indians  lost  sixty-eight  killed,  and  of  the  large  number 
wounded,  twenty-five  were  afterward  found  dead  on  their  trai 
Sg  to  the  Mississippi.     The  regulars,  in  this  engagement 
on  ^Wisconsin,  were  commanded  by  Gen.  (then  Colonel) 
LCHABY  T  A  YLOK,  afterward  President  of  the  United  States^ 
Gen    Henry,  of  Illinois,   and  Col.  Dodge  (afterward  United 
States  Senator),  were  chief  commanders  of  the  volunteers 

Waitin-  two  days  at  the  Blue  Mounds,  the  forces  still  m 
the  field  were  all  united,  and  a  hard  pursuit  resumed  through 
the  forest,  down  the  Wisconsin.  On  the  fourth  day  they 
reached  the  Mississippi,  which  some  of  the  Indians  hau  already 
crossed  while  the  others  were  preparing  to  do  so. 
of  the  Bad-Axe  here  brought  the  war  to  a  close,  with  the  cap 
ture  of  Black-Hawk  and  his  surviving  warriors. 

Mr  Lincoln,  as  yet  a  youth  of  but  twenty-three,  faithfully 
discharged  his  duty  to  his  country,  as  a  soldier,  persevering 
amid  peculiar  hardships,  and  against  the  influences  of  older 
men  around  him,  during  the  three  months'  service  of  this 
first  and  last  military  campaign. 

Sarcastically  commenting  on  the  efforts  of  Gen.  Cass    biog 
raphers  to  render  him  conspicuous   as  a  military  hero,  Mr. 
Lincoln,  in  a  Congressional  speech,  delivered  during  the  can 
vass  of  1848,  made  a  humorous  and  characteristic  reference  t 
his   own  experience  as  a  soldier.     We  give  his  language   on 
this  occasion,  as  a  suitable  pendent  to  our  sketch  of  this  pei 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  youth  : 

«  By  the  way,  Mr.  Speaker,  did  you  know  I  am  a  military 
hero  ?  Yes,  sir,  in  the  days  of  the  Black-Hawk  war,  I  fought, 
bled  and  came  away.  Speaking  of  Gen.  Cass'  career,  reminds 
me  of  my  own.  I  was  not  at  Stillman's  defeat,  but  I  was 
about  as  near  it  as  Cass  to  Hull's  surrender  ;  and  like  him,  I 
Baw  the  place  very  soon  afterward.  It  is  quite  certain  I  did 


46  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

not  break  my  word,  for  I  had  none  to  break  ;  but  I  bent  a 
musket  pretty  badly  on  one  occasion.  If  Cass  broke  his  sword, 
the  idea  is,  he  broke  it  in  desperation ;  I  bent  the  musket  by 
accident.  If  Gen.  Cass  went  in  advance  of  me  in  picking 
whortleberries,  I  guess  I  surpassed  him  in  charges  upon  the 
wild  onions.  If  he  saw  any  live,  fighting  Indians,  it  was  more 
than  I  did,  but  I  tad  a  good  many  bloody  struggles  with  the 
mosquitoes ;  and  although  I  never  fainted  from  loss  of  blood, 
I  can  truly  say  I  was  often  very  hungry. 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  if  I  should  ever  conclude  to  doff  whatever 
our  Democratic  friends  may  suppose  there  is  of  black-cockade 
Federalism  about  me,  and,  thereupon,  they  should  take  me  up 
as  their  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  I  protest  they  shall  not 
make  fun  of  me  as  they  have  of  Gen.  Cass,  by  attempting  to 
write  me  into  a  military  hero." 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  47 


CHAPTER  V. 

EIGHT    YEARS   IN   THE   LEGISLATURE   OF    ILLINOIS — 1834-41. 

A  New  Period  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  Life. — His  Political  Opinions. — Clay 
and  Jackson. — Mr.  Lincoln  a  Candidate  for  Representative. — Ilia 
Election  in  1834. — Illinois  Strongly  Democratic. — Mr.  Lincoln  as  a 
Surveyor. — Land  Speculation  Mania. — Mr.  Lincoln's  First  Appear 
ance  in  the  Legislature. — Banks  and  Internal  Improvements. — Whig 
Measures  Democratically  Botched. — First  Meeting  of  Lincoln  with 
Douglas. — The  Latter  Seeks  an  Office  of  the  Legislature  and  Gets  it. — 
Mr.  Lincoln  Re-elected  in  1836. — Mr.  Douglas  also  a  Member  of 
the  House. — Distinguished  Associates. — Internal  Improvements 
Again. — Mr  Lincoln's  Views  on  Slavery. — The  Capital  Removed  to 
Springfield.— The  New  Metropolis.— The  Revulsion  of  1837.— Mr. 
Lincoln  Chosen  for  a  Third  Term. — John  Calhoun  of  Lecomptou 
Memory. — Lincoln  the  Whig  Leader,  and  Candidate  for  Speaker. — 
Close  Vote. — First  Session  at  Springfield. — Lincoln  Re-elected  in 
1840. — PartisanRemodelingof  the  Supreme  Court. — Lincoln  Declines 
Further  Service  in  the  Legislature. — His  Position  as  a  Statesman  at 
the  Close  of  this  Period. — A  Tribune  of  the  People. 

WE  now  approach  the  period  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  transition  to 
the  more  natural  position  in  which,  as  a  professional  man  and 
a  statesman,  he  was  to  attain  that  success  and  eminence  for 
which  his  rare  endowments  fitted  him.  Hitherto,  he  had  been 
unconsciously  undergoing  a  varied  training,  the  whole  tendency 
of  which,  if  rightly  subjected  afterward  to  a  high  purpose  in 
life,  could  not  fail  to  be  advantageous.  He  had  learned  much 
of  the  world,  and  of  men,  and  gained  some  true  knowledge  of 
himself.  The  discipline  of  those  hard  years  of  toil  and  penury, 
so  manfully  and  cheerfully  gone  through  with,  was  of  more 
value  to  him,  as  time  was  to  prove,  than  any  heritage  of  wealth 
or  of  ancestral  eminence  could  have  been.  Still  the  conflict 
with  an  adverse  fortune  was  to  continue;  but  from  this  time 


48  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

onward,  a  more  genial  future  began  to  shape  itself  in  the  hopes 
and  aspirations  of  the  self-reliant  youth.  His  later  experi 
ences  had  shown  him  more  clearly  that  he  was  not  to  be  a 
mere  private  in  the  great  battle  of  life,  but  that  he  had  certain 
qualities  which  could  place  him  at  the  head  of  a  brigade  or  of 
a  column,  if  he  were  so  minded.  Nor  was  he  indifferent  to 
the  good  opinion  of  his  fellow-men.  The  confessed  satisfac 
tion  which  the  captaincy  of  a  company  of  volunteers  had  given 
him,  as  the  expressed  preference  of  a  hundred  or  two  of  asso 
ciates  for  him  above  all  others,  as  a  leader,  showed  that,  however 
distrustful  as  yet  of  his  own  powers,  he  was  not  without  ambi 
tion,  or  unable  to  appreciate  popular  honors. 

This  campaign  likewise,  besides  the  excitements  of  varied 
adventure  which  it  afforded,  so  niuch  to  his  natural  inclination, 
had  brought  him  in  contact  with  inspiring  influences  and 
associations,  and  had  demonstrated,  and  doubtless  improved,  his 
powers  of  fixing  the  esteem  and  admiration  of  those  around 
him.  He  had  been,  as  is  told  of  him,  a  wild  sort  of  a  boy, 
and  in  his  peculiar  way  he  had  attached  his  associates  to  him 
to  a  remarkable  degree.  This  will  be  seen  from  a  circum 
stance  to  be  presently  related.  His  horizon  had  been  enlarged 
and  his  dreams  ennobled.  Meantime,  it  is  to  be  remembered, 
that  he  had  come  home  from  the  Black-Hawk  war  with  no 
definite  business  to  resort  to,  and  still  under  a  necessity  of 
devoting  his  chief  and  immediate  energies  to  self-support. 

He  has,  then,  reached  a  new  epoch  of  his  youth,  at  this 
date,  and  entered  on  another  distinct  period  of  his  history. 
Proof  of  this  we  shall  find  in  the  fact  that  he  became,  on 
returning  home,  a  candidate  for  representative  in  the  State 
Legislature,  the  election  of  which  was  close  at  hand.  A 
youth  of  twenty-three,  and  not  at  all  generally  known  through 
the  county,  or  able,  in  the  brief  time  allowed,  to  make  him 
self  so,  it  may  have  an  appearance  of  presumption  for  him  to 
have  allowed  the  use  of  his  name  as  a  candidate.  He  was  not 
elected,  certainly,  and  could  hardly  have  thought  such  an  event 
possible ;  yet  the  noticeable  fact  remains  that  he  received  so 
wonderful  a  vote  in  his  own  precinct,  where  he  was  best 
if  not  almost  exclusively  known,  as  may  almost  be  said  to 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  49 

have  made  his  fortune.  His  precinct  (he  had  now  settled  in 
Sangamon  county)  was  strongly  for  Jackson,  while  Lincoln 
had,  from  the  start,  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  Henry  Clay. 
The  State  election  occurred  in  August,  and  the  Presidential 
election  two  or  three  months  later,  the  same  season.  Political 
feeling  ran  high,  at  this  the  second  election  (as  it  proved)  of 
Jackson.  Notwithstanding  this,  such  was  the  popularity 
which  young  Lincoln  had  brought  home  with  him  from  the 
war,  that  out  of  the  two  hundred  and  eighty-four  votes  cast 
in  his  precinct,  two  hundred  and  seventy-seven — the  entire 
vote  wanting  seven — were  cast  for  him.  Yet,  a  little  later  in 
the  same  canvass,  Gen.  Jackson  received  a  majority  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty-five  for  the  Presidency,  from  the  very  same 
men,  over  Mr.  Clay,  whose  cause  Lincoln  was  known  to  favor. 
So  marked  an  indication  as  this  of  his  personal  power  to  draw 
votes,  made  him  a  political  celebrity  at  once.  In  future  elec 
tions  it  became  a  point  with  aspirants  to  seek  to  combine  his 
strength  in  their  favor,  by  placing  Lincoln's  name  on  their 
ticket,  to  secure  his  battalion  of  voters.  When  he  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature  for  the  first  time,  two  years  later,  his  major 
ity  ranged  about  two  hundred  votes  higher  than  the  rest  of  the 
ticket  on  which  he  ran. 

Such  was  the  beginning  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  political  life,  almost 
in  his  boyhood.  This  is  the  proper  place  to  pause  and  review, 
in  a  brief  way,  the  state  of  political  affairs  in  Illinois,  at 
the  time  of  his  first  appearance  upon  this  public  arena.  "We 
shall  find  the  revolution  which  has  been  wrought — Mr.  Lin 
coln,  though  for  long  years  in  an  apparently  hopeless  minority 
in  the  State,  having  been  always  a  foremost  leader  on  the  side 
opposed  to  the  Democracy — to  be  scarcely  less  remarkable  than 
his  youthful  successes  at  the  polls. 

At  the  date  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  arrival — when  just  of  age — in 
the  State  of  Illinois,  Glen.  Jackson  was  in  the  midst  of  his 
first  Presidential  term.  Since  1826  every  general  election  in 
that  State  had  resulted  decisively  in  favor  of  his  friends. 
In  August,  1830,  the  first  election  after  Lincoln  became  a 
resident  of  the  State,  and  before  he  was  a  qualified  voter,  the 
only  rival  candidates  for  Governor,  were  both  of  the  same 
5 


50  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

strongly  predominant  party.  The  Legislature  then  elected 
had  a  large  majority  on  that  side.  In  1832,  Gen.  Jackson 
received  the  electoral  vote  of  Illinois,  for  the  second  time, 
by  a  decisive  majority.  The  Legislature  of  1834  was  so 
strongly  Democratic,  that  the  Whig  members  did  not  have 
any  candidates  of  their  own,  in  organizing  the  House,  but 
chose  rather  to  exercise  the  little  power  they  had  in  favor  of 
such  Democratic  candidate  as  they  preferred.  Against  such 
odds,  as  we  shall  see,  the  opponents  of  that  party  struggled 
long  and  in  vain.  Even  the  great  political  tornado  which 
swept  over  so  large  a  portion  of  the  Union  in  1840,  made  no 
decisive  impression  upon  Illinois.  In  spite  of  all  these  diffi 
culties  and  discouragements,  Mr.  Lincoln  adhered  steadily  to 
his  faith,  never  once  dreaming  of  seeking  profit  in  compliance, 
or  in  a  compromise  of  his  honest  principles.  Henry  Clay  was 
his  model  as  a  statesman,  and  always  continued  such,  while 
any  issues  were  left  to  contend  for,  of  the  celebrated  American 
system  of  the  great  Kentuckian. 

During  the  time  Mr.  Lincoln  was  pursuing  his  law  studies, 
and  making  his  first  practical  appearance  with  political  life, 
he  turned  his  attention  to  the  business  of  a  surveyor  as  a 
means  of  support.  The  mania  for  speculation  in  Western 
lands  and  lots  was  beginning  to  spread  over  the  country  at  this 
time ;  and  while  our  young  student  of  law  had  neither  means 
nor  inclination  to  embark  in  any  such  enterprise  for  himself,  it 
was  the  means  of  bringing  him  some  profitable  employment 
with  the  chain  and  compass.  From  the  earliest  grand  center 
of  these  operations  in  lands  and  town  lots,  Chicago,  which  had 
also  itself  furnished,  even  then,  most  remarkable  examples  of 
fortunes  easily  made,  the  contagion  spread  everywhere  through 
the  State.  Towns  and  cities  without  number  were  laid  out  in 
all  directions,  and  innumerable  fortunes  were  made,  in  anti 
cipation,  by  the  purchase  of  lots  in  all  sorts  of  imaginary  cities, 
during  the  four  or  five  years  preceding  the  memorable  crisis 
and  crash  of  1837.  It  was  during  the  year  previous  to  that 
consummation,  that  this  business  had  reached  its  hight  in 
Illinois.  With  the  revulsion,  came  also  a  brief  period  of 
adversity  to  the  successful  surveyor,  whose  occupation  was  now 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  51 

gone.  It  is  said  that  even  his  surveying  instruments  were 
sold  under  the  hammer.  But  this  change  only  served  to  estab 
lish  him  more  exclusively  and  permanently  in  his  profession 
of  the  law. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  first  election  to  the  Illinois  Legislature,  as  has 
been  stated,  was  in  1834.  His  associates  on  the  ticket  were  Major 
John  T.  Stuart  (two  or  three  years  later  elected  to  Congress), 
John  Dawson  and  William  Carpenter.  All  were  decided  Clay 
men,  or,  as  the  party  in  that  State  was  first  styled,  Democratic 
Republicans.  About  this  time,  the  name  of  Whigs  had  begun 
to  be  their  current  designation.  Lincoln  was  the  youngest 
member  of  this  Legislature,  with  the  single  exception  of  Hon 
Jesse  K.  Dubois,  of  Lawrence  county,  afterward  State  Auditor 
of  Illinois,  who  served  with  him  during  his  entire  legislative 
career.  He  had  not  yet  acquired  position  as  a  lawyer,  or  even 
been  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  had  his  reputation  to  make,  no 
less,  as  a  politician  and  orator.  At  this  time  he  was  very  plain 
in  his  costume,  as  well  as  rather  uncourtly  in  his  address  and 
general  appearance.  His  clothing  was  of  homely  Kentucky 
jean,  and  the  first  impression  made  by  his  tall,  lank  figure, 
upon  those  who  saw  him,  was  not  specially  prepossessing.  He 
had  not  outgrown  his  hard  backwoods  experience,  and  showed 
no  inclination  to  disguise  or  to  cast  behind  him  the  honest  and 
manly,  though  unpolished  characteristics  of  his  earlier  days. 
Never  was  a  man  further  removed  from  all  snobbish  affectation. 
As  little  was  there,  also,  of  the  demagogue  art  of  assuming  an 
uncouthness  or  rusticity  of  manner  and  outward  habit,  with  the 
mistaken  notion  of  thus  securing  particular  favor  as  u  one  of 
the  masses."  He  chose  to  appear  then,  as  in  all  his  later  life, 
precisely  what  he  was.  His  deportment  was  unassuming, 
though  without  any  awkwardness  of  reserve. 

During  this,  his  first  session  in  the  Legislature,  he  was 
taking  lessons,  as  became  his  youth  and  inexperience,  and 
preparing  himself  for  the  future,  by  close  observation  and 
attention  to  business,  rather  than  by  a  prominent  participation 
in  debate.  He  seldom  or  never  took  the  floor  to  speak, 
although  before  the  close  of  this  and  the  succeeding  special 
session  of  the  same  Legislature,  he  had  shown,  as  previously 


52  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

in  every  other  capacity  in  which  he  was  engaged,  qualities  that 
clearly  pointed  to  him  as  fitted  to  act  a  leading  part.  One  of 
his  associates  from  Sangamon  county,  Major  Stuart,  was  now 
the  most  prominent  member  on  the  Whig  side  of  the  House. 

The  organization  of  this  Legislature ,  was,  of  course,  in  the 
hands  of  the  Democrats.  The  Speaker  was  Hon.  James 
Semple,  afterward  United  States  Senator.  In  the  selection  of 
his  committees,  he  assigned  Lincoln  the  second  place  on  the 
Committee  on  Public  Accounts  and  Expenditures,  as  if  with 
an  intuition,  in  advance  of  acquaintance,  of  the  propriety  of 
setting  "  Honest  Abe  "  to  look  after  the  public  treasury. 

Hon.  Joseph  Duncan,  then  a  member  of  Congress,  had  been 
elected  Governor  at  the  same  time  this  Legislature  was  chosen, 
over  Mr.  Kinney,  also  a  Democrat,  and  of  what  was  then  termed 
the  "whole  hog  "  Jackson  school.  Notwithstanding  the  strong 
preponderance  of  the  Democrats  in  both  branches  of  the  Legis 
lature,  and  in  the  State,  it  is  noticeable  that  in  the  distinguish 
ing  measures  of  Whig  policy,  in  this  as  in  subsequent  years, 
the  minority  found  their  principles  repeatedly  in  the  ascendant, 
though  unable  to  control  the  details  of  their  practical  applica 
tion.  This  was  true  more  particularly  in  regard  to  banks  and 
internal  improvements.  Though  inferior  in  numbers,  the 
Whigs  had  superiority  in  ability,  and  in  the  real  popularity 
and  genuine  democracy  of  their  doctrines. 

General  attention  had  now  come  to  be  strongly  fixed  upon 
the  remarkable  natural  advantages  and  resources  of  the  new 
State  of  Illinois.  Land  speculation,  as  we  have  seen,  had 
already  begun  to  bring  in  Eastern  money,  and  the  population 
was  rapidly  increasing.  According  to  the  Whig  policy,  it  now 
became  desirable  that  every  proper  and  reasonable  legislative 
aid  should  be  afforded  to  further  the  development  of  the  latent 
power  of  this  young  commonwealth,  and  its  progress  toward 
the  high  rank  among  the  States  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  which 
had  been  indicated  and  provided  for  by  nature.  Despite  the 
strong  Democratic  predominancy  in  this  Legislature,  therefore, 
a  new  State  bank,  with  a  capital  of  one  million  and  five  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars,  was  incorporated,  and  the  Illinois  bank 
at  Shawneetown,  which  had  suspended  for  twelve  years,  waa 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  53 

re-chartered,  with  a  capital  of  three  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
It  is  to  be  noticed,  however,  that  this  bank  legislation,  just  like 
that  of  many  other  States,  similarly  circumstanced,  while  it 
fully  indorsed  the  Whig  policy,  in  its  fundamental  principle, 
was  by  no  means  so  skillfully  done  or  so  safely  guarded  as  it 
should  have  been,  and  habitually  was  done  in  those  States 
where  the  Whigs  were  in  the  ascendant.  Whatever  troubles 
have  accrued  in  Illinois,  under  this  head,  have  been  chiefly 
due  to  the  fact  that  Whig  measures  were  not  rightly  shaped 
and  executed  by  Democratic  hands.  Whig  measures,  framed 
and  carried  out  by  Democrats,  have  too  often  ended  in  a  mere 
botch.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  observable  that  these  imper 
fect,  yet  plausible  concessions  to  the  public  welfare,  have  often 
saved  the  Democratic  party,  at  the  expense  of  the  real  interest 
involved.  The  State  bank  charter  passed  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  by  one  majority. 

This  Legislature  also  gave  some  attention  to  what  are 
technically  called  internal  improvements  within  the  State.  In 
behalf  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  the  company  for 
constructing  which  had  been  incorporated  in  1825,  a  loan  was 
agitated  at  the  first  session.  Congress  had  granted  for  this 
work,  in  1826,  about  300,000  acres  of  land  on  the  proposed 
route  of  the  canal.  But  for  a  special  message  of  Gov.  Duncan, 
maintaining  that  the  desired  loan  could  be  effected  on  a  pledge 
of  these  canal  lands  alone,  it  is  probable  that  the  loan  bill, 
reported  by  a  Senator  from  Sangamon  county,  named  George 
Forquer,  would  have  passed.  At  the  next  .session,  in  1835, 
this  measure  was  carried,  a  bill  pledging  the  credit  of  the  State 
in  behalf  of  the  Canal  Company,  to  the  amount  originally  pro 
posed,  having  become  a  law.  The  loan  was  negotiated  by  Gov. 
Duncan  the  next  year,  and  the  Work  on  this  important  canal  was 
commenced  in  June,  1836.  At  the  same  special  session,  a  large 
number  of  railroads,  without  State  aid,  were  chartered,  includ 
ing  the  Illinois  Central  and  the  Galena  and  Chicago  routes. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  state  more  distinctly  that  these 
measures,  securing,  with  all  the  defects  of  their  origin,  immense 
benefits  to  the  people  of  Illinois,  and  in  their  spirit  accordant 
with  the  great  principles  of  the  "American  system,"  were  sup- 


54  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

ported  by  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  Whig  associates.  Not  all  they 
desired,  these  measures  were  yet  the  nearest  approach  to  their 
wishes  that  could  be  obtained  of  the  majority. 

It  was  during  the  regular  session  of  this  Legislature,  that 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  not  himself  a  member,  became  first  known 
to  Mr.  Lincoln.  Late  in  the  year  1833,  Mr.  Douglas,  then  in 
his  twenty-first  year,  had  migrated  to  Illinois  (Vermont  being 
his  native  State),  and  commenced  teaching  a  district  school  in 
Winchester,  Scott  county.  During  the  succeeding  year,  he 
gave  a  portion  of  his  time  to  the  study  of  law,  taking  part  also 
in  the  political  affairs  of  his  locality.  The  Legislature,  at  this 
session,  had  taken  from  the  Governor  the  power  of  appointing 
State's  attorneys  for  the  several  judicial  districts,  and  provided 
that  these  officers  should  be  elected  by  the  Legislature,  in  joint 
convention.  Though  he  had  been  but  a  little  more  than  a  year 
in  the  State,  and  was  scarcely  to  be  regarded  as  an  expert  in 
the  profession  of  the  law,  Mr.  Douglas  presented  himself  before 
the  Legislature  as  a  candidate  for  State's  attorney  for  the  first 
judicial  district,  against  Mr.  Hardin,  a  distinguished  lawyer, 
then  in  office.  The  movement  was  so  adroit,  that  the  youthful 
advocate  distanced  his  unsuspecting  competitor,  receiving  thir 
ty-eight  votes  to  thirty-six  cast  against  him.  Mr.  Lincoln  had 
not  only  preceded  Mr.  Douglas  as  a  resident  of  Illinois, 
but,  also,  as  thus  seen,  in  gaining  a  political  standing  in  the 
State. 

In  183G,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected  fora  second  term,  as  one  of 
the  seven  representatives  from  Sangamon  county.  Among  his 
associates  were  Mr.  Dawson,  re-elected,  and  Ninian  W.  Edwards. 
Mr.  Douglas  was  one  of  the  representatives  from  Morgan 
county  (to  which  he  had  recently  removed),  and  along  with 
him  Mr.  Hardin,  whom  he  had  managed  to  supersede  as  State's 
attorney  in  1835.  The  latter  (who  was  subsequently  in  Con 
gress,  and  who  fell  at  Buena  Vista)  was  the  only  Whig  elected 
from  that  county,  the  other  five  representatives  being  Demo 
crats.  This  canvass  in  Morgan  county  is  memorable  for 
introducing  in  Illinois,  through  the  aid  of  Douglas,  the 
convention  system,  the  benefit  of  which  he  was  subsequently 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  55 

to  reap  in  the  local  contests  of  that  State.  He  had  been  put  on 
the  representative  ticket  to  fill  a  vacancy  occasioned  by  the 
declinature  of  one  of  the  candidates,  having  failed  himself 
in  this  instance  to  secure  a  nomination  from  the  convention. 
He  was  never  again  elected  to  the  Legislature,  having  in  fact 
vacated  his  seat  after  the  first  session,  and  accepted  the  federal 
appointment  of  Register  in  the  land  office  at  Springfield. 

In  this  House,  as  in  that  which  immediately  preceded,  the 
Democrats  had  a  decided  majority.  Gen.  Semple  was  re-elected 
Speaker.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  assigned  a  place  on  the  Com 
mittee  on  Finance.  In  addition  to  those  we  have  already 
named,  the  House  included  many  men  of  ability,  who  have 
been  distinguished  in  the  politics  of  the  State  or  of  the  nation, 
among  whom  were  James  Shields,  Augustus  C.  Frenchj  Robert 
Smith,  John  Dougherty,  W.  A.  Richardson,  and  John  A.  Mc- 
Clernand.  At  the  two  sessions  of  this  Legislature,  in  1836 
and  '37,  Mr.  Lincoln  came  forward  more  prominently  in  debate 
gradually,  becoming  recognized  as  the  leading  man  on  the 
AVhig  side. 

The  subject  of  internal  improvements  became  one  of  the 
most  prominent  ones  before  this  Legislature,  as  had  happened 
with  the  last.  Of  this  policy,  in  a  judiciously  guarded  form, 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  from  the  first  a  stanch  and  efficient 
advocate.  He  held  it  to  be  the  duty  of  Government  to  extend 
its  fostering  aid,  in  every  Constitutional  way,  and  to  a  reason 
able  extent,  to  whatever  enterprise  of  public  utility  required 
such  assistance,  in  order  to  the  fullest  development  of  the 
natural  resources,  and  to  the  most  rapid  healthful  growth  of 
the  State.  The  Democratic  party,  while  professing  the  let- 
alone  (laissez  faire)  principle  in  general,  was  compelled  to  fol 
low  pretty  closely  in  the  wake  of  its  adversary,  in  some  of  its 
most  distinctive  features  of  public  policy.  The  question  of 
internal  improvements  was  one  of  these.  And  while  the  Dem 
ocrats  had  a  decided  majority  of  the  members  of  each  House, 
it  was  understood  that,  by  the  aid  of  pledges  made  contrary  to 
Democratic  teaching  in  general,  a  majority  for  liberal  legisla 
tion  in  regard  to  internal  improvements  had  likewise  been 
secured.  The  business,  in  fact,  under  the  grand  excitement  of 


56  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  flush  times  of  1836,  was  somewhat  overdone,  and  through 
subsequent  mismanagement  and  the  revulsion  of  the  next  year, 
matters  were  eventually  made  still  worse.  The  voice  of  the 
people  was  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  the  legislation  which 
was  granted.  Even  Whigs  like  Mr.  Lincoln,  were  outstripped 
by  some  ardent  Democrats — Mr.  Douglas  among  them — in  zeal 
for  these  improvements ;  they  having  unfortunately,  as  noticed 
in  the  case  of  bank-legislation,  in  appropriating  the  principle, 
failed  to  understand  its  most  skillful  and  safe  application  in 
practice. 

At  the  first  session  of  1836-7,  about  1,300  miles  of  railroad 
were  provided  for,  in  various  quarters,  the  completion  of  the  Illi 
nois  and  Michigan  Canal,  from  Chicago  to  Peru,  and  the  im 
provement  of  the  navigation  of  the  Kaskaskia,  Illinois,  Eock, 
and  Great  and  Little  Wabash  rivers  ;  requiring  in  all  a  loan  of 
$8,000,000.  This  included  the  novel  appropriation  of  82,000,000 
to  be  distributed  among  those  counties  through  which  none  of 
the  proposed  improvements  were  to  be  made.  The  system 
voted  by  the  Legislature  was  on  a  most  magnificent  scale,  such 
as  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio  or  Indiana  had  not  surpassed. 
This  system  of  internal  improvement,  with  Democratic  varia 
tions,  having  scarcely  been  inaugurated  when  the  crash  of  1837 
came,  did  not  entirely  correspond  in  practice  with  what  it  had 
promised  in  theory. 

There  was  also  a  considerable  addition  made  to  the  banking 
capital  of  the  State  at  this  session. 

During  the  winter,  resolutions  of  an  extreme  Southern  char 
acter  on  the  slavery  question,  were  introduced,  and,  after  dis 
cussion,  adopted  by  the  Democratic  majority.  The -attempt 
was,  of  course,  made  to  aflix  a  character  of  abolitionism  to  all 
those  who  refused  assent  to  these  extreme  views.  At  that 
time,  the  public  sentiment  of  the  North  was  not  aroused  on 
the  subject,  as  it  became  a  few  years  later,  in  consequence  of 
pro-slavery  aggressions.  Yet  Mr.  Lincoln  refused  to  vote  for 
these  resolutions,  and  exercised  his  Constitutional  privilege, 
along  with  one  of  his  colleagues  from  Sangamon  county,  of 
entering  upon  the  Journal  of  the  House  his  reasons  for  thus 
acting.  As  showing  his  sentiments  twenty- three  years  ago, 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  57 

on  this  now  so  prominent  national  question,  the  protest 
referred  to,  as  it  appears  on  the  journal,  is  here  appended 
in  full: 

MARCH  3,  1837. 

The  following  protest  was  presented  to  the  House,  which 
was  read  and  ordered  to  be  spread  on  the  journals,  to  wit  : 

"  Resolutions  upon  the  subject  of  domestic  slavery  having 
passed  both  branches  of  the  General  Assembly,  at  its  present 
session,  the  undersigned  hereby  protest  against  the  passage  of 
the  same. 

"  They  believe  that  the  institution  of  slavery  is  founded  on 
both  injustice  and  bad  policy ;  but  that  the  promulgation 
of  abolition  doctrines  tend  rather  to  increase  than  abate  its 
evils. 

"  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has 
no  power,  under  the  Constitution,  to  interfere  with  the  institu 
tion  of  slavery  in  the  different  States. 

"  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has 
the  power,  under  the  Constitution,  to  abolish  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia ;  but  that  the  power  ought  not  to  be 
exercised,  unless  at  the  request  of  the  people  of  said  District. 

"  The  difference  between  these  opinions  and  those  contained 
in  the  said  resolutions,  is  their  reason  for  entering  this  protest. 
"  (Signed)  "  DAN  STONE, 

"  A.  LINCOLN, 
" Representatives  from  the  County  of  Sangamon" 

On  the  formation  of  the  separate  territory  of  Illinois,  in 
1809,  Kaskaskia,  perhaps  the  oldest  town  in  all  the  Western 
country,  had  been  designated  as  the  capital.  Such  it  con 
tinued  to  be  until  Illinois  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a 
State,  in  1818,  when  Vandalia,  far  up  the  Kaskaskia  river, 
was  laid  out  as  the  new  capital.  For  some  time  it  continued 
to  be  relatively  a  central  location.  But  during  several  years 
immediately  preceding  1837,  the  middle  and  northern  por 
tions  of  the  State  had  filled  so  rapidly  that  the  removal  of 
the  capital  to  a  point  nearer  the  geographical  center  had 
become  manifestly  expedient.  At  this  session,  accordingly, 
an  act  was  passed  changing  the  seat  of  government  to  Spring 
field,  the  principal  town  in  the  interior  of  the  State,  from  and 
after  the  4th  day  of  July,  1839.  To  the  people  of  Sangamon 
county,  whom  Mr.  Lincoln  represented,  this  was  of  course  a 


58  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

most  satisfactory  measure,  and  by  the  State  at  large  it  was 
received  with  general  approbation.  Vandalia,  which  had 
reached  a  population  of  about  two  thousand,  dwindled  away 
for  a  time,  until  it  had  but  about  one-fourth  that  number  of 
inhabitants,  though  of  late  years  it  has  revived.  Springfield 
has  steadily  advanced,  since  this  period,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  interior  towns  of  the  West.  The  prairie  coun 
try  for  scores  of  miles  around  is  as  charming  in  appearance 
and  as  fertile  in  its  productions  as  any  tract  of  like  extent  on 
the  face  of  the  earth.  It  is  greatly  to  the  credit  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln's  good  taste  and  sagacity  that,  when  he  came  to  his 
majority,  he  fixed  upon  such  a  locality  for  his  home,  fore 
seeing  for  this  spot  a  successful  future,  to  which  (altogether 
beyond  his  anticipations)  his  influence,  in  183G,  added  a  mate 
rial  advantage,  and  his  presence,  in  1860,  gave  a  national  luster 
of  renown. 

The  financial  disasters  of  the  spring  of  1837  were  the 
occasion  of  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature  of  Illinois,  in 
July  of  that  year.  The  Governor  asked  for  the  legalization 
of  the  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the  banks  of  the 
State,  which  a  majority  of  botli  Houses  granted.  He  also 
asked  a  repeal  or  modification  of  the  internal  improvement 
system,  which  was  refused.  The  condition  of  affairs  was 
deemed  critical,  and  particularly  so  to  the  prospects  of  the 
Democratic  party,  which  had  just  been  congratulating  itself 
on  the  election  and  inauguration  of  the  successor  of  Gen. 
Jackson,  Martin  Van  Buren,  as  President.  In  Illinois,  that 
party  had  held  unbroken  and  decisive  sway,  from  the  days  of 
the  younger  Adams  down.  Whatever  looseness  of  legislation 
had  contributed  to  these  evils  at  home,  they  were  responsible 
for.  And  in  the  nation,  the  political  dangers  were  felt  to  be 
imminent — so  much  so  that  the  President  had  called  an  extra 
session  of  Congress.  There  was  a  want  of  Democratic  har 
mony,  however,  at  Washington  and  at  Vandalia.  The  doctors 
of  the  party  sat  in  council  at  the  latter  place,  during  the 
special  session,  but  in  the  Legislature  they  only  accomplished 
what  has  been  stated.  It  now  required  the  most  desper 
ate  exertions  to  save  the  Democracy  from  defeat,  and  the 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  59 

Whigs  actively  followed  up  their  advantages.  So  overwhelm 
ing  had  been  the  strength  of  their  opponents,  however,  from 
the  time  that  Mr.  Lincoln  first  appeared  on  the  political  stage, 
and  long  before,  that  while  a  great  change  was  visible  in  the 
results  of  the  next  election,  the  revolution  was  not  yet  to  be 
completed. 

In  1838,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  for  the  third  time  elected  a  rep 
resentative  in  the  Legislature,  for  the  two  years  ensuing. 
Among  the  other  six  representatives  of  Sangamon  county  was 
John  Calhoun,  since  notorious  for  his  connection  with  the 
Lecompton  Constitution.  Availing  himself  of  some  local 
issue  or  other,  and  being  a  man  of  conceded  ability,  of  highly 
respectable  Whig  antecedents  and  connections,  he  had  slipped 
in  by  a  small  majority,  crowding  out  the  lowest  candidate  on 
the  Whig  ticket.  The  remaining  five  were  Whigs,  including 
E.  D.  Baker,  Ninian  W.  Edwards,  and  A.  McCormick.  The 
strength  of  the  two  parties  in  the  House  was  nearly  evenly 
balanced,  the  Democrats  having  only  three  or  four  majority, 
rendering  this  unexpected  gain  particularly  acceptable. 

So  well  recognized  was  now  the  position  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in 
liis  party  that,  by  general  consent,  he  received  the  Whig  vote 
for  the  Speakership.  There  was  a  close  contest,  his  Demo 
cratic  competitors  being  Col.  William  Lee  D.  Ewing,  who  had 
served  with  Lincoln  in  the  Black-Hawk  war.  On  the  fourth 
ballot,  Ewing  had  a  majority  of  one  over  all  others,  two  Whigs 
(including  Mr.  Lincoln)  and  two  Democrats  having  scattered 
their  votes. 

At  the  State  election,  in  August,  1838,  the  Whig  candidate 
for  Governor  made  an  excellent  run,  but  was  defeated  by 
Thomas  Carlin,  Democrat.  State  affairs  were  hardly  brought 
in  issue  in  the  general  canvass.  A  majority  of  the  Legisla 
ture,  at  the  first  session,  was  opposed  to  the  repeal  or  modifi 
cation  of  the  public  works  system,  but  voted  additional 
expenditures  thereon,  to  the  amount  of  $800,000.  At  a 
special  session,  however,  this  body  repealed  the  system,  and 
made  provisions  for  its  gradual  winding  up.  Mr.  Lincoln,  as 
the  Whig  leader,  had  his  position  on  the  Committee  on 
Finance,  and  exerted  his  influence  in  favor  of  wise  counsels, 


60  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

and  such  a  determination  of  affairs  as  would  best  remedy  the 
evils  resulting  from  this  loose  Democratic  tampering  with 
measures  of  Whig  policy. 

Aside  from  these  financial  questions,  there  were  few  matters 
of  any  general  interest  before  this  Legislature.  This  session 
of  1838-9  was  the  last  held  at  Varidalia.  A  special  session  in 
1839,  inaugurated  the  new  state-house  at  Springfield.  The 
great  contest  of  1840  was  already  casting  its  shadow  before, 
and  began  chiefly  to  engross  the  attention  of  persons  in  politi 
cal  life.  Whig  candidates  for  electors  were  nominated  in 
November  of  this  year,  and  discussions  commenced  in  earnest. 
Mr.  Lincoln,  who  was  deemed  one  of  the  strongest  champions 
of  the  cause  before  the  people,  was  repeatedly  called  on  to 
encounter  the  foremost  advocates  of  the  Democratic  party — 
what  no  man  in  Illinois,  it  was  now  manifest,  could  do  more 
successfully. 

For  the  fourth  time  in  succession,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature  in  18-10 — the  last  election  to  that  position 
which  he  would  consent  to  accept  from  his  strongly  attached 
constituents  of  Sangamon  county.  In  this  Legislature,  like 
all  previous  ones  in  which  he  had  served,  the  Democrats 
had  a  majority  in  both  branches,  and  the  responsibility  of  all 
legislation  was  with  them.  It  was  at  this  session  that,  to  over 
rule  a  decision  unacceptable  to  Democrats,  and  for  political 
and  personal  reasons  of  common  notoriety  in  Illinois,  the 
judicial  system  of  the  State  was  changed,  as  desired  by  Mr. 
Douglas,  against  the  judgment  of  many  leading  Democrats, 
and  five  new  judges,  of  whom  Mr.  Douglas  was  one,  were 
added  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State.  This  is  now  gen 
erally  felt  to  be  a  measure  conferring  little  credit  upon  those 
concerned  in  concocting  the  scheme,  and  was  never  heartily 
approved  by  the  people. 

There  was  but  one  session  during  the  two  years  for  which 
this  Legislature  was  chosen.  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  in  the  last,  was 
the  acknowledged  Whig  leader,  and  the  candidate  of  his  party 
for  Speaker.  First  elected  at  twenty-five,  he  had  continued 
in  omce  without  interruption  so  long  as  his  inclination  allowed, 
and  until,  by  his  uniform  courtesy  and  kindness  of  manners, 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  61 

his  marked'  ability,  and  his  straight-forward  integrity,  he  had 
won  an  enviable  repute  throughout  the  State,  and  was  virtually, 
when  but  a  little  past  thirty,  placed  at  the  head  of  his  party  in 
Illinois. 

Begun  in  comparative  obscurity,  and  without  any  adventi 
tious  aids  in  its  progress,  this  period  of  his  life,  at  its  termina 
tion,  had  brought  him  to  a  position  where  he  was  secure  in  the 
confidence  of  the  people,  and  prepared,  in  due  time,  to  enter 
upon  a  more  enlarged  and  brilliant  career,  as  a  national  states 
man.  His  fame  as  a  close  and  convincing  debater  was  estab 
lished.  His  native  talent  as  an  orator  had  at  once  been  dem 
onstrated  and  disciplined.  His  zeal  and  earnestness  in  behalf 
of  a  party  whose  principles  he  believed  to  be  right,  had  rallied 
strong  troops  of  political  friends  about  him,  while  his  unfeigned 
modesty  and  his  unpretending  and  simple  bearing,  in  marked 
contrast  with  that  of  so  many  imperious  leaders,  had  won  him 
general  and  lasting  esteem.  He  preferred  no  claim  as  a  parti 
san,  and  showed  no  overweening  anxiety  to  advance  himself, 
but  was  always  a  disinterested  and  generous  co-worker  with  his 
associates,  only  ready  to  accept  the  post  of  honor  and  of 
responsibility,  when  it  was  clearly  their  will,  and  satisfactory 
to  the  people  whose  interests  were  involved.  At  the  close  of 
this  period,  with  scarcely  any  consciousness  of  the  fact  him 
self,  and  with  no  noisy  demonstrations  or  flashy  ostentation  in 
his  behalf  from  his  friends,  he  was  really  one  of  the  foremost 
political  men  in  the  State.  A  keen  observer  might  even  then 
have  predicted  a  great  future  for  the  "  Sangamon  Chief/'  as  he 
was  sometimes  called  in  Illinois ;  and  only  such  an  observer, 
perhaps,  would  then  have  adequately  estimated  his  real  power 
as  a  natural  orator,  a  sagacious  statesman,  and  a  gallant  TRIB 
UNE  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


62  LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

HIS  SETTLEMENT  AT    SPRINGFIELD    AND   HIS  MARRIAGE.— 

1837-42. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Law  Studies. — His  Perseverance  under  Adverse  Circum 
stances. — Licensed  to  Practice  in  1836. — His  Progress  in  his  Pro 
fession.— His  Qualities  as  an  Advocate. — A  Romantic  and  Exciting 
Incident  in  his  Practice. — A  Reminiscence  of  his  Early  Life. — He 
Renders  a  Material  Service  to  the  Family  of  an  Old  Friend. — An 
Affecting  Scene. — Mr.  Lincoln  Removes  to  Springfield  in  1837. — 
Devotes  Himself  to  his  Profession,  Giving  up  Political  Life.— His 
Marriage. — The  Family  of  Mrs.  Lincoln. — Fortunate  Domestic  Rela 
tions. — His  Children  and  their  Education.— Denominational  Ten 
dencies. — Four  Years'  Retirement. 

DURING  the  time  of  his  service  in  the  Legislature,  Mr.  Lin 
coln  was  busily  engaged  in  mastering  the  profession  of  law. 
This  he  was,  indeed,  compelled  to  do  somewhat  at  intervals, 
and  with  many  disadvantages,  from  the  necessity  he  was  under 
to  support  himself  meanwhile  by  his  own  labor,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  attention  he  was  compelled  to  give  to  politics,  by  the 
position  he  had  accepted.  Nothing,  however,  could  prevent 
his  consummating  his  purpose.  He  completed  his  preliminary 
studies,  and  was  licensed  to  practice  in  1836.  His  reputation 
was  now  such  that  he  found  a  good  amount  of  business,  and 
began  to  rise  to  the  front  rank  in  his  profession.  He  was  a 
most  effective  jury  advocate,  and  manifested  a  ready  percep 
tion  and  a  sound-  judgment  of  the  turning  legal  points  of  a 
case.  His  clear,  practical  sense,  and  his  skill  in  homely  or 
humorous  illustration,  were  noticeable  traits  in  his  arguments. 
The  graces  and  the  cold  artificialities  of  a  polished  rhetoric,  he 
certainly  had  not,  nor  did  he  aim  to  acquire  them.  His  style 
of  expression  and  the  cast  of  his  thought  were  his  own,  having 
all  the  native  force  of  a  genuine  originality. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  63 

The  following  incident,  of  which  the  narration  is  believed  to  be 
substantially  accurate,  is  from  the  pen  of  one  who  professes  to 
write  from  personal  knowledge.  It  is  given  in  this  connection, 
as  at  o:ice  illustrating  the  earlier  struggles  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in 
acquiring  his  profession,  the  character  of  his  forensic  efforts, 
and  the  generous  gratitude  and  disinterestedness  of  his  nature: 

Having  chosen  the  law  as  his  future  calling,  he  devoted 
himself  assiduously  to  its  mastery,  contending  at  every  step 
with  adverse  fortune.  During  this  period  of  study,  he  for  some 
time  found  a  home  under  the  hospitable  roof  of  one  Arm 
strong,  a  farmer,  who  lived  in  a  log  house  some  eight  miles 
from  the  village  of  Petersburg,  in  Menard  county.  Here, 
young  Lincoln  would  master  his  lessons  by  the  firelight  of  the 
cabin,  and  then  walk  to  town  for  the  purpose  of  recitation. 
This  man  Armstrong  was  himself  poor,  but  he  saw  the  genius 
struggling  in  the  young  student,  and  opened  to  him  his  rude 
home,  and  bid  him  welcome  to  his  course  fare.  How  Lincoln 
graduated  with  promise — how  he  has  more  than  fulfilled  that 
promise — how  honorably  he  acquitted  himself,  alike  on  the 
battle-field,  in  defending  our  border  settlements  against  the 
ravages  of  savage  foes,  and  in  the  halls  of  our  national  legis 
lature,  are  matters  of  history,  and  need  no  repetition  here. 
But  one  little  incident,  of  a  more  private  nature,  standing  as 
it  does  as  a  sort  of  sequel  to  some  things  already  alluded  to,  I 
deem  worthy  of  record.  Some  few  years  since,  the  oldest  son 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  old  friend  Armstrong,  the  chief  support  of 
his.  widowed  mother — the  good  old  man  having  some  time 
previously  passed  from  earth — was  arrested  on  the  charge  of 
murder.  A  young  man  had  been  killed  during  a  riotous 
melee,  in  the  night-time,  at  a  camp-meeting,  and  one  of  his 
associates  stated  that  the  death-wound  was  inflicted  by  young 
Armstrong.  A  preliminary  examination  was  gone  into,  at 
which  the  accuser  testified  so  positively,  that  there  seemed  no 
doubt  of  the  guilt  of  the  prisoner,  and  therefore  he  was  held 
for  trial.  As  is  too  often  the  case,  the  bloody  act  caused  an 
undue  degree  of  excitement  in  the  public  mind.  Every  im 
proper  incident  in  the  life  of  the  prisoner — each  act  which  bore 
the  least  semblance  of  rowdyism — each  school-boy  quarrel — 
was  suddenly  remembered  and  magnified,  until  they  pictured 
him  as  a  fiend  of  the  most  horrid  hue.  As  these  rumors 
spread  abroad,  they  were  received  as  gospel  truth,  and  a  fever 
ish  desire  for  vengeance  seized  upon  the  infatuated  populace, 
while  only  prison-bars  prevented  a  horrible  death  at  the 


64  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

hands  of  a  mob.  The  events  were  heralded  in  the  news 
papers,  painted  in  highest  colors,  accompanied  by  rejoicing 
over  the  certainty  of  punishment  being  meted  out  to  the  imilty 
party.  The  prisoner,  overwhelmed  by  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  found  himself  placed,  fell  into  a  melancholy  condi 
tion,  bordering  upon  despair  ;  and  the  widowed  mother,  look- 
in"-  through  her  tears,  saw  no  cause  for  hope  from  earthly  aid. 

At  this  juncture,  the  widow  received  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Lincoln,  volunteering  his  services  in  an  effort  to  save  the 
youth  from  the  impending  stroke.  Gladly  was  his  aid  accepted, 
although  it  seemed  impossible  for  even  his  sagacity  to  prevail 
in  such  a  desperate  case ;  but  the  heart  of  the  attorney  was  in 
his  work,  and  he  set  about  it  with  a  will  that  knew  no  such 
word  as  fail.  Feeling  that  the  poisoned  condition  of  the  pub 
lic  mind  was  such  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  impannel- 
ing  an  impartial  jury  in  the  court  having  jurisdiction,  he 
procured  a  change  of  venue,  and  a  postponement  of  the  trial. 
He  then  went  studiously  to  work  unraveling  the  history  of  the 
case,  and  satisfied  himself  that  his  client  was  the  victim  of 
malice,  and  that  the  statements  of  the  accuser  were  a  tissue 
of  falsehoods.  When  the  trial  was  called  on,  the  prisoner, 
pale  and  emaciated,  with  hopelessness  written  on  every  feature, 
and  accompanied  by  his  half-hoping,  half-despairing  mother — 
whose  only  hope  was  in  a  mother's  belief  of  her  son's  inno 
cence,  in  the  justice  of  the  God  she  worshipped,  and  in  the 
noble  counsel,  who,  without  hope  of  fee  or  reward  upon  earth, 
had  undertaken  the  cause — took  his  seat  in  the  prisoner's  box, 
and  with  a  "stony  firmness"  listened  to  the  reading  of  the 
indictment. 

Lincoln  sat  quietly  by,  while  the  large  auditory  looked  on^ 
him  as  though  wondering  what  he  could  say  in  defense  of  one 
whose  guilt  they  regarded  as  certain.  The  examination  of  the 
witnesses  for  the  State  was  begun,  and  a  well-arranged  mass  of 
evidence,  circumstantial  and  positive,  was  introduced,  which 
seemed  to  impale  the  prisoner  beyond  the  possibility  of  extri 
cation.  The  counsel  for  the  Defense  propounded  but  few 
questions,  and  those  of  a  character  which  excited  no  uneasi 
ness  on  the  part  of  the  prosecutor — merely,  in  most  cases, 
requiring  the  main  witness  to  be  definite  as  to  time  and  place. 
When  the  evidence  of  the  prosecution  was  ended,  Lincoln 
introduced  a  few  witnesses  to  remove  some  erroneous  impres 
sions  in  regard  to  the  previous  character  of  his  client,  who, 
though  somewhat  rowdyish,  had  never  been  known  to  com 
mit  a  vicious  act ;  and  to  show  that  a  greater  degree  of  ill- 
feeling  existed  between  the  accuser  and  the  accused,  than  the 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  65 

accused  and  the  deceased.  The  prosecutor  felt  that  the  case 
was  a  clear  one,  and  his  opening  speech  was  brief  and  formal. 
Lincoln  arose,  while  a  deathly  silence  pervaded  the  vast  audi 
ence,  and  in  a  clear  but  moderate  tone  began  his  argument. 
Slowly  and  carefully  he  reviewed  the  testimony,  pointing  out 
the  hitherto  unobserved  discrepancies  in  the  statements  of  the 
principal  witness.  That  which  had  seemed  plain  and  plausible, 
he  made  to  appear  crooked  as  a  serpent's  path.  The  witness 
had  stated  that  the  affair  took  place  at  a  certain  hour  in  the 
evening,  and  that,  by  the  aid  of  the  brightly-shining  moon,  he 
saw  the  prisoner  inflict  the  death-blow  with  a  slung-shot.  Mr. 
Lincoln  showed,  that  at  the  hour  referred  to,  the  moon  had 
not  yet  appeared  above  the  horizon,  and  consequently  the 
whole  tale  was  a  fabrication.  An  almost  instantaneous  change 
seemed  to  have  been  wrought  in  the  minds  of  his  auditors,  and 
the  verdict  of  "  not  guilty  "  was  at  the  end  of  every  tongue. 
But  the  advocate  was  not  content  with  this  intellectual  achieve 
ment.  His  whole  being  had  for  months  been  bound  up  in 
this  work  of  gratitude  and  mercy,  and  as  the  lava  of  the  over 
charged  crater  bursts  from  its  imprisonment,  so  great  thoughts 
and  burning  words  leaped  forth  from  the  soul  of  the  eloquent 
Lincoln.  He  drew  a  picture  of  the  perjurer,  so  horrid'  and 
ghastly  that  the  accuser  could  sit  under  it  no  longer,  but 
reeled  and  staggered  from  the  court-room,  while  the  audience 
fancied  they  could  see  the  brand  upon  his  brow.  Then  in 
words  of  thrilling  pathos,  Lincoln  appealed  to  the  jurors,  as 
fathers  of  sons  who  might  become  fatherless,  and  as  husbands 
of  wives  who  might  he  widowed,  to  yield  to  no  previous  impres 
sions,  no  ill-founded  prejudice,  but  to  do  his  client  justice ; 
and  as  he  alluded  to  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  he  owed  the 
boy's  sire,  tears  were  seen  to  fall  from  many  eyes  unused  to 
weep.  It  was  near  night  when  he  concluded  by  saying,  that 
if  justice  was  done — as  he  believed  it  would  be — before  the 
sun  should  set  it  would  shine  upon  his  client,  a  freeman.  The 
jury  retired,  and  the  court  adjourned  for  the  day.  Half  an 
hour  had  not  elapsed,  when,  as  the  officers  of  the  court  and  the 
volunteer  attorney  sat  at  the  tea-table  of  their  hotel,  a  messen 
ger  announced  that  the  jury  had  returned  to  their  seats.  All 
repaired  immediately  to  the  court-house,  and  while  the  prisoner 
was  being  brought  from  the  jail,  the  court-room  was  filled  to 
overflowing  with  citizens  of  the  town.  When  the  prisoner  and 
his  mother  entered,  silence  reigned  as  completely  as  though 
the  house  were  empty.  The  foreman  of  the  jury,  in  answer  to 
the  usual  inquiry  from  the  court,  delivered  the  verdict  of  "Not 
Guilty  !"  The  widow  dropped  into  the  arms  of  her  son,  who 
lifted  her  up,  and  told  her  to  look  upon  him  as  before,  free 
6 


66  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

and  innocent.  Then,  with  the  words,  "  Where  is  Mr.  Lin 
coln?"  he  rushed  across  the  room  and  grasped  the  hand  of  hia 
deliverer,  while  his  heart  was  too  full  for  utterance.  Lincoln 
turned  his  eyes  toward  the  West,  where  the  sun  still  lingered 
in  view,  and  then,  turning  to  the  youth,  said,  "It  is  not  yet 
sundown,  and  you  are  free."  I  confess  that  my  cheeks  were 
not  wholly  unwet  by  tears,  and  I  turned  from  the  affecting 
scene.  As  I  cast  a  glance  behind,  I  saw  Abraham  Lincoln 
obeying  the  divine  injunction,  by  comforting  the  widowed  and 
the  fatherless. 

On  becoming  well  established  in  his  profession,  Mr.  Lincoln 
took  up  his  permanent  residence  at  Springfield,  the  county 
seat  of  Sangamon  county.  This  occurred  in  the  spring  imme 
diately  following  the  passage  of  the  act  removing  the  State 
capital  to  that  place,  but  more  than  two  years  before  it  was  to 
go  into  effect.  The  date  at  which  he  became  settled  in  Spring 
field,  which  has  ever  since  been  the  place  of  his  residence,  was 
April  15,  1837. 

F(M*  several  years  after  his  removal,  Mr.  Lincoln  remained  a 
bachelor,  and  was  an  inmate  of  the  family  of  the  Hon.  William 
Butler,  in  later  years  the  Treasurer  of  the  State.  For  three 
or  four  years  he  continued  to  represent  his  county  in  the  Leg 
islature,  but  after  1840,  he  refused  further  public  service,  with 
a  view  to  the  exclusive  pursuit  of  his  profession,  the  highest 
success  in  which  he  could  not  hope  to  obtain  while  giving  so 
much  of  his  time,  as  had  been  hitherto  required  of  him,  to 
political  affairs. 

On  the*  4th  of  November,  1842,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  married  to 
Miss  MARY  TODD,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Robert  S.  Todd,  of 
Lexington,  Kentucky.  This  lady  is  one  of  four  sisters,  the 
eldest  of  whom  had  previously  married  the  Hon.  Ninian 
W.  Edwards,  and  settled  at  Springfield.  Her  two  other 
sisters,  subsequently  married,  became  residents  of  the  same 
town.  Mr.  Lincoln's  domestic  relations  were*  happy,  and  his 
devoted  attachment  to  his  home  and  family  was  always  one  of 
the  marked  traits  of  his  personal  character.  Of  the  four  sous 
born  to  him,  Robert  T.,  the  oldest,  was  at  school  at  Exeter 
Academy,  in  New  Hampshire,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  first 
nominated  for  the  Presidency,  and  soon  after  entered  Harvard 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  67 

University,  where  he  completed  his  course  in  1864,  when  in 
his  twenty-first  year.  The  second  son  died  when  four  years 
old.  The  third,  Willie,  died  at  the  White  House  in  1863,  at 
the  age  of  twelve  years.  Thomas,  familiarly  called  "  Tad," 
was  two  years  younger. 

It  is  proper  to  mention  that  Mrs.  Lincoln  is  a  Presbyterian 
by  education  and  profession  (two  of  her  sisters  are  Episcopa 
lians),  and  that  her  husband,  though  not  a  member,  was  a 
liberal  supporter  of  the  ctturch  to  which  she  belongs.  It  should 
further  be  stated  that  the  Sunday-School,  and  other  benevolent 
enterprises  associated  with  these  church  relations,  found  in  him 
a  constant  friend. 

In  this  quiet  domestic  happiness,  and  in  the  active  practice 
of  his  profession,  with  its  round  of  ordinary  duties,  and  with 
its  exceptional  cases  of  a  more  general  public  interest,  Mr.  Lin 
coln  disappears  for  the  time  from  political  life.  Its  peculiar 
excitements,  indeed,  were  not  foreign  to  the  stirring  and 
adventurous  nature  which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  his  by  inher 
itance.  Nor  could  the  people,  and  the  party  of  which  he  was 
so  commanding  a  leader,  long  consent  to  his  retirement.  Yet 
such  was  his  prudent  purpose — now  especially,  with  a  family 
to  care  for — and  to  this  he  adhered,  with  only  occasional 
exceptions,  until,  four  years  after  his  marriage,  he  was  elected 
to  Congress. 


68  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CANVASSES  OF  1844  AND  1846. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Devotion  to  Henry  Clay. — The  Presidential  Nomina 
tions  of  1844. — The  Campaign  in  Illinois. — Mr.  Lincoln  Makes  an 
Active  Canvass  for  Clay. — John  Calhoun  the  Leading  Polk  Elector. — 
The  Tariff  Issue  Thoroughly  Discussed. — Method  of  Conducting  the 
Canvass. — The  Whigs  of  Illinois  in  a  Hopeless  Minority. — Mr.  Lin 
coln's  Reputation  as  a  Whig  Champion. — Renders  Efficient  Service 
in  Indiana. — Mr.  Clay's  Defeat  and  the  Consequences. — Mr.  Lincoln 
a  Candidate  for  Congressman  in  1846. — President  Folk's  Adminis 
tration.— Condition  of  the  Country. — Texas  Annexation,  the  Mexican 
War  and  the  Tariff.— Political  Character  of  the  Springfield  District. — 
Mr.  Lincoln  Elected  by  an  Unprecedented  Majority. — His  Personal 
Popularity  Demonstrated. 

MR.  LINCOLN  had,  from  his  first  entrance  into  political  life, 
recognized  Henry  Clay  as  his  great  leader  and  instructor  in 
statesmanship.  His  reverence  and  attachment  for  the  great 
Kentuckian  had  been  unlimited  and  enthusiastic.  When,  there 
fore,  Mr.  Clay  had  been  nominated  by  acclamation  for  the  Presi 
dency  by  the  National  Whig  Convention,  held  at  Baltimore  on 
the  1st  of  May,  1844,  and  when  a  Democrat  of  the  most  offen 
sive  school  was  put  in  nomination  against  him,  Mr.  Lincoln 
yielded  to  the  demands  of  the  Whigs  of  Illinois,  and,  for  the 
first  time  breaking  over  the  restrictions  he  had  placed  upon 
himself  in  regard  to  the  exclusive  pursuit  of  his  profession,  he 
consented  to  take  a  leading  position  in  canvassing  the  State 
as  an  elector.  In  a  State  that  had  stood  unshaken  in  its  Dem 
ocratic  position,  while  so  many  others  had  been  revolutionized 
during  the  great  political  tempest  of  1840,  there  was,  of  course, 
no  hope  of  immediate  success.  It  was  deemed  an  opportu 
nity  not  to  be  lost,  however,  for  maintaining  and  strengthening 
the  Whig  organization,  and  a  spirited  canyass  was  consequently 
made. 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  69 

On  the  Democratic  side,  John  Calhoun,  then  one  of  the 
strongest  and  most  popular  speakers  of  that  party,  and  in 
many  respects  quite  another  man  than  he  subsequently  became, 
held  the  laboring  oar  for  Mr.  Polk.  Mr.  Lincoln  traversed 
various  parts  of  the  State,  attracting  large  audiences  and  keep 
ing  their  fixed  atteotion  for  hours,  as  he  held  up  to  admiration 
the  character  and  doctrines  of  Henry  Clay,  and  contrasted  them 
with  those  of  his  Presidential  opponent.  On  the  tariff  question, 
which  was  the  chief  issue  in  Illinois  that  year,  he  was  particu 
larly  elaborate,  strongly  enforcing  the  great  principles  on  which 
the  protective  system,  as  maintained  by  Clay,  was  based.  He 
had  always  a  fund  of  anecdote  and  illustration,  with  which  to 
relieve  his  close  logical  disquisitions,  and  to  elucidate  and 
enforce  his  views  in  a  manner  perfectly  intelligible,  as  well  as 
pleasing  to  all  classes  of  hearers.  This  campaign,  so  barren 
in  immediate  results,  as  it  was  expected  to  be  in  Illinois,  was 
not  without  its  excellent  fruits,  ultimately,  to  the  party.  It 
had  also  the  effect  of  establishing  Mr.  Lincoln's  reputation  as 
a  political  orator,  on  a  still  broader  and  more  permanent  foun 
dation.  From  this  time  forward  he  was  widely  known  as  one 
of  the  soundest  and  most  effective  of  Whig  champions  in  the 
West. 

After  doing  in  Illinois  all  that  could  have  been  required  of 
one  man,  had  this  arena  been  of  the  most  promising  descrip 
tion,  Mr.  Lincoln  crossed  the  Wabash,  at  the  desire  of  the 
people  of  his  former  State,  and  contributed  largely  toward 
turning  the  tide  of  battle  for  Clay  in  that  really  hopeful  field. 
Here  he  worked  most  efficiently,  losing  no  opportunity  up  to 
the  very  eve  of  the  election.  In  Indiana,  those  efforts  were 
not  forgotten,  but  were  freshly  called  to  mind,  at  a  later 
juncture,  by  great  numbers  of  Old  Whigs  in  Southern  In 
diana. 

If  any  event,  more  heartily  than  another,  could  have  dis 
couraged  Mr.  Lincoln  from  again  participating  in  political 
affairs,  it  was  the  disastrous  result,  in  the  nation  at  large,  of 
this  canvass  of  1844.  He  felt  it  more  keenly  than  he  could 
have  done  if  it  were  a  mere  personal  reverse.  Mr.  Clay  was 
defeated,  contrary  to  the  ardent  hopes,  and  even  expectations 


70  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  his  friends,  down  to  the  last  moment.  Of  the  causes  and  the 
consequences  which  followed  that  event,  the  impartial  historian, 
at  some  future  day,  can  more  candidly  and  philosophically 
speak  than  any  of  those  who  shared  in  this  disappointment. 
That  the  election  of  Mr.  Polk  over  Mr.  Clay,  made  the  subse 
quent  political  history  of  our  country  far  different  from  what 
it  would  have  been  with  the  opposite  result,  all  will  concede. 

Two  years  later,  in  1846,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  induced  to  accept 
the  Whig  nomination  for  Congress  in  the  Sangainon  District. 
The  annexation  of  Texas  had,  in  the  meantime,  been  con 
summated.  The  Mexican  war  had  been  begun,  and  was  still 
in  progress.  The  Whig  tariff  of  1842  had  just  been  repealed. 
This  latter  event  had  been  acccomplished  in  the  Senate  by  the 
casting  vote  of  Mr.  DALLAS,  the  Vice-President,  and  with  the 
official  approval  of  Mr.  POLK,  the  President,  both  of  whom  had 
been  elected  by  the  aid  of  Pennsylvania,  and  had  carried  the 
vote  of  that  State  solely  by  being  represented  to  the  people 
as  favoring  the  maintainance  of  the  tariff  which  they  thus 
destroyed. 

The  Springfield  district  had  given  Mr.  Clay  a  majority  of 
914  in  1844,  on  the  most  thorough  canvass.  It  gave  3Ir.  Lin 
coln  a  majority  af  1,511,  which  was  entirely  unprecedented, 
and  has  been  unequaled  by  that  given  there  for  any  opposition 
candidate,  for  any  office  since.  The  nearest  approach  was  in 
1848,  when  Gen.  Taylor,  on  a  much  fuller  vote  than  that  of 
1846,  and  receiving  the  votes  of  numerous  returned  Mexican 
volunteers,  of  Democratic  faith,  a,nd  who  had  served  under 
him  in  Mexico,  obtained  a  majority  of  1,501.  In  the  same 
year  (1848)  Mr.  Logan,  the  popular  Whig  candidate,  was 
beaten  by  Col.  Thomas  L.  Harris,  Democrat,  by  106  majority. 
There  was  no  good  reason  to  doubt,  in  advance,  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
would  have  been  elected  by  a  handsome  majority,  had  he  con 
sented  to  run  for  another  term,  nor  has  it  been  questionable, 
since  the  result  became  known,  that  the  strong  personal 
popularity  of  Mr.  Lincoln  would  have  saved  the  district.  It 
was  redeemed  by  Richard  Yates  in  1850,  who  carried  his 
election  by  less  than  half  the  majority  (754)  which  Mr.  Lin 
coln  had  received  in  1845.  The  district,  after  its  reconstruct 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  71 

tion,  following  the  census  of  1850,  was  for  ten  years  Demo 
cratic.  Under  all  the  circumstances,  therefore,  the  vote  for 
Mr.  Jjincoln  was  a  remarkable  one,  showing  that  he  possessed 
a  rare  degree  of  strength  with  the  people.  His  earnest  sin 
cerity  of  manner  always  strongly  impressed  those  whom  he 
addressed.  They  knew  him  to  be  a  man  of  strong  moral  con 
victions.  An  opponent  seemed  to  intend  a  sneer  at  this  trait, 
when  he  called  Mr.  Lincoln  "  conscientious,"  but  it  was  a  qual 
ity  to  which  the  people  were  never  indifferent. 

There  was  a  universal  confidence  in  his  honest  integrity,  such 
as  has  been  rarely  extended  to  men  so  prominent  in  political 
life.  The  longer  he  was  tried  as  a  public  servant,  the  more 
his  constituents  became  attached  to  him.  A  popularity  thus 
thoroughly  grounded  is  not  to  be  destroyed  by  the  breezes  of 
momentary  passion  or  prejudice,  or  materially  affected  by  any 
idle  fickleness  of  the  populace. 


72  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

MR.  LINCOLN  IN  CONGRESS.— 1847-49. 

The  Thirtieth  Congress— Its  Political  Character— The  Democracy  in 
a  Minority  in  the  House.— Robert  C.  Winthrop  Elected  Speaker.— 
Distinguished  Members  in  both  Houses. — Mr.  Lincoln  takes  his  Seat 
as  a  Member  of  the  House,  and  Mr.  Douglas,  for  the  first  time,  as  a 
Member  of  the  Senate,  at  the  same  Session. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Congres 
sional  Record,  that  of  a  Clay  and  Webster  Whig.— The  Mexican 
War. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Views  on  the  Subject. — Misrepresentations. — 
Not  an  Available  Issue  for  Mr.  Lincoln's  Opponents. — His  Resolu 
tions  of  Inquiry  in  Regard  to  the  Origin  of  the  War. — Mr.  Rich 
ardson's  Resolutions  Indorsing  the  Administration. — Mr.  Hudson's 
Resolutions  for  an  Immediate  Discontinuance  of  the  War. — Voted 
Against  by  Mr.  Lincoln. — Resolutions  of  Thanks  to  Gen.  Taylor. — 
Mr.  Henley's  Amendment,  and  Mr.  Ashman's  Addition  thereto. — 
Resolutions  Adopted  without  Amendment. — Mr.  Lincoln's  First. 
Speech  in  Congress,  on  the  Mexican  War. — Mr.  Lincoln  on  Internal 
Improvements. — A  Characteristic  Campaign  Speech. — Mr.  Lincoln 
on  the  Nomination  of  Gen.  Taylor ;  the  Veto  Power ;  National  Issues  ; 
President  and  People;  the  Wilmot  Proviso;  Platforms ;» Democratic 
Sympathy  for  Clay  ;  Military  Heroes  and  Exploits ;  Cass  a  Pro 
gressive;  Extra  Pay  ;  the  Whigs  and  the  Mexican  War ;  Democratic 
Divisions. — Close  of  the  Session. — Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  Stump. — Gen. 
Taylor's  Election. — Second  Session  of  the  Thirtieth  Congress. — 
Slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. — The  Public  Lands. — Mr.  Lin 
coln  as  a  Congressman. — He  Retires  to  Private  Life. 

MR.  LINCOLN  took  his  seat  in  the  National  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  on  the  6th  day  of  December,  1847,  the  date  of  the 
opening  of  the  Thirtieth  Congress.  In  many  respects  this 
Congress  was  a  memorable  one.  That  which  preceded,  elected 
at  the  same  time  Mr.  Polk  was  chosen  to  the  Presidency,  had 
been  strongly  Democratic  in  both  branches.  The  policy  of  the 
Administration,  however,  had  been  such,  during  the  first  two 
years  of  its  existence,  that  a  great  popular  re-action  had  followed 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  73 

The  present  House  contained  but  one  hundred  and  ten  Demo 
crats,  while  the  remaining  one  hundred  and  eighteen,  with  the 
exception  of  a  single  Native  American  from  Philadelphia,  were 
nearly  all  Whigs, 'the  balance  being  "Free-Soil  men,"  who 
mostly  co-operated  with  them.  Of  these,  only  Messrs.  Giddings, 
Tuck  and  Palfrey  refused  to  vote  for  the  Hon.  Robert  C.  Win- 
throp  for  Speaker,  who  was  elected  on  the  third  ballot. 

Among  the  members  of  the  House,  on  the  Whig  side,  were 
John  Quincy  Adams  (who  died  during  the  first  session,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Horace  Mann),  and  George  Ashman,  of  Mas 
sachusetts;  Washington  Hunt,  of  New  York;  Jacob  Collamer 
and  George  Ps  Marsh,  of  Vermont;  Truman  Smith,  of  Connect! 
cut;  Joseph  R.  Ingersoll  and  James  Pollock,  of  Pennsylvania  ; 
John  M.  Botts  and  William  L.  Goggin,  of  Virginia;  Alexander 
H.  Stephens,  Robert  Toombs  and  Thomas  Butler  King,  of 
Georgia;  Henry  W.  Hilliard,  of  Alabama  ;  Samuel  F.  Vinton 
and  Robert  C.  Schenck,  of  Ohio ;  John  B.  Thompson  and 
Charles  S.  Morehead,  of  Kentucky;  Caleb  B.  Smith  and  Richard 
W.  Thompson,  of  Indiana,  and  Meredith  P.  Gentry,  of  Tennes 
see.  On  the  Democratic  side,  there  were  Davi^  Wilmot,  of 
Pennsylvania ;  Robert  M.  McLane,  of  Maryland ;  James 
McDowell  and  Richard  K.  Meade,  of  Virginia ;  R.  Barnwell 
Rhett,  of  South  Carolina ;  Howell  Cobb,  of  Georgia ;  Albert 
G.  Brown  and  Jacob  Thompson,  of  Mississippi ;  Linn  Boyd,  of 
Kentucky  ;  Andrew  Johnson,  George  W.  Jones  and  Frederick 
P.  Staaton,  of  Tennessee;  James  S.  Greene  and  John  S.  Phelps, 
of  Missouri ;  and  Kinsley  S.  Bingham,  of  Michigan.  Illi 
nois  had  seven  representatives,  of  whom  Mr  Lincoln  was  the 
only  Whig.  His  Democratic  colleagues  were  John  A.  McCler- 
nand,  Orlando  B.  Ficklin,  William  A.  Richardson,  Robert 
Smith,  Thomas  J.  Turner  and  John  Wentworth. 

At  this  session,  Stephen  A.  Douglas  took  his  seat  in  the 
Senate,  for  the  first  time,  having  been  elected  the  previous 
winter.  In  that  body  there  were  but  twenty-two  Opposition 
Senators,  against  thirty-six  Democrats.  Among  the  former 
were  Daniel  Webster,  Wm.'  L.  Dayton,  S.  S.  Phelps,  John  M. 
Clayton,  Reverdy  Johnson,  Thomas  Corwin,  John  M.  Berrien, 
and  John  Bell.  On  the  Democratic  side  were  John  C.  Cal- 


74  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

houn,  Thomas  H.  Benton,  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  Simon  Came 
ron,  Hannibal  Hamlin,  Sam  Houston,  E-.  M.  T.  Hunter,  and 
William  R.  King. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  comparatively  quite  a  young  man  when  he 
entered  the  House,  yet  he  was  early  recognized  as  one  of  the 
foremost  of  the  Western  men  on  the  floor.  His  Congressional 
record,  throughout,  is  that  of  a  Whig  of  those  days,  his  votes 
on  all  leading  national  subjects,  being  invariably  what  those  of 
Clay,  Webster  or  Corwin  would  have  been,  had  they  occupied 
his  place.  One  of  the  most  prominent  subjects  of  considera 
tion  before  the  Thirtieth  Congress,  very  naturally,  was  the 
then  existing  war  with  Mexico.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  one  of  those 
who  believed  the  Administration  had  not  properly  managed  its 
affairs  with  Mexico  at  the  outset,  and  who,  while  voting  sup 
plies  and  for  suitably  rewarding  our  gallant  soldiers  in  that  war, 
were  unwilling  to  be  forced,  by  any  trick  of  the  supporters  of 
the  Administration,  into  an  unqualified  indorsement  of  its 
course  in  this  affair,  from  beginning  to  end.  In  this  attitude, 
Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  stand  alone.  Such  was  the  position  of 
Whig  members  in  both  Houses,  without  exception.  Yet  his 
course  was  unscrupulously  misrepresented,  during  the  cam 
paign  of  1858,  as  it  has  been  more  or  less,  on  other  occasions 
since.  That  many  men  who  supported  Mr.  Lincoln,  approved 
President  Folk's  course  in  regard  to  the  Mexican  War,  as  well 
in  its  inception  as  in  its  management  from  first  to  last,  is  not 
improbable.  But  all  those  who,  at  that  time,  were  induced  by 
their  party  relations,  to  sustain  the  Administration,  at  heart 
approved  the  method  in  which  hostilities  were  precipitated,  or 
felt  satisfied  that  the  most  commendable  motives  actuated  the 
Government  in  its  course  toward  Mexico,  is  certainly  not  true. 
This  is  not  an  issue  that  any  existing  party  need  be  anxious  to 
resuscitate.  Still  less  would  the  friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln  be 
reluctant  to  have  his  record  on  this  question  scrutinized  to  the 
fullest  extent. 

Early  in  the  session,  after  listening  to  a  long  homily  on  the 
subject  from  the  President,  in  his  annual  message,  in  which 
the  gauntlet  was  defiantly  thrown  down  before  the  Opposition 
members,  and  after  his  colleague,  Mr.  Richardson,  had  pro- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  75 

posed  an  unqualified  indorsement  of  the  President's  views, 
Mr.  Lincoln  (December  22,  1847)  introduced  a  series  of  reso 
lutions  of  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  the  war.  They 
affirmed  nothing,  but  called  for  definite  official  information, 
such  as,  if  conclusively  furnished  in  detail,  and  found  to 
accord  with  the  general  asservations  of  Mr.  Folk's  messages, 
would  have  set  him  and  his  administration  entirely  right 
before  the  country.  Either  such  information  was  accessible, 
or  the  repeated  statements  of  the  President  on  this  subject 
were  groundless,  and  his  allegations  mere  pretenses.  If  the 
Democratic  party  was  in  the  right,  it  had  not  the  least  occa 
sion  to  complain  of  this  procedure,  if  pressed  to  a  vote.  Mr. 
Lincoln's  preamble  and  resolutions  (copied  from  the  Congres 
sional  Ghbe,  first  session,  thirtieth  Congress,  page  64)  were  in 
the  following  words  : 

WHEREAS,  The  President  of  the  United  States,  in  his  mes 
sage  of  May  11,  1846,  has  declared  that  "  the  Mexican  Gov 
ernment  not  only  refused  to  receive  him  (the  envoy  of  the 
United  States),  or  listen  to  his  propositions,  but,  after  a  long- 
continued  series  of  menaces,  has  at  last  invaded  our  territory, 
and  shed  the  blood  of  our  fellow-citizens  on  our  own  soil :" 

And  again,  in  his  message  of  December  8,  1846,  that  "  We 
had  ample  cause  of  war  against  Mexico  long  before  the  break 
ing  out  of  hostilities ;  but  even  then  we  forbore  to  take  redress 
into  our  own  hands  until  Mexico  herself  became  the  aggressor, 
by  invading  our  soil  in  hostile  array,  and  shedding  the  blood 
of  our  citizens :" 

And  yet  again,  in  his  message  of  December  7,  1847,  that 
"  The  Mexican  Government  refused  even  to  hear  the  terms  of 
adjustment  which  he  (our  minister  of  peace)  was  authorized 
to  propose,  and  finally,  under  wholly  unjustifiable  pretexts, 
involved  the  two  countries  in  war,  by  invading  the  territory 
of  the  State  of  Texas,  striking  the  first  blow,  and  shedding 
the  blood  of  our  citizens  on  our  own  soi7:"  and, 

WHEREAS,  This  House  is  desirous  to  obtain  a  full  knowl 
edge  of  all  the  facts  which  go  to  establish  whether  the  partic 
ular  spot  on  which  the  blood  of  our  citizens  was  so  shed  was 
or  was  not  at  that  time  "  our  own  soiY:"  therefore, 

Resolved,  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  That  the  President 
of  the  United  States  be  respectfully  requested  to  inform  thia 
House — 

1st.  Whether  the  spot  on  which  the  blood  of  our  citizens 


76  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

was  shed,  as-  in  his  message  declared,  was  or  was  not  within 
the  territory  of  Spain,  at  least  after  the  treaty  of  1819,  until 
the  Mexican  revolution. 

2d.  Whether  that  spot  is  or  is  not  within  the  territory  which 
was  wrested  from  Spain  by  the  revolutionary  Government  of 
Mexico. 

3d.  Whether  that  spot  is  or  is  not  within  a  settlement  of 
people,  which  settlement  has  existed  ever  since  long  before  the 
Texas  revolution,  and  until  its  inhabitants  fled  before  the 
approach  of  the  United  States  army. 

4th.  Whether  that  settlement  is  or  is  not  isolated  from  any 
and  all  other  settlements  by  the  Gulf  and  the  Rio  Grande  on 
the  south  and  west,  and  by  wide  uninhabited  regions  on  the 
north  and  east. 

5th.  Whether  the  people  of  that  settlement,  or  a  majority 
of  them,  or  any  of  them,  have  ever  submitted  themselves  to 
the  government  or  laws  of  Texas  or  of  the  United  States,  by 
consent  or  by  compulsion,  either  by  accepting  office,  or  voting 
at  elections,  or  paying  tax,  or  serving  on  juries,  or  having  pro 
cess  served  upon  them,  or  in  any  other  way. 

6th.  Whether  the  people  of  that  settlement  did  or  did  not 
flee  from  the  approach  of  the  United  States  army,  leaving 
unprotected  their  homes  and  their  growing  crops,  before  the 
blood  was  shed,  as  in  the  messages  stated  ;  and  whether  the 
first  blood,  so  shed,  was  or  was  not  shed  within  the  inclosure 
of  one  of  the  people  who  had  thus  fled  from  it. 

7th.  Whether  our  citizens,  whose  blood  was  shed,  as  in  his 
messages  declared,  were  or  were  not,  at  that  time,  armed  offi 
cers  and  soldiers,  sent  into  that  settlement  by  the  military 
order  of  the  President,  through  the  Secretary  of  War, 

8th.  Whether  the  military  force  of  the  United  States  was 
or  was  not  so  sent  into  that  settlement  after  General  Taylor 
had  more  than  once  intimated  to  the  War  Department  that, 
in  his  opinion,  no  such  movement  was  necessary  to  the  defense 
or  protection  of  Texas. 

These  resolutions  were  laid  over,  under  the  rule.  Many 
other  propositions,  embracing  the  substance  of  this  question 
were  also  brought  before  the  House,  besides  Mr.  Richardson's, 
which  ultimately  failed.  Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  call  up  his  reso 
lutions,  nor  were  they  acted  upon  ;  but  he  commented  on 
them  in  a  speech  subsequently  made. 

On  the  third  day  of  January,  1849,  Mr.  Hudson,  of  Massa 
chusetts,  offered  a  resolution,  directing  the  Committee  on  Mil- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  77 

itary  Affairs  "  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  requesting 
the  President  of  the  United  States  to  withdraw  to  the  east 
bank  of  the  Rio  Grande  our  armies  now  in  Mexico,  and  to 
propose  to  the  Mexican  Government  forthwith  a  treaty  of 
peace  on  the  following  basis,  namely :  That  we  relinquish  all 
claim  to  indemnity  for  the  expenses  of  the  war,  and  that  the 
boundary  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico  shall  be 
established  at  or  near  the  desert  between  the  Nueces  and  the 
Rio  Grande ;  that  Mexico  shall  be  held  to  pay  all  just  claims 
due  to  our  citizens  at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  and  that 
a  convention  shall  be  entered  into  by  the  two  nations  to  pro 
vide  for  the  liquidation  of  those  claims  and  the  mode  of 
payment." 

This  was  a  test  question  on  abandoning  the  war,  without 
any  material  result  accomplished.  Mr.  Lincoln  voted  with 
the  minority,  in  favor  of  laying  this  resolution  on  the  table. 
On  the  question  of  adopting  the  resolution,  which  was 
defeated,  yet  voted  for  by  John  Quincy  Adams,  .Ashmun, 
Vinton,  and  many  others  on  the  Whig  side,  Mr.  Lincoln 
voted  in  the  negative.  (See  Congressional  Globe,  first  session, 
3Qth  Congress,  page  94.) 

On  the  same  day,  almost  immediately  following  the  above 
action,  joint  resolutions  of  thanks  to  General  Zachary  Taylor 
and  our  troops  in  Mexico,  having  been  offered,  an  amendment 
was  proposed  by  Mr.  Henley,  a  Democratic  member  from 
Indiana,  as  an  adroit  political  maneuver,  by  which  it  was 
designed  to  secure  an  indorsement  of  the  war  from  the  Whigs, 
or  a  refusal  of  the  vote  of  thanks.  He  moved  the  addition  of 
this  clause  to  the  resolutions :  "  engaged,  as  they  were,  in 
defending  the  rights  and  honor  of  the  nation."  As  an  amend 
ment  to  the  amendment,  in  order  to  defeat  its  underhand  pur 
pose,  Mr.  Ashmun  promptly  moved  to  add  the  words  :  "  In  a 
war  unnecessarily  and  unconstitutionally  begun  by  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,"  Mr.  Lincoln  voted  for  Ashman's 
amendment  to  Henley's  amendment.  So  also  did  Messrs. 
Clingman  and  Barringer,  of  North  Carolina ;  A.  H.  Stephens, 
Robert  Toombs  and  Thomas  Butler  King,  of  Georgia ;  Gog- 
gin,  of  Virginia;  Gentry,  of  Tennessee^  and  a  majority  of 


7g  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

all  those  voting.  [See  page  95,  as  above.]  The  object 
intended,  of  defeating  the  brilliant  movement  of  Mr.  Henley, 
was  accomplished.  The  amendment,  as  amended,  was  not 
carried.  The  resolutions  in  their  original  shape,  were  subse 
quently  re-introduced  by  Mr.  Stephens,  and  adopted  without 
opposition.  (Congressional  Globe,  page  304.) 

On  the  12th  day  of  January,  1843,  Mr.  Lincoln  expressed 
his  views,  frankly  and  fully,  in  regard  to  the  war  with  Mexico. 
It  was  the  first  speech  made  by  Mr.  Lincoln  in  Congress,  and 
is  subjoined  entire,  as  reported  in  the  Appendix  to  the  Con 
gressional  Globe  [1st  session,  30th  Congress,  page  93]: 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  SPEECH  ON  THE  MEXICAN  WAR. 

(In    Committee   of    the    Whole   House,    January    12,    1848.) 

Mr.  Lincoln  addressed  the  Committee  as  follows  : 
MR.  CHAIRMAN  :    Some,  if  not  all,  of  the  gentlemen  on  the 
other  side  of  the  House,  who  have  addressed  the  Committee 
within  the  last  two  days,  have  spoken  rather  compiainingly,  if 
I  have  rightly  understood  them,  of  the  vote  given  a  week  or 
ten  clays  ago,  declaring  that  the  war  with  Mexico  was  unneces 
sarily  and  unconstitutionally  commenced  by  the  President.     I 
admit  that  such   a  vote  should   not   be  given   in  mere  party 
wantonness,  and  that  the  one  given  is  justly  censurable,  if  it 
have  no  other  or  better  foundation.     I  am  one  of  those  who 
joined  in  that  vote;  and  did  so  under  my  best  impression  of 
the  truth  of  the  case.     How  I  got  this  impression,  and  how  it 
may  possibly  be  removed  I  will  now  try  to   show.     When  the 
war   begun,  it  was  my  opinion  that  all  those  who,  because  of 
knowing  too  little,  or  because  of  knowing  too  much,  could  not 
conscientiously  approve  the  conduct  of  the  President  (in  the 
beginning  of  it),   should,   nevertheless,   as  good  citizens   and 
patriots,  remain  silent  on  that  point,  at  least  till  the  war  should 
bu   enued.     Some   leading   Democrats,  including  ex-President 
Van  Buren,  have  taken  this  same  view,  as  I  understand  them; 
and  I  adhered  to  it,  and  acted  upon  it,  until  since  I  took  my 
seat  here ;  and  I  think  I  should  still  adhere  to  it,  were  it  not 
that  the  President  and  his  friends  will  not  allow  it  to  be  so. 
Besides,  the  continual  effort  of  the  President  to  argue  every 
silent  vote  given  for  supplies  into  an  indorsement  of  the  jus 
tice  and  wisdom  of  his  conduct;  besides  that  singularly  can 
did  paragraph  in  his  late  message,  in  which  he  tells  us  that 
Congress  with  great  unanimity  (only  two  in  the  Senate  and 
fourteen  in  the  House  dissenting)  had  declared  that  "  by  the 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  79 

act  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico  a  state  of  war  exists  between 
that  Government  and  the  United  States  ;''  when  the  same  jour 
nals  that  informed  him  of  this,  also  informed  him  that,  when 
that  declaration  stood  disconnected  from  the  question  of  sup 
plies,  sixty-seven  in  the  House,  and  not  fourteen  merely,  voted 
against  it;  besides  this  open  attempt  to  prove  by  telling  the 
truth,  what  he  could  not  prove  by  telling  the  iclwle  truth, 
demanding  of  all  who  will  not  submit  to  be  misrepresented,  in 
justice  to  themselves,  to  speak  out ;  besides  all  this,  one  of 
my  colleagues  (Mr.  Richardson),  at  a  very  early  day  in  the 
session,  brought  in  a  set  of  resolutions,  expressly  indorsing 
the  original  justice  of  the  war  on  the  part  of  the  President. 
Upon  these  resolutions,  when  they  shall  be  put  on  their  pas 
sage,  I  shall  be  compelled  to  vote ;  so  that  I  can  not  be  silent 
if  I  would.  Seeing  this,  I  went  about  preparing  myself  to 
give  the  vote  understandingly,  when  it  should  come.  I  care 
fully  examined  the  President's  messages,  to  ascertain  what  he 
himself  had  said  and  proved  upon  the  point.  The  result  of 
this  examination  was  to  make  the  impression,  that,  taking  for 
true  all  the  President  states  as  facts,  he  falls  far  short  of  prov 
ing  his  justification  ;  and  that  the  President  would  have  gone 
further  with  his  proof,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  small  matter 
that  the  truth  would  not  permit  him.  Under  the  impression 
thus  made  I  gave  the  vote  before  mentioned.  I  propose  now 
to  give,  concisely,  the  process  of  the  examination  I  made,  and 
how  I  reached  the  conclusion  I  did. 

The  President,  in  his  first  message  of  May,  1846,  declares 
that  the  soil  was  ours  on  which  hostilities  were  commenced  by 
Mexico ;  and  he  repeats  that  declaration,  almost  in  the  same 
language,  in  each  successive  annual  message — thus  showing 
that  he  esteems  that  point  a  highly  essential  one.  In  the 
importance  of  that  point  I  entirely  agree  with  the  President. 
To  my  judgment,  it  is  the  very  point  upon  which  he  should 
be  justified  or  condemned..  In  his  message  of  December,  1846, 
it  seems  to  have  occurred  to  him,  as  is  certainly  true,  that  title, 
ownership  to  soil,  or  anything  else,  is  not  a  simple  fact,  but  is 
a  conclusion  following  one  or  more  simple  facts  ;  and  that  it 
was  incumbent  upon  him  to  present  the  facts  from  which  he 
concluded  the  soil  was  ours  on  which  the  first  blood  of  the 
war  was  shed. 

Accordingly,  a  little  below  the  middle  of  page  twelve  in 
the  message  last  referred  to,  he  enters  upon  that  task  ;  form 
ing  an  issue  and  introducing  testimony,  extending  the  whole 
to  a  little  below  the  middle  of  page  fourteen.  Now,  I  propose 
to  try  to  show  that  the  whole  of  "this — issue  and  evidence — is, 
from  beginning  to  end,  the  sheerest  deception.  The  issue,  as 


g0  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

he  presents  it,  is  in  these  words:  "but  there  are  those  ^ho 
conceding  all  this  to  be  true,  assume  the  ground  that  the  true 
western  boundary  of  Texas  is  the  Nueces,  instead  of  the  Rio 
Grande  ;  and  that,  therefore,  in  marching  our  army  to  the 
east  bank  of  the  latter  river,  we  passed  the  Texan  line,  and 
invaded  the  territory  of  Mexico."  Now,  this  issue  is  made 
up  of  two  affirmatives  and  no  negatives.  The  mam  deception 
of  it  is  that  it  assumes  as  true  that  one  river  or  the  oilier  i 
necessarily  the  boundary,  and  cheats  the  superficial  thinker 
entirely  out  of  the  idea  that  possibly  the  boundary  is  some 
where  between  the  two,  and  not  actually  at  either.  A  further 
deception  is,  that  it  will  let  in  evidence  which  a  true  issue  would 
exclude.  A  true  issue  made  by  the  President  would  be  about 
as  follows :  "  I  say  the  soil  was  ours  on  which  the  first  blood 
was  shed  ;  there  are  those  who  say  it  was  not.'' 

I  now  proceed  to  examine  the  President's  evidence,  as  appli 
cable  to  such  an  issue.  When  that  evidence  is  analyzed,  it  is 
all  included  in  the  following  propositions  : 

1.  That  the  Rio  Grande  was  the  western  boundary  of  Lou 
isiana,  as  we  purchased  it  of  France  in  1803. 

2.  That  the  Republic  of  Texas  always  claimed  the  Rio  Grande 
as  her  western  boundary. 

3.  That,  by  various  acts,  she  had  claimed  it  on  paper. 

4.  That  Santa  Anna,  in  his  treaty  with   Texas,  recognized 
the  Rio  Grande  as  her  boundary. 

5.  That  Texas  before,  and  the  United  States  after  annexa 
tion,  had  exercised  jurisdiction  beyond  the  Nueces,  between  the 
two  rivers. 

6.  That  our  Congress  understood  the  boundary  of  Texas  to 
extend  beyond  the  Nueces. 

Now  for  each  of  these  in  its  turn  : 

His  first  item  is,  that  the  Rio  Grande  was  the  western 
boundary  of  Louisiana,  as  we  purchased  it  of  France  in  1803; 
and,  seeming  to  expect  this  to  be  disputed,  he  argues  over  the 
amount  of  nearly  a  page  to  prove  it  true  ;  at  the  end  of  which, 
he  lets  us  know  that,  by  the  treaty  of  1819,  we  sold  to  Spain 
the  whole  country,  from  the  Rio  Grande  eastward  to  the  Sabine. 
Now,  admitting  for  the  present,  that  the  Rio  Grande  was  the 
boundary  of  Louisiana,  what,  under  heaven,  had  that  to  do 
with  the  present  boundary  between  us  and  Mexico?  How, 
Mr.  Chairman,  the  line  that  once  divided  your  land  from 
mine  can  still  be  the  boundary  between  us  after  I  have  sold 
my  land  to  you,  is,  to  me,  beyond  all  comprehension.  And 
how  any  man,  with  an  honest  purpose  only  of  proving  the 
truth,  could  ever  have  tlwuglit  of  introducing  such  a  fact  to 
prove  such  an  issue,  is  equally  incomprehensible.  The  out- 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  81 

rage  upon  common  right,  of  seizing  as  our  own  what  we  liave 
onoe  sold,  merely  because  it  was  ours  before  we  sold  it,  is  only 
equaled  by  the  outrage  on  common  "sense  of  any  attempt  to 
justify  it. 

The  President's  next  piece  of  evidence  is,  that  "  The  Repub 
lic  of  Texas  always  claimed  this  river  (Rio  Grande)  as  her 
western  boundary."  That  is  not  true,  in  fact.  Texas  has 
claimed  it,  but  she  has  not  always  claimed  it.  There  is,  at 
least,  one  distinguished  exception.  Her  State  Constitution — 
the  public's  most  solemn  and  well-considered  act ;  that  which 
may,  without  impropriety,  be  called  her  last  will  and  testa 
ment,  revoking  all  others — make  no  such  claim.  But  suppose 
she  had  always  claimed  it.  Has  not  Mexico  always  claimed  the 
contrary  ?  So  that  there  is  but  claim  against  claim,  leaving 
nothing  proved  until  we  get  back  of  the  claims,  and  find  which 
has  the  better  foundation. 

Though  not  in  the  order  in  which  the  President  presents  his 
evidence,  I  now  consider  that  class  of  his  statements,  which 
are,  in  substance,  nothing  more  than  that  Texas  has,  by  various 
acts  of  her  Convention  and  Congress,  claimed  the  Rio  Grande 
as  her  boundary — on  paper.  I  mean  here  what  he  says  about 
the  fixing  of  the  Rio  Grande  as  her  boundary,  in  her  old  Con 
stitution  (not  her  State  Constitution),  about  forming  congres 
sional  districts,  counties,  etc.  Now,  all  this  is  but  naked 
claim;  and  what  I  have  already  said  about  claims  is  strictly 
applicable  to  this.  If  I  should  claim  your  land  by  word  of 
mouth,  that  certainly  would  not  make  it  mine,  and  if  I  were  to 
claim  it  by  a  deed  which  I  had  made  myself,  and  with  which 
you  had  nothing  to  do,  the  claim  would  be  quite  the  same  in 
substance,  or  rather  in  utter  nothingness. 

I  next  consider  the  President's  statement  that  Santa  Anna, 
in  his  treaty  with  Texas,  recognized  the  Rio  Grande  as  the 
western  boundary  of  Texas.  Besides  the  position  so  often 
taken,  that  Santa  Anna,  while  a  prisoner  of  war — a  captive — 
could  not  bifid  Mexico  by  a  treaty,  which  I  deem  conclusive ; 
besides  this,  I  wish  to  say  something  in  relation  to  this  treaty,, 
so  called  by  the  President,  with  Santa  Anna.  If  any  man 
would  like  to  be  amused  by  a  sight  at  that  little  thing,  which 
the  President  calls  by  that  big  name,  he  can  have  it  by  turning 
to  Niles'  Register,  volume  50,  page  336.  '  And  if  any  one 
should  suppose  that  Niles'  Register  is  a  curious  repository  of 
so  mighty  a  document  as  a  solemn  treaty  between  nations,  I 
can  only  say  that  I  learned,  to  a  tolerable  degree  of  certainty, 
by  inquiry  at  the  State  Department,  that  the  President  him 
self  never  saw  it  anywhere  else.  By  the  way,  I  believe  I 
should  not  err  if  I  were  to  declare,  that  during  the  first  ten 
6 


82  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

years  of  the  existence  of  that  document,  it  was;-  never  by  any 
body  called  a  treaty;  that  it  was  never  so  called  till  the  Presi 
dent,  in  his   extremity,  attempted,  by  so   calling   it,  to  wring 
something  from  it  in    justification    of  himself    in  connection 
with  the  Mexican  war.      It  has   none  of    the   distinguishing 
features  of  a  treaty.     It  does  not  call  itself  a  treaty.     Santa 
Anna  does  not  therein  assume  to   bind   Mexico;    he  assumes 
only  to  act  as  President,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Mexican 
army  and   navy ;    stipulates  that   the   then  present  hostilities 
should  cease,  and  that  he  would  not  himself  take  up  arms,  nor 
influence  the  Mexican  people  to  take  up  arms,  against   Texas, 
during  the  existence  of  the  war  of  Independence.     He  did  not 
recognize  the  independence  of  Texas ;    he  did   not  assume   to 
put  an  end  to  the  war,  but  clearly  indicated   his   expectation 
of  its  continuance;  he  did  not  say  one  word  about  boundary, 
and  most  probably  never  thought  of  it.     It  is  stipulated  therein 
that  the  Mexican  forces  should  evacuate  the  territory  of  Texas, 
passing  to  the  other   side  of  the  Rio  Grande ;  and  in  another 
article  it  is  stipulated,  that  to  prevent  collisions  between  the 
armies,   the    Texan    army    should    not   approach    nearer    than 
within  five  leagues — of  what  is  not  said — but  clearly,  from  the 
object  stated,  it  is  of  the  Rio  Grande.     Now,  if  this  is  a  treaty 
recognizing  the  Rio  Grande  as  the  boundary  of  Texas,  it  con 
tains  the  singular**feature  of  stipulating  that  Texas  shall  not 
go  within  five  leagues  of  her  own  boundary. 

Next  comes  the  evidence  of  Texas  before  annexation,  and 
the  United  States  afterward,  exercising  jurisdiction  beyond 
the  Nueces,  and  between  the  two  rivers.  This  actual  c.rercis* 
of  jurisdiction  is  the  very  class  or  quality  of  evidence  we  want. 
It  is  excellent  so  far  as  it  goes:  but  does  it  go  far  eiior.-h? 
He  tells  us  it  went  Icyond  the  Nueces,  but  he  does  not  tell  us 
it  went  to  the  Rio  Grande.  He  tells  us  jurisdiction  was  exer 
cised  between  the  two  rivers,  but  he  does  not  tell  us  it  was 
exercised  over  all  the  territory  between  them.  Some  simple- 
minded  people  think  it  possible  to  cross  one  river  and  go 
beyond  it,  without  going  all  the  way  to  the  next ;  that  juris 
diction  may  be  exercised  between  two  rivers  without  covering 
all  the  country  between  them.  I  know  a  man,  not  very  unlike 
myself,  who  exercises  jurisdiction  over  a  piece  of  land  between 
the  Wabash  and  the  Mississippi;  and  yet  so  far  is  this  i'rom 
being  all  there  is  between  those  rivers,  that  it  is  just  one 
hundred  and  fifty-two  feet  long  by  fifty  wide,  and  no  part  of 
it  much  within  a  hundred  miles  of  either.  He  has  a  Loi^h- 
bor  between  him  and  the  Mississippi — that  is,  just  across  the 
street,  in  that  direction — whom,  1  am  sure,  he  could  neither 
persuade  nor  force  to  give  up  his  habitation  ;  but  which,  never- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  83 

theless,  he  could  certainly  annex,  if  it  were  to  be  done,  by 
merely  standing  on  his  own  side  of  the  street  and  claiming 
it,  or  even  sitting  down  and  writing  a  deed  for  it. 

But  next,  the  President  tells  us  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  understood  the  State  of  Texas  they  admitted  into  the 
Union  to  extend  beyond  the  Nueces.  Well,  I  suppose  they 
did — I  certainly  so  understand  it — but  how  far  beyond  ? 
That  Congress  did  not  understand  it  to  extend  clear  to  the 
Rio  Grande,  is  quite  certain  by  the  fact  of  their  joint  resolu 
tions  for  admission,  expressly  leaving  all  questions  of  boundary 
to  future  adjustment.  And,  it  may  be  added,  that  Texas 
herself  is  proved  to  have  had  the  same  understanding  of  it 
that  our  Congress  had,  by  the  fact  of  the  exact  conformity  of 
her  new  Constitution  to  those  resolutions. 

I  am  now  through  the  whole  of  the  President's  evidence  ; 
and  it  is  a  singular  fact,  that  if  any  one  should  declare  the 
President  sent  the  army  into  the  midst  of  a  settlement  of 
Mexican  people,  who  had  never  submitted,  by  consent  or  by 
force  to  the  authority  of  Texas  or  of  the  United  States,  and 
that  there,  and  thereby,  the  first  blood  of  the  war  was  shed, 
there  is  not  one  word  in  all  the  President  has  said  which 
would  either  admit  or  deny  the  declaration.  In  this  strange 
omission  chiefly  consists  the  deception  of  the  President's 
evidence — an  omission  which,  it  does  seem  to  me,  could 
scarcely  have  occurred  but  by  design.  My  way  of  living 
leads  me  to  be  about  the  courts  of  justice ;  and  there  I  have 
some  times  seen  a  good  lawyer  struggling  for  his  client's 
neck,  in  a  desperate  case,  employing  every  artifice  to  work 
round,  befog,  and  cover  up  with  many  words  some  position 
pressed  upon  him  by  the  prosecution,  which  he  dared  not 
admit,  and  yet  could  not  deny.  Party  bias  may  help  to  make 
it  appear  so  ;  but  with  all  the  allowance  I  can  make  for  such 
bias,  it  still  does  appear  to  me  that  just  such,  and  from  just  such 
necessity,  are  the  President's  struggles  in  this  case. 

Some  time  after  my  colleague  (Mr.  Richardson)  intro 
duced  the  resolutions  I  have  mentioned,  I  introduced  a 
preamble,  resolution,  and  interrogatories,  intended  to  draw 
the  President  out,  if  possible,  on  this  hitherto  untrodden 
ground.  To  show  their  relevancy,  I  proposed  to  state  my 
understanding  of  the  true  rule  for  ascertaining  the  boundary 
between  Texas  and  Mexico.  It  is,  that  wherever  Texas  was 
exercising  jurisdiction  was  hers ;  and  wherever  Mexico  was 
exercising  jurisdiction  was  hers ;  and  that  whatever  separated 
the  actual  exercise  of  jurisdiction  of  the  one  from  that  of  the 
other,  was  the  true  boundary  between  them.  If,  as  is  proba 
bly  true,  Texas  was  exercising  jurisdiction  along  the  western 


84  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

bank  of  the  Nueces,  and  Mexico  was  exercising  it  along  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande,  then  neither  river  was  the 
boundary,  but  the  uninhabited  country  between  the  two  was. 
The  extent  of  our  territory  in  that  region  depended  not  on 
any  treaty -fixed  boundary  (for  no  treaty  had  attempted  it), 
but  on  revolution.  Any  people  anywhere,  being  inclined  and 
having  the  power,  have  the  right  to  rise  up  and  shake  off  the 
existing  government,  and  form  a  new  one  that  suits  them 
better.  This  is  a  most  valuable,  a  most  sacred  right — a  right 
which,  we  hope  and  believe,  is  to  liberate  the  world.  Nor  is 
this  right  confined  to  cases  in  which  the  whole  people  of  an 
existing  government  may  choose  to  exercise  it.  Any  portion 
of  such  people  that  can  may  revolutionize,  and  make  their 
own  of  so  much  of  the  territory  as  they  inhabit.  More  than 
this,  a  majority  of  any  portion  of  such  people  may  revolu 
tionize,  putting  down  a  minority,  intermingled  with,  or  near 
about  them,  who  may  oppose  their  movements.  Such  minority 
was  precisely  the  case  of  the  Tories  of  our  own  Revolution. 
It  is  a  quality  of  revolutions  not  to  go  by  old  lines,  or  old 
laws ;  but  to  break  up  both,  and  make  new  ones.  As  to  the 
country  now  in  question,  we  bought  it  of  France  in  1803, 
and  sold  it  to  Spain  in  1819,  according  to  the  President's 
statement.  After  this,  all  Mexico,  including  Texas,  revolu 
tionized  against  Spain;  and  still  later,  Texas  revolutionized 
against  Mexico.  In  my  view,  just  so  far  as  she  carried  her 
revolution,  by  obtaining  the  actual,  willing  or  unwilling  sub 
mission  of  the  people,  so  far  the  country  was  hers,  and  no 
further. 

Now,  sir,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  very  best  evi 
dence  as  to  whether  Texas  had  actually  carried  her  revolution 
to  the  place  where  the  hostilities  of  the  present  war  com 
menced,  let  the  President  answer  the  interrogatories  I  proposed, 
as  before  mentioned,  or  some  other  similar  ones.  Let  him 
answer  fully,  fairly  and  candidly.  Let  him  answer  with  facts, 
and  not  with  arguments.  Let  him  remember  he  sits  where 
Washington  sat;  and  so  remembering,  let  him  answer  as 
Washington  would  answer.  As  a  nation  should  not,  and  the 
Almighty  will  not,  be  evaded,  so  let  him  attempt  no  evasion, 
no  equivocation.  And  if,  so  answering,  he  can  show  that  the 
soil  was  ours  where  the  first  blood  of  the  war  was  shed — that 
it  was  not  within  an  inhabited  country,  or,  if  within  such,  that 
the  inhabitants  had  submitted  themselves  to  the  civil  authority 
of  Texas,  or  of  the  United  States,  and  that  the  same  is  true  of 
the  site  of  Fort  Brown — then  I  am  with  him  for  his  justifica 
tion.  In  that  case,  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  reverse  the  vote 
I  gave  the  other  day.  I  have  a  selfish  motive  for  desiring  that 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  85 

the  President  may  do  this ;  I  expect  to  give  some  votes,  in 
connection  with  the  war,  which,  without  his  so  doing,  will  be  of 
doubtful  propriety,  in  my  own  judgment,  but  which  will  be  free 
from  the  doubt,  if  he  does  so.  But  if  he  can  not  or  will  not  do 
this — if,  on  any  pretence,  or  no  pretence,  he  shall  refuse  or  omit 
it — then  I  shall  be  fully  convinced,  of  what  I  more  than  sus 
pect  already,  that  he  is  deeply  conscious  of  being  in  the  wrong; 
that  he  feels  the  blood  of  this  war,  like  the  blood  of  Abel,  is 
crying  to  heaven  against  him  ;  that  he  ordered  General  Tay 
lor  into  the  midst  of  a  peaceful  Mexican  settlement,  purposely 
to  bring  on  a  war ;  that  originally  having  some  strong  motive — 
what  I  will  not  stop  now  to  give  my  opinion  concerning — to 
involve  the  two  countries  in  a  war,  and  trusting  to  escape 
scrutiny  by  fixing  the  public  gaze  upon  the  exceeding  bright 
ness  of  military  glory — that  attractive  rainbow  that  rises  in 
showers  of  blood — that  serpent's  eye  that  charms  to  destroy — 
he  plunged  into  it,  and  has  swept  on  and  on,  till,  disappointed 
in  his  calculation  of  the  ease  with  which  Mexico  might  be 
subdued,  he  now  finds  himself  he  knows  not  where.  How 
like  the  half  insane  mumbling  of  a  fever  dream  is  the  whole 
war  part  of  the  late  message !  At  one  time  telHng  us  that 
Mexico  has  nothing  whatever  that  we  can  get  but  territory ;  at 
another,  showing  us  how  we  can  support  the  war  by  levying 
contributions  on  Mexico.  At  one  time  urging  the  national 
honor,  the  security  of  the  future,  the  prevention  of  foreign 
interference,  and  even  the  good  of  Mexico  herself,  as  among 
the  objects  of  the  war;  at  another,  telling  us  that,  "to  reject 
indemnity  by  refusing  to  accept  a  cession  of  territory,  would 
be  to  abandon  all  our  just  demands,  and  to  wage  the  war,  bear 
ing  all  its  expenses,  without  a  purpose  or  definite  object"  So, 
then,  the  national  honor,  security  of  the  future,  and  every 
thing  but  territorial  indemnity,  may  be  considered  the  no 
purposes  and  indefinite  objects  of  the  war  !  But  having  it  now 
settled  that  territorial  indemnity  is  the  only  object,  we  are 
urged  to  seize  by  legislation  here,  all  that  he  was  content  to 
take  a  few  months  ago,  and  the  whole  province  of  Lower  Cali 
fornia  to  boot,  and  to  still  carry  on  the  war — to  take  all  we 
are  fighting  for,  and  still  fight  on.  Again,  the  President  is 
resolved,  under  all  circumstances,  to  have  full  territorial 
indemnity  for  the  expenses  of  the  war ;  but  he  forgets  to  tell 
us  how  we  are  to  get  the  excess  after  those  expenses  shall  have 
surpassed  the  value  of  the  ichole  of  the  Mexican  territory. 
So,  again,  he  insists  that  the  separate  national  existence  of 
Mexico  shall  be  maintained ;  but  he  does  not  tell  us  how  this 
can  be  done  after  we  shall  have  taken  all  her  territory.  Lest 


86  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


the  question  I  here  surest  be  considered  speculative  merely, 
let  me  be  indulged  a  moment  in  trying  to  show  they  are  not. 

The  war  has  gone  on  some  twenty  months  ;  for  the  expenses 
of  which,  together  with  an  inconsiderable  old  score,  the  Presi 
dent  now  chums  about  one-halt1  of  the  Mexican  territory,  and 
that  by  far  the  better  half,  so  far  as  concerns  our  ability  to  make 
anything  out  of  it.  It  is  comparatively  uninhabited  ;  so  that 
we  could  establish  land  offices  in  it,  and  raise  some  money  in 
that  way.  But  the  other  half  is  already  inhabited,  as  I  under 
stand  it,  tolerably  densely  for  the  nature  of  the  country  ;  and 
all  its  lands,  or  all  that  are  valuable,  already  appropriated  as 
private  property.  How,  then,  are  we  to  make  any  thing  out 
of  these  lands  with  this  incumbrance  on  them,  or  how  remove 
the  incumbrance  ?  I  suppose  no  one  will  say  we  should  kill 
the  people,  or  drive  them  out,  or  make  slaves  of  them,  or  even 
confiscate  their  property  !  How,  then,  can  we  make  much  out 
of  this  part  of  the  territory?  If  the  prosecution  of  the  war 
has,  in  expenses,  already  equaled  the  letter  half  of  the  coun 
try,  how  long  its  future  prosecution  will  be  in  equaling  the  less 
valuable  half  is  not  a  speculative  but  a  practical  question, 
pressing  closely  upon  us;  and  yet  it  is  a  question  which  the 
President  seems  never  to  have  thought  of. 

As  to  the  mode  of  terminating  the  war  and  securing  peace, 
the   President  is  equally  wandering  and   indefinite.     First,  it 
is  to  be  done  by  a  more  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  IH  the 
vital    parts   of    the    enemy's    country;    and,   after    apparently 
talkino-  himself  tired  on  this  point,  the  President  drops  down 
into  a  half  despairing  tone,  and  tells  us  that,  "  with  a  people 
distracted  and  divided  by  contending  factions,  and  a  govern 
ment  subject  to  constant   changes,  by   successive  revolutions, 
the   continued  success  of  our  arms  may  fail   to  oltain  a  satis 
factory  peace."     Then  he  suggests  the  propriety  of  wheedling 
the  Mexican  people  to  desert  the  counsels  of  their  own  lea( 
ers,  and,  trusting   in   our   protection,  to  set  up  a   government 
from  which  we  can  secure  a  satisfactory  peace,  telling  i     that 
"  this  may  become  the  only  mode   of   obtaining  such  a  peace. 
But  soon  he  falls  into  doubt  of  this,  too,  and  then  drops  back 
on  to  the  already  half-abandoned  ground  of  "  more  vigorous 
prosecution."     All  this  shows  that  the  President  is  in  no  wise 
satisfied  with  his  own  positions.     First,  he  takes  up  one,  and, 
in  attempting  to  argue  us  into  it,  he  argues  himself  out  of  : 
then  seizes  another,  and  goes  through  the  same  process ;  and 
then    confused   at  being   able   to   think    of    nothing  new    h 
snatches  up  the  old  one  again,  which  he  has  some  time  before 
cast   off       His   mind,  tasked    beyond   its    power,  is  running 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  87 

hither  and  thither,  like  some  tortured  creature  on  a  burning 
surface,  finding  no  position  on  which  it  can  settle  down  and 
be  at  ease. 

Again,  it  is  a  singular  omission  in  this  message  that  it 
nowhere  intimates  token  the  President  expects  the  war  to  ter 
minate.  At  its  beginning,  General  Scott  was,  by  this  same 
President,  driven  into  disfavor,  if  not  disgrace,  for  intimating 
that  peace  could  not  be  conquered  in  less  than  three  or  four 
months.  But  now  at  the  end  of  about  twenty  months,  during 
which  time  our  arms  have  given  us  the  most  splendid  suc 
cesses — every  department,  and  every  part,  land  and  water, 
officers  and  privates,  regulars  and  volunteers,  doing  all  that 
men  could  do,  and  hundreds  of  things  which  it  had  ever  before 
been  thought  that  men  could  not  do ;  after  all  this,  this  same 
President  gives  us  a  long  message  without  showing  us  that,  as 
to  (he  end,  he  has  himself  even  an  imaginary  conception.  As 
I  have  before  said,  he  knows  not  where  he  is.  He  is  a  bewil 
dered,  confounded,  and  miserably-perplexed  man.  Grod  grant 
he  may  be  able  to  show  that  there  is  not  something  about  his 
conscience  more  painful  than  all  his  mental  perplexity. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  an  industrious  member  of  the  Committee 
on  Post-offices,  and  Post-roads,  and  thoroughly  acquainted 
himself  with  the  details  of  that  prominent  branch  of  the  public 
service.  On  the  5th  of  January,  1848,  he  made  a  clear  and 
pertinent  speech  in  regard  to  a  question  of  temporary  interest 
which  then  excited  considerable  attention,  the  "  Great  South 
ern  Mail  "  contract.  Some  of  the  Virginia  Whig  members  had 
taken  issue  with  the  Postmaster-General,  in  regard  to  his  action 
on  this  question,  and  there  were  indications  of  an  attempt  to 
give  a  partisan  turn  to  the  affair.  Mr.  Lincoln  sustained  the 
action  of  that  Democratic  official,  insisting  that  his  construc 
tion  of  the  law  in  this  instance,  which  was  the  more  econom 
ical,  was  also  the  more  correct  one.  It  is  unnecessary  to  enter 
into  the  details  of  the  case  here.  We  subjoin  two  or  three 
paragraphs  from  the  speech,  which  was  purely  a  practical  one, 
for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  general  spirit  and  tenor  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  mode  of  dealing  with  business  matters  : 

I  think  that  abundant  reasons  have  been  given  to  show 
that  the  construction  put  upon  the  law  by  the  Postmaster- 
General  is  the  right  construction,  and  that  subsequent  acts  of 
Congress  have  confirmed  it.  I  have  .already  said  that  the 


88  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

grievance  complained  of  ought  to  be  remedied.  But  it  is  said 
that  the  sum  of  money  about  which  all  this  difficulty  has  arisen 
is  exceedingly  small — not  more  than  $2,700.  I  admit  it  is 
very  small ;  and  if  nothing  else  were  involved,  it  would  not  be 
worth  the  dispute.  But  there  is  a  principle  involved  ;  and  if 
we  once  yield  to  a  wrong  principle,  that  concession  will  be  the 
prolific  source  of  endless  mischief.  It  is  for  this  reason,  and 
not  for  the  sake  of  saving  $2,700,  that  I  am  unwilling  to  yield 
what  is  demanded.  If  I  had  no  apprehensions  that  the  ghost 
of  this  yielding  would  rise  and  appear  in  various  distant  places, 
I  would  say,  pay  the  money,  and  let  us  have  no  more  fuss 
about  it.  But  I  have  such  apprehensions.  I  do  believe,  that 
if  we  yield  this,  our  act  will  be  the  source  of  other  claims 
equally  unjust,  and  therefore  I  can  not  vote  to  make  the 
allowance. 

Mr.  L.  insisted  that  the  true  and  great  point  to  which  the 
attention  of  this  House  or  the  committee  should  be  directed 
was,  what  is  a  just  compensation  ?  Inasmuch  as  this  railroad 
and  steamboat  company  could  afford  greater  facilities  than  any 
other  line,  the  service  ought  to  be  done  upon  this  route  ;  but 
it  ought  to  be  done  on  just  and  fair  principles.  If  it  could 
not  be  done  at  what  had  been  offered,  let  it  be  shown  that  a 
greater  amount  was  just.  But,  until  it  was  shown,  he  was 
opposed  to  increasing  it.  He  had  seen  many  things  in  the 
report  of  the  Postmaster-General  and  elsewhere  that  stood  out 
against  the  river  route.  Now,  the  daily  steamboat  transporta 
tion  between  Troy  and  New  York  was  performed  for  less  than 
one  hundred  dollars  per  mile.  This  company  was  dissatisfied 
with  two  hundred  and  twelve  or  two  hundred  and  thirteen 
dollars  per  mile.  It  had  not  been  shown,  and  he  thought  it 
could  not  be  shown  to  them  why  this  company  was  entitled  to 
more,  or  so  much  more,  than  the  other  received.  It  was  true, 
they  had  to  encounter  the  ice,  but  was  there  not  more  ice 
further  north  ?  There  might  possibly  be  shown  some  reason 
why  the  Virginia  line  should  have  more  ;  but  was  there  any 
reason  why  they  should  have  so  much  more  ?  Again,  the 
price  paid  between  Cincinnati  and  Louisville  for  daily  trans 
portation  was  not  two  hundred  and  thirteen  dollars  per  mile, 
or  one  hundred  dollars,  or  fifty  ;  it  was  less  than  twenty-eight 
dollars  per  mile.  Now,  he  did  not  insist  that  there  might  not 
be  some  peculiar  reasons  connected  with  this  route  between 
this  city  and  Richmond  that  entitled  it  to  more  than  was  paid 
on  the  routes  between  Cincinnati  and  Louisville,  and  Troy  and 
New  York.  But,  if  there  were  reasons,  they  ought  to  be 
shown.  And  was  it  supposed  that  there  could  be  any,  or  so 
peculiar  reasons  as  to  justify  so  great  a  difference  in  cornpen- 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  89 

gallon  as  was  claimed  by  this  company  ?  It  did  seem  that  there 
could  be  none. 

These  reasons  actuated  him  in  taking  the  position  he  had 
taken,  painfully  refusing  to  oblige  his  friend  from  Virginia, 
which  he  assured  the  gentleman  he  had  the  greatest  inclina 
tion  to  do. 

In  relation  to  the  report  of  the  committee,  let  him  state 
one  thing :  It  proposed  that  the  Postmaster-General  should 
again  offer  this  company  what  he  had  already  offered  and  they 
had  refused.  It  was  for  the  reason  that  the  Postmaster-General, 
as  he  understood,  had  informed  them  that  he  was  not  himself 
going  to  renew  the  proposition.  The  committee  supposed,  at 
any  rate  he  (Mr.  L.)  supposed — that  as  soon  as  the  company 
should  know  that  they  could  get  what  he  he  had  offered  them, 
and  no  more — as  soon  as  all  hope  of  greater  compensation  was 
cut  off — that  instant  they  would  not  take  ten  thousand  dollars 
a  year  for  the  privilege  of  doing  it.  Whether  this  was  actually 
the  case  he  did  not  profess  positively  to  know;  it  was  a  matter 
of  opinion,  but  he  firmly  believed  it.  In  proposing  to  offer 
them  the  contract  again,  as  he  had  already  said,  the  committee 
yielded  something,  viz. :  the  damage  that  the  Government  would 
have  to  pay  for  the  breaking  up  of  the  present  arrangement. 
He  was  willing  to  incur  that  damage  ;  some  other  gentlemen 
were  not ;  they  were  further  away  from  the  position  which  his 
friend  from  Virginia  took.  He  was  willing  to  yield  something, 
but  could  not  consent  to  go  the  whole  length  with  the 
gentleman. 

The  subject  of  internal  improvements,  as  before  indicated, 
had  long  been  one  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  had  taken  a  special 
interest.  In  the  Illinois  Legislature,  he  had  favored  the  policy 
of  developing  the  resources  of  the  State  by  the  fostering  aid 
of  the  local  government,  in  so  far  as  he  might,  under  the  con 
stant  restraints  of  a  Democratic  majority.  The  great  River 
and  Harbor  Improvement  Convention,  held  at  Chicago,  not 
long  before  the  commencement  of  his  Congressional  life — and 
to  which  he  refers  in  his  subjoined  speech  on  this  policy — he 
had  participated  in,  as  one  of  its  most  active  and  earnest 
members.  A  brief,  fifteen-minute  speech  of  his  on  that  occa 
sion,  of  which  there  appears  to  be  no  report  extant,  is  still 
remembered  by  many  of  those  who  heard  it,  as  one  of  the 
most  eloquent  and  impressive  efforts  of  that  memorable  con 
vention,  which  was  presided  over  i>y  the  Hon.  Edward  Bates, 


90  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  St.  Louis.  Aside  from  the  celebrated  speech  of  the  latter, 
a  theme  of  constant  praise  from  that  day  to  the  present,  no 
more  electrifying  address  was  made  before  the  convention  than 
that  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 

On  the  20th  day  of  June,  1848,  after  the  Presidential  nom 
ination  of  Mr.  Cass,  whom  "  circumstances,"  it  will  be  remem 
bered,  prevented  from  being  present  at  that  convention,  Mr. 
Lincoln  took  occasion  to  address  the  House  on  this  subject. 
Below  is  his  speech  entire,  as  reported  in  the  Appendix  to  the 
Congressional  Globe  for  that  sesson  (p.  709) : 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  SPEECH  ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS. 

(In  Committee  of  the  Whole  House,  June  20,  1848.) 

Mr.  Lincoln  said : 

MR.  CHAIRMAN — I  wish  at  all  times  in  no  way  to  practice 
any  fraud  upon  the  House  or  the  Committee,  and  I  also  desire 
to  do  nothing  which  may  be  very  disagreeable  to  any  of  the 
members.  1  therefore  state,  in  advance,  that  my  object  in 
taking  the  floor  is  to  make  a  speech  on  the  general  subject  of 
internal  improvements;  and  if  I  am  out  of  order  in  doing  so, 
I  give  the  Chair  an  opportunity  of  so  deciding,  and  I  will  take 
my  seat. 

The  Chair. — I  will  not  undertake  to  anticipate  what  the 
gentleman  may  say  on  the  subject  of  internal  improvements. 
He  will,  therefore,  proceed  in  his  remarks,  and  if  any  cjuestion 
of  order  shall  be  made,  the  Chair  will  then  decide  it. 

Mr.  Lincoln. — At  an  early  day  of  this  session  the  Pres 
ident  sent  to  us  what  may  properly  be  termed  an  inter 
nal  improvement  veto  message.  The  late  Democratic  Conven 
tion  which  sat  at  Baltimore,  and  which  nominated  General 
Cass  for  the  Presidency,  adopted  a  set  of  resolutions,  now 
called  the  Democratic  platform,  among  which  is  one  in  these 
words: 

"That  the  Constitution  does  not  confer  upon  the  General 
Government  the  power  to  commence  and  carry  on  a  general 
system  of  internal  improvements." 

General  Cass,  in  his  letter  accepting  the  nomination,  holds 
this  language  : 

"1  have  carefully  read  the  resolutions  of  the  Democratic 
National  Convention,  laying  down  the  platform  of  our  politi 
cal  ik'th,  and  I  adhere  to  them  as  firmly  as  I  approve  them 
cordially." 

These   things,  taken   together,  show  that  the  question  of 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  91 

internal  improvements  is  now  more  distinctly  made — has 
become  more  intense,  than  at  any  former  period.  It  can  no 
longer  be  avoided.  The  veto  message  and  the  Baltimore  reso 
lution  I  understand  to  be,  in  substance,  the  same  thing ;  the 
latter  being  the  more  general  statement,  of  which  the  former 
is  the  amplification — the  bill  of  particulars.  While  I  know 
there  are  many  Democrats,  on  the  floor  and  elsewhere,  who 
disapprove  that  message,  I  understand  that  all  who  shall  vote 
for  General  Cass  will  thereafter  be  considered  as  having 
approved  it,  as  having  indorsed  all  its  docrines.  I  suppose  all, 
or  nearly  all,  the  Democrats  will  vote  for  him.  Many  of  them 
will  do  so,  not  because  they  like  his  position  on  this  question, 
but  because  they  prefer  him,  being  wrong  in  this,  to  another, 
whom  they  consider  further  wrong  on  other  questions.  In 
this  way  the  internal  improvement  Democrats  are  to  be,  by  a 
sort  of  forced  consent,  carried  over,  and  arrayed  against  them 
selves  on  this  measure  of  policy.  General  Cass,  once  elected, 
will  not  trouble  himself  to  make  a  constitutional  argument, 
or,  perhaps,  any  argument  at  all,  when  he  shall  veto  a  river 
or  harbor  bill.  He  will  consider  it  a  sufficient  answer  to  ail 
Democratic  murmurs,  to  point  to  Mr.  Folk's  message,  and  to 
the  "Democratic  platform."  This  being  the  case,  the  ques 
tion  of  improvements  is  verging  to  a  final  crisis  ;  and  the 
friends  of  the  policy  must  now  battle,  and  battle  manfully,  or 
surrender  all.  In  this  view,  humble  as  I  am,  I  wish  to 
review,  and  contrast  as  well  as  I  may,  the  general  positions  of 
this  veto  message.  When  I  say  general  positions,  I  mean  to 
exclude  from  consideration  so  much  as  relates  to  the  present 
embarrassed  state  of  the  Treasury,  in  consequence  of  the 
Mexican  war. 

Those  general  positions  are  :  That  internal  improvements 
ought  not' to  be  made  by  the  General  Government : 

1.  Because  they  would  overwhelm  the  treasury  ; 

2.  Because,   while    their  burdens  would    be   general,  their 
benefits  would   be   local  and  partial,  involving  an  obnoxious 
inequality ; 

3.  Because  they  would  be  unconstitutional ; 

4.  Because  the  States  may  do  enough  by  the  levy  and  col 
lection  of  tunnage  duties  ;  or,  if  not, 

5.  That  the  Constitution  may  be  amended. 

"  Do  nothing  at  all,  lest  you  do  something  wrong,"  is  the 
Bum  of  these  positions — is  the  sum  of  this  message  ;  and  this, 
with  the  exception  of  what  is  said  about  Constitutionality, 
applying  as  forcibly  to  making  improvements  by  State  authority 
as  by  the  national  authority.  So  that  we  must  abandon  the 
improvements  of  the  country  altogether,  by  any  and  every 


92  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

authority,  or  we  may  resist  and  repudiate  the  doctrines  of  this 
message.  Let  us  attempt  the  latter. 

The  first  position  is,  that  a  system  of  internal  improvement 
would  overwhelm  the  treasury. 

That,  in  such  a  system,  there  is  a  tendency  to  undue  expan 
sion,  is  not  to  be  denied.  Such  tendency  is  founded  in  the 
nature  of  the  subject.  A  member  of  Congress  will  prefer 
voting  for  a  bill  which  contains  an  appropriation  for  his  district, 
to  voting  for  one  which  does  not ;  and  when  a  bill  shall  be 
expanded  till  every  district  shall  be  provided  for,  that  it  will  be 
too  greatly  expanded  is  obvious.  But  is  this  any  more  true  in 
Congress  than  in  a  State  Legislature  ?  If  a  member  of  Con 
gress  must  have  an  appropriation  for  his  district,  so  a  member 
of  a  Legislature  must  have  for  his^  county  ;  and  if  one  will 
overwhelm  the  national  treasury,  so  the  other  will  overwhelm 
the  State  treasury.  Go  where  we  will,  the  difficulty  is  the  same. 
Allow  it  to  drive  us  from  the  halls  of  Congress,  and  it  will  just 
as  easily  drive  us  from  the  State  Legislatures.  Let  us,  then, 
grapple  with  it,  and  test  its  strength.  Let  us,  judging  of  the 
future  by  the  past,  ascertain  whether  there  may  not  be,  in  the 
discretion  of  Congress,  a  sufficient  power  to  limit  and  restrain 
this  expansive  tendency  within  reasonable  and  proper  bounds. 
The  President  himself  values  the  evidence  of  the  past.  He 
tells  us  that  at  a  certain  point  of  our  history,  more  than  two 
hundred  millions  of  dollars  has  been  applied  for,  to  make 
improvements,  and  this  he  does  to  prove  that  the  treasury  would 
be  overwhelmed  by  such  a  system.  Why  did  he  not  tell  us 
how  much  was  granted?  Would  not  that  have  been  better 
evidence  ?  Let  us  turn  to  it,  and  see  what  it  proves.  In  the 
message,  the  President  tells  us  that  "  during  the  four  succeed 
ing  years,  embraced  by  the  administration  of  President  Adams, 
the  power  not  only  to  appropriate  money,  but  to  apply  it,  under 
the  direction  and  authority  of  the  General  Government,  as 
well  to  the  construction  of  roads  as  to  the  improvement  of 
harbors  and  rivers,  was  fully  asserted  and  exercised." 

This,  then,  was  the  period  of  greatest  enormity.  These,  if 
any,  must  have  been  the  days  of  the  200,000,000.  And 
how  much  do  you  suppose  was  really  expended  for  improve 
ments  during  those  four  years  ?  Two  hundred  millions  ? 
One  hundred  ?  Fifty  ?  Ten  ?  Five  ?  No,  sir,  less  than  two 
millions.  As  shown  by  authentic  documents,  the  expenditures 
on  improvements  during  1825, 1826,  1827  and  1828,  amounted 
to  $1,879,627  01.  These  four  years  were  the  period  of  Mr. 
Adams'  administration,  nearly,  and  substantially.  This  fact 
shows  that  when  the  power  to  make  improvements  was  "  fully 
asserted  and  exercised,"  the  Congresses  did  keep  within  rea- 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  93 

sonable  limits  ;  and  what  has  been  done  it  seems  to  me,  can 
be  done  again. 

Now  for  the  second  position  of  the  message,  namely,  that 
the  burdens  of  improvements  would  be  general,  while  their 
benefits  would  be  local  and  partial,  involving  an  obnoxious 
inequality.  That  there  is  some  degree  of  truth  in  this  posi 
tion  I  shall  not  deny.  No  commercial  object  of  Government 
patronage  .can  be  so  exclusively  general,  as  not  to  be  of  some 
peculiar"  local  advantage  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  nothing  is 
so  local  as  not  to  be  of  some  general  advantage.  The  navy, 
as  I  understand  it,  was  established,  and  is  maintained,  at  a 
great  annual  expense,  partly  to  be  ready  for  war,  when  war 
shall  come,  but  partly  also,  and  perhaps  chiefly,  for  the  pro 
tection  of  our  commerce  on  the  high  seas.  This  latter  object 
is,  for  all  I  can  see,  in  principle,  the  same  as  internal  improve 
ments.  The  driving  a  pirate  from  the  track  of  commerce  on 
the  broad  ocean,  and  the  removing  a  snag  from  its  more  nar 
row  path  in  the  Mississippi  river,  can  not,  I  think,  be  distin 
guished  in  principle.  Each  is  done  to  save  life  and  property, 
and  for  nothing  else.  The  navy,  then,  is  the  most  general  in 
its  benefits  of  all  this  class  of  objects ;  and  yet  even  the  navy 
is  of  some  peculiar  advantage  to  Charleston,  Baltimore,  Phil 
adelphia,  New  York,  and  Boston,  beyond  what  it  is  to  the  inte 
rior  towns  of  Illinois.  The  next  most  general  object  I  can 
think  of,  would  be  improvements  on  the  Mississippi  river  and 
its  tributaries.  They  touch  thirteen  of  our  States — Pennsyl 
vania,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
Arkansas,  Missouri,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Ohio,  Wisconsin,  and 
Iowa.  Now,  I  suppose  it  will  not  be  denied,  that  these  thir 
teen  States  are  a  little  more  interested  in  improvements  on 
that  great  river  than  are  the  remaining  seventeen.  These 
instances  of  the  navy,  and  the  Mississippi  river,  show  clearly 
that  there  is  something  of  local  advantage  in  the  most  general 
objects.  But  the  converse  is  also  true.  Nothing  is  so  local 
as  not  to  be  of  some  general  benefit.  Take,  for  instance,  the 
Illinois  and  Michigan  canal.  Considered  apart  from  its 
effects,  it  is  perfectly  local.  Every  inch  of  it  is  within  the 
State  of  Illinois.  That  canal  was  first  opened  for  business 
last  April.  In  a  very  few  days  we  were  all  gratified  to  learn, 
among  other  things,  that  sugar  had  been  carried  from  New 
Orleans,  through  the  canal,  to  Buffalo,  in  New  York.  This 
sugar  took  this  route,  doubtless,  because  it  was  cheaper  than 
the  old  route.  Supposing  the  benefit  in  the  reduction  of  the 
cost  of  carriage  to  be  shared  between  seller  and  buyer,  the 
result  is,  that  the  New  Orleans  merchant  sold  his  sugar  a  little 
dearer,  and  the  people  of  Buffalo  sweetened  their  coffee  a  little 


94  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

cheaper  than  before  ;  a  benefit  resulting  from  the  canal,  not  to 
Illinois,  where  the  canal  is,  but  to  Louisiana  and  New  York, 
where  it  is  not.  In  other  transactions  Illinois  will,  of  course, 
have  her  share,  and  perhaps  the  larger  share  too,  in  the  bene 
fits  of  the  canal ;  but  the  instance  of  the  sugar  clearly  shows 
that  the  benefits  of  an  improvement  are  by  no  means  confined 
to  the  particular  locality  of  the  improvement  itself. 

The  just  conclusion  from  all  this  is,  that  if  the  nation 
refuse  to  make  improvements  of  the  more  general  kind, 
because  their  benefits  may  be  somewhat  local,  a  State  may,  for 
the  same  reason,  refuse  to  make  an  improvement  of  a  local 
kind,  because  its  benefits  may  be  somewhat  general.  A  State 
may  well  say  to  the  nation:  "  If  you  will  do  nothing  for  me, 
I  will  do  nothing  for  you."  Thus  it  is  seen,  that  if  this 
argument  of  "  inequality"  is  sufiicient  anywhere,  it  is  suffi 
cient  everywhere,  and  puts  an  end  to  improvements  altogether. 
I  hope  and  believe,  that  if  both  the  nation  and  the  States 
would,  in  good  faith,  in  their  respective  spheres,  do  what  they 
could  in  the  way  of  improvements,  what  of  inequality  might 
be  produced  in  one  place  might  be  compensated  in  another, 
and  that  the  sum  of  the  whole  might  not  be  very  unequal. 
But  suppose,  after  all,  there  should  be  some  degree  of  ine 
quality  :  inequality  is  certainly  never  to  be  embraced  for  its 
own  sake  ;  but  is  every  good  thing  to  be  discarded  which  may 
be  inseparably  connected  with  some  degree  of  it  ?  If  so,  we 
must  discard  all  government.  This  Capitol  is  built  at  the 
public  expense,  for  the  public  benefit ;  but  does  any  one  doubt 
that  it  is  of  some  peculiar  local  advantage  to  the  property 
holders  and  business  people  of  Washington  ?  Shall  we 
remove  it  for  this  reason  ?  And  if  so,  where  shall  we  set  it 
down,  and  be  free  from  the  difficulty?  To  make  sure  of  our 
object,  shall  we  locate  it  nowhere,  and  leave  Congress  here 
after  to  hold  its  sessions  as  the  loafer  lodged,  "  in  spots 
about?"  I  make  no  special  allusion  to  the  present  President 
when  I  say,  there  are  few  stronger  cases  in  this  world  of 
"  burden  to  the  many,  and  benefit  to  the  few" — of  '•  ine 
quality" — than  the  Presidency  itself  is  by  some  thought  to 
be.  An  honest  laborer  digs  coal  at  about  seventy  cents  a 
day,  while  the  President  digs  abstractions  at  about  seventy 
•  dollars  a  day.  The  coal  is  clearly  worth  more  than,  the 
abstractions,  and  yet  what  a  monstrous  inequality  in  the  prices? 
Does  the  President,  for  this  reason,  propose  to  abolish  the 
Presidency?  He  docs  not,  and  he  ouylit  not.  The  true  rule, 
in  determining  to  embrace  or  reject  anything,  is  not  whether 
it  have  any  evil  in  it,  but  whether  it  have  more  of  evil  than 
of  good.  There  are  few  things  wholly  evil  or  wholly  good. 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  95 

Almost  every  thing,  especially  of  government  policy,  is  an 
inseparable  compound  of  the  two  ;  so  that  our  best  judgment 
of  the  preponderance  between  them  is  continually  demanded. 
On  ihU  principle,  the  President,  his  friends,  and  the  world 
generally,  act  on  most  subjects.  Why  not  apply  it,  then,  upon 
this  question  ?  Why,  as  to  improvements,  magnify  the  evil, 
and  stoutly  refuse  to  see  any  good  in  them? 

Mr.  Chairman,  on  the  third  position  of  the  message  (the 
Constitutional  question)  I  have  not  much  to  say.  Being  the 
man  I  am,  and  speaking  when  I  do,  I  feel  that  in  any  attempt 
at  an  original,  Constitutional  argument,  I  should  not  be,  and 
ought  not  to  be,  listened  to  patiently.  The  ablest  and  the 
best  of  men  have  gone  over  the  whole  ground  long  ago.  I 
shall  attempt  but  little  more  than  a  brief  notice  of  what  some 
of  them  have  said.  In  relation  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  views,  I 
read  from  Mr.  Folk's  veto  message : 

"  President  Jefferson,  in  his  message  to  Congress  in  180G, 
recommended  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution,  with  a  view 
to  apply  an  anticipated  surplus  in  the  treasury  '  to  the  great 
purposes  of  the  public  education,  roads,  rivers,  canals,  and 
such  other  objects  of  public  improvements  as  it  may  be 
thought  proper  to  add  to  the  Constitutional  enumeration  of 
the  Federal  powers.'  And  he  adds:  'I  suppose  an  amend 
ment  to  the  Constitution,  by  consent  of  the  States,  necessary, 
because  the  objects  now  recommended  are  not  among  those 
enumerated  in  the  Constitution,  and  to  which  it  permits  the 
public  moneys  to  be  applied."  In  1825,  he  repeated,  in  his 
published  letters,  the  opinion  that  no  such  power  has  been 
conferred  upon  Congress." 

I  introduce  this,  not  to  controvert,  just  now,  the  Constitu 
tional  opinion,  but  to  show,  that  on  the  question  of  expediency, 
Mr.  Jefferson's  opinion  was  against  the  present  President — 
that  this  opinion  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  one  branch  at  least,  is, 
in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Polk,  like  McFingal's  gun  : 

"  Bears  wide  and  kicks  the  owner  over." 

But,  to  the  Constitutional  question.  In  1826,  Chancellor 
Kent  first  published  his  Commentaries  on  American  Law. 
He  devoted  a  portion  of  one  of  the  lectures  to  the  question 
of  the  authority  of  Congress  to  appropriate  public  moneys  for 
internal  improvements.  He  mentions  that  the  question  had 
never  been  brought  under  judicial  consideration,  and  proceeds 
to  give  a  brief  summary  of  the  discus.sions  it  had  undergone 
between  the  legislative  and  executive  branches  of  the  ilov- 
ernuient.  He  shows  that  the  legislative  branch  had  usually 
been /or,  and  the  executive  against,  the  power,  till  the  period 


96  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

of  Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams'  administration  ;  at  which  point  lie  con 
siders  the  executive  influence  as  withdrawn  from  opposition, 
and  added  to  the  support  of  the  power.  In  1844,  the  Chan- 
celor  published  a  new  edition  of  his  Commentaries,  in  which 
he  adds  some  notes  of  what  had  transpired  on  the  question 
since  1826.  I  have  not  time  to  read  the  original  text,  or  the 
notes,  but  the  whole  may  be  found  on  page  267,  and  the  two 
or  three  following  pages  of  the  first  volume  of  the  edition  of 
1844.  As  what  Chancellor  Kent  seems  to  consider  the  sum 
of  the  whole,  I  read  from  one  of  the  notes  : 

"  Mr.  Justice  Story,  in  his  Commentaries  on  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  vol.  2,  page  429-440,  and  again, 
page  519-538,  has  stated  at  large  the  arguments  for  and 
against  the  proposition  that  Congress  have  a  Constitutional 
authority  to  lay  taxes,  and  to  apply  the  power  to  regulate  com 
merce,  as  a  means  directly  to  encourage  and  protect  domestic 
manufactures  ;  and,  without  giving  any  opinion  of  his  own  on 
the  contested  doctrine,  he  has  left  the  reader  to  draw  his  own 
conclusion.  I  should  think,  however,  from  the  arguments  as 
stated,  that  every  mind  which  has  taken  no  part  in  the  discus 
sions,  and  felt  no  prejudice  or  territorial  bias  on  either  side  of 
the  question,  would  deem  the  arguments  in  favor  of  the  Con 
gressional  power  vastly  superior." 

It  will  be  seen,  that  in  this  extract,  the  power  to  make 
improvements  is  not  directly  mentioned ;  but  by  examining 
the  context  both  of  Kent  and  of  Story,  it  will  appear  that  the 
power  mentioned  in  the  extract  and  the  power  to  make 
improvements,  are  regarded  as  identical.  It  is  not  to  be 
denied  that  many  great  and  good  men  have  been  against  the 
power  ;  but  it  is  insisted  that  quite  as  many,  as  great,  and  as 
good,  have  been  for  it ;  and  it  is  shown  that,  on  a  full  survey 
of  the  whole,  Chancellor  Kent  was  of  opinion  that  the  argu 
ments  of  the  latter  were  vastly  superior.  This  is  but  the 
opinion  of  a  man;  but  who  was  that  man?  He  was  one  of 
the  ablest  and  most  learned  lawyers  of  his  age,  or  of  any 
other  age.  It  is  no  disparagement  to  Mr.  Polk,  nor,  indeed, 
to  any  one  who  devotes  much  time  to  politics,  to  be  placed  far 
behind  Chancellor  Kent  as  a  lawyer.  His  attitude  was  most 
favorable  to  correct  conclusions.  He  wrote  coolly  and  in 
retirement.  He  was  struggling  to  rear  a  durable  monument 
of  fauie  ;  and  he  well  knew  that  truth  and  thoroughly  sound 
reasoning  were  the  only  sure  foundations.  Can  the  party 
opinion  of  a  party  President,  on  a  law  question,  as  this  purely 
is,  be  at  all  compared  or  set  in  opposition  to  that  of  such  a 
man,  in  such,  an  attitude,  as  Chancellor  Kent? 

This  Constitutional  question  will  probably  never  be  better 


LIFE   OF   AB11AIIAM    LINCOLN.  97 

settled  than  it  is,  until  it  shall  pass  under  judicial  considera 
tion  ;  but  I  do  think  that  no  man  who  is  clear  on  this  ques 
tion  of  expediency  need  feel  his  conscience  much  pricked 
upon  this. 

Mr.  Chairman,  the  President  seems  to  think  that  enough 
may  be  done  in  the  way  of  improvements,  by  means  of  tun- 
nage  duties,  under  State  authority,  with  the  consent  of  the 
General  Government.  Now,  I  suppose  this  matter  of  tunnage 
duties  is  well  enough  in  its  own  sphere.  I  suppose  it  may  be 
efficient,  and  perhaps  sufficient,  to  make  slight  improvements 
and  repairs  in  harbors  already  in  use,  and  not  much  out  of 
repair.  But  if  I  have  any  correct  general  idea  of  it,  it  must 
be  wholly  inefficient  for  any  general  beneficient  purposes  of 
improvement.  I  know  very  little,  or  rather  nothing  at  all,  of 
the  practical  matter  of  levying  and  collecting  tunnage  duties  ; 
but  I  suppose  one  of  its  principles  must  be,  to  lay  a  duty,  for 
the  improvement  of  any  particular  harbor,  upon  the  tunnage 
coming  into  that  harbor.  To  do  otherwise — to  collect  money 
in  one  harbor  to  be  expended  on  improvements  in  another — 
would  be  an  extremely  aggravated  form  of  that  inequality 
which  the  President  so  much  deprecates.  If  I  be  right  in  this, 
how  could  we  make  any  entirely  new  improvements  by  means  of 
tuunage  duties?  How  make  a  road,  a  canal,  or  clear  a  greatly 
obstructed  river  ?  The  idea  that  we  could,  involves  the 
same  absurdity  of  the  Irish  bull  about  the  new  boots  :  "I  shall 
niver  git  'em  on,"  says  Patrick,  "till  I  wear  'em  a  day  or  two, 
and  stretch  'em  a  little."  We  shall  never  make  a  canal  by 
tunnage  duties,  until  it  shall  already  have  been  made  awhile, 
so  the  tunnage  can  get  into  it. 

After  all,  the  President  concludes  that  possibly  there  may 
be  some  great  objects  of  improvements  which  can  not  be 
effected  by  tunnage  duties,  and  which,  therefore,  may  be  expe 
dient  for  the  General  Government  to  take  in  hand.  •  Accord 
ingly,  he  suggests,  in  case  any  such  be  discovered,  the  pro 
priety  of  amending  the  Constitution.  Amend  it  for  what? 
If,  like  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  President  thought  improvements 
expedient,  but  not  constitutional,  it  would  be  natural  enough 
for  him  to  recommend  such  an  amendment  j  but  hear  what  he 
says  in  this  very  message : 

"  In  view  of  these  portentous  consequences,  I  can  not  but 
think  that  this  course  of  legislation  should  be  arrested,  even 
were  there  nothing  to  forbid  it  in  the  fundamental  laws  of  our 
Union." 

For  what,  then,  would  he  have  the  Constitution  amended  ? 
With  "him  it  is  a  proposition  to  remove  one  impediment, 
merely  to  be  met  by  others,  which,  in  his  opinion,  can  not  U 


98  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

removed — to  enable  Congress  to  do  what,  in  his  opinion,  they 
ought  not  to  do  if  they  could. 

[Here  Mr.  Meade,  of  Virginia,  inquired  if  Mr.  L.  under 
stood  the  President  to  be  opposed,  on  grounds  of  expediency, 
to  any  and  every  improvement?] 

To  which  Mr.  Lincoln  answered:  In  the  very  part  of  his 
message  of  which  I  am  now  speaking,  I  understand  him  as 
giving  some  vague  expressions  in  favor  of  some  possible 
objects  of  improvements ;  but,  in  doing  so,  I  understand  him 
to  be  directly  in  the  teeth  of  his  own  arguments  in  other  parts 
of  it.  Neither  the  President,  nor  any  one,  can  possibly  specify 
an  improvement,  which  shall  not  be  clearly  liable  to  one  or 
another  of  the  objections  he  has  urged  on  the  score  of  expedi 
ency.  I  have  shown,  and  might  show  again,  that  no  work — 
no  object — can  be  so  general,  as  to  dispense  its  benefits  with 
precise  equality ;  and  this  inequality  is  chief  among  the 
"  portentous  consequences  "  for  which  he  declares  that  improve 
ments  should  be  arrested.  No,  sir  ;  when  the  President  inti 
mates  that  something  in  the  way  of  improvements  may  prop 
erly  be  done  by  the  General  Government,  he  is  shrinking  from 
the  conclusions  to  which  his  own  arguments  would  force  him. 
He  feels  that  the  improvements  of  this  broad  and  goodly  land 
are  a  mighty  interest ;  and  he  is  unwilling  to  confess  to  the 
people,  or  perhaps  to  himself,  that  he  has  built  an  argument 
which,  when  pressed  to  its  conclusion,  entirely  annihilates  this 
interest. 

I  have  already  said  that  no  one  who  is  satisfied  of  the  expe 
diency  of  making  improvements  need  be  much  uneasy  in  his 
conscience  about  its  constitutionality.  I  wish  now  to  submit 
a  few  remarks  on  the  general  proposition  of  amending  the 
Constitution.  As  a  general  rule,  I  think  we  would  do  much 
better  to  let  it  alone.  No  slight  occasion  should  tempt  us  to 
touch  it.  Better  not  take  the  first  step,  which  may  lend  to  a 
habit  of  altering  it.  Better  rather  habituate  ourselves  to  think 
of  it  as  unalterable.  It  can  scarcely  be  made  better  than  it  is. 
New  provisions  would  introduce  new  difficulties,  and  thus  cre 
ate  and  increase  appetite  for  further  change.  No,  sir  ;  let  it 
stand  as  it  is.  New  hands  have  never  touched  it.  The  men 
who  made  it  have  done  their  work,  and  have  passed  away. 
Who  shall  improve  on  what  they  did? 

Mr.  Chairman,  for  the  purpose  of  reviewing  this  message  in 
the  least  possible  time,  as  well  as  for  the  sake  of  distinctness, 
I  have  analyzed  its  arguments  as  well  as  I  could,  and  reduced 
them  to  the  propositions  I  have  stated.  I  have  now  examined 
them  in  detail.  I  wish  to  detain  the  committee  only  a  little 
while  longer,  with  some  general  remarks  on  the  subject  of 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  99 

improvements.  That  the  subject  is  a  difficult  one,  can  not  be 
denied.  Still,  it  is  no  more  difficult  in  Congress  than  in  the 
State  Legislatures,  in  the  counties,  or  in  the  smallest  municipal 
districts  which  everywhere  exist.  All  can  recur  to  instances 
of  this  difficulty  in  the  case  of  county  roads,  bridges,  and  the 
like.  One  man  is  offended  because  a  road  passes  over  his 
land ;  and  another  is  offended  because  it  does  not  pass  over 
his ;  one  is  dissatisfied  because  the  bridge,  for  which  he  is 
taxed,  crosses  the  river  on  a  different  road  from  that  Vhich 
leads  from  his  house  to  towt) ;  another  can  not  bear  that  the 
county  should  get  in  debt  for  these  same  roads  and  bridges  ; 
while  not  a  few  struggle  hard  to  have  roads  located  over  their 
lands,  and  then  stoutly  refuse  to  let  them  be  opened,  until  they 
are  first  paid  the  damages.  Even  between  the  different  wards 
and  streets  of  towns  and  cities,  we  find  this  same  wrangling 
and  difficulty.  Now,  these  are  no  other  than  the  very  difficul 
ties  against  which,  and  out  of  which,  the  President  constructs 
his  objections  of  "  inequality,"  "  speculation,"  and  "  crushing 
the  Treasury."  There  is  but  a  single  alternative  about  them — 
they  are  sufficient,  or  they  are  not.  If  sufficient,  they  are  suffi 
cient  out  of  Congress  as  well  as  in  it,  and  there  is  the  end. 
We  must  reject  them  as  insufficient,  or  lie  down  and  do  noth 
ing  by  any  authority.  Then,  difficulty  though  there  be,  let  us 
meet  and  overcome  it. , 

.  "Attempt  the  end,  and  never  stand  to  doubt ; 
Nothing  so  hard,  but  search  will  find  it  out." 

Determine  that  the  thing  can  and  shall  be  done,  and  then 
we  shall  find  the  way.  The  tendency  to  undue  expansion  is 
unquestionably  the  chief  difficulty.  How  to  do  something,  and 
still  not  to  do  too  much,  is  the  desideratum.  Let  each  con 
tribute  his  mite  in  the  way  of  suggestion.  The  late  Silas 
Wright,  in  a  letter  to  the  Chicago  Convention,  contributed  his, 
which  was  worth  something ;  and  I  now  contribute  mine, 
which  may  be  worth  nothing.  At  all  events,  it  will  mislead 
npbody,  and  therefore  will  do  no  harm.  I  would  not  borrow 
money.  I  am  against  an  overwhelming,  crushing  system. 
Suppose  that  at  each  session,  Congress  shall  first  determine 
how  much  money  can,  for  that  year,  be  spared  for  improve 
ments  ;  then  apportion  that  sum  to  the  most  important  objects. 
So  far,  all  is  easy;  but  how  shall  we  determine  which  are  the 
most  important?  On  this  question  comes  the  collision  of 
interests,  /shall  be  slow  to  acknowledge  that  your  harbor  or 
your  river  is  more  important  than  mine,  and  vice  versa.  To 
clear  this  difficulty,  let  us  have  that  same  statistical  informa 
tion  which  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  [Mr.  Vinton]  suggested 


100  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

at  the  beginning  of  this  session.  In  that  information  we  shall 
have  a  stern,  unbending  basis  of  facts — a  basis  in  nowise  sub 
ject  to  whim,  caprice,  or  local  interest.  The  pre-limited 
amount  of  means  will  save  us  from  doing  too  much,  and  the 
statistics  will  save  us  from  doing  what  we  do,  in  wrong  places. 
Adopt  and  adhere  to  this  course,  and,  it  seems  to  me,  the  dif 
ficulty  is  cleared. 

One  of  the  gentlemen  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Pvhett) 
very  much  deprecates  these  statistics.  He  particularly  objects, 
as  I  understand  him,  to  counting  all  the  pigs  arid  chickens 
in  the  land.  I  do  not  perceive  much  force  in  the  objection. 
It  is  true,  that  if  everything  be  enumerated,  a  portion  of  such 
statistics  may  not  be  very  useful  to  this  object.  Such  products 
of  the  country  as  are  to  be  consumed  where  they  are  produced, 
need  no  roads  and  rivers,  no  means  of  transportation,  and  have 
no  very  proper  connection  with  this  subject.  The  surplus,  that 
which  is  produced  in  one  place  to  be  consumed  in  another;  the 
capacity  of  each  locality  for  producing  a  greater  surplus ;  the 
natural  means  of  transportation,  and  their  susceptibility  of 
improvement;  the  hindrances,  delays,  and  losses  of  life  and 
property  during  transportation,  and  the  causes  of  each  would 
be  among  the  most  valuable  statistics  in  this  connection.  From 
these  it  would  readily  appear  where  a  given  amount  of  expen 
diture  would  do  the  most  good.  These  statistics  might  be 
equally  accessible,  as  they  w6uld  be  equally  useful,  to  both  the 
nation  and  the  States.  In  this  way,  and  by  these  means,  let 
the  nation  take  hold  of  the  larger  works,  and  the  States  the 
smaller  ones;  and  thus,  working  in  a  meeting  direction,  dis 
creetly,  but  steadily  and  firmly,  what  is  made  unequal  in  one 
place,  may  be  equalized  in  another,  extravagance  avoided,  and 
the  whole  country  put  on  that  career  of  prosperity  which  shall 
correspond  with  its  extent  of  territory,  its  natural  resources, 
and  the  intelligence  and  enterprise  of  its  people. 

The  first  session  of  the  Thirtieth  Congress  was  prolonged 
far  beyond  the  date  of  the  Presidential  nominations  of  1848, 
and  the  canvass  was  actively  carried  on  by  members  on  the 
floor  of  the  House.  Mr.  Lincoln  warmly  sustained  the  nomi 
nation  of  Gen.  Taylor,  and  before  the  adjournment  of  Con 
gress,  he  made,  in  accordance  with  precedent  and  general 
practice,  one  of  his  characteristic  campaign  speeches.  He 
showed  himself  a  man  of  decided  partisan  feelings,  and  entered 
into  this  contest  with  zeal,  not  only  repelling  the  violent  attacks 
upon  the  Whig  candidate,  but  showing  that  there  were  blows 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  101 

to  be  given  as  well  as  taken.  He  said  some  things  in  a  vein 
of  sarcastic  humor,  which  could  only  have  been  mistaken  for 
actual  bitterness,  by  those  who  did  not  know  the  really  genial 
character  of  the  man.  Argument,  ridicule  and  illustrative 
anecdotes  were  brought  into  requisition,  with  great  ability  and 
unsparing  boldness,  in  setting  the  real  issues  of  the  canvass, 
political  and  personal,  in  what  he  deemed  a  proper  light  before 
the  people. 

Although  containing  so  many  things  of  mere  temporary 
interest,  this  speech  will  be  read  with  avidity  at  the  present 
time,  and  particularly  on  account  of  several  passages  which  have 
especial  significance  from  the  position  Mr.  Lincoln  himself 
afterward  occupied — what  had  then  probably  never  seriously 
entered  his  thoughts  as  among  the  events  of  the  future.  This 
effort  will  perhaps  give  occasional  offense  to  the  purist  in  style, 
but  its  manly  earnestness'  and  force,  and  its  adaptedness  to  pop 
ular  effect  as  a  campaign  document,  will  not  be  called  in  ques 
tion.  It  is  obvious  that  there  was  some  change  in  Mr.  Lincoln's 
manner  of  speaking  subsequently  to  those  days,  yet  his  first 
appearance  in  the  national  arena  of  politics  exhibited  that 
rugged  strength  and  that  earnest  directness  of  expression  which 
have  given  him  permanent  power  with  popular  auditories. 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  SPEECH  ON  THE  PRESIDENCY  AND  GENERAL  POLITICS. 

(Delivered  in  the  House,  July  27, 1848). 
GENERAL   TAYLOR   AND   THE   VETO   POWER. 

Mr.  Lincoln  said — 

Mr.  SPEAKER  : — Our  Democratic  friends  seem  to  be  in  great 
distress  because  they  think  our  candidate  for  the  Presidency 
don't  suit  us.  Most  of  them  can  not  find  out  that  Gen.  Taylor 
has  any  principles  at  all ;  some,  however,  have  discovered  that 
he  has  one,  but  that  that  one  is  entirely  wrong.  This  one 
principle  is  his  position  on  the  veto  power.  The  gentleman 
from  Tennessee  (Mr.  Stanton)  who  has  just  taken  his  seat, 
indeed,  has  said  there  is  very  little  if  any  difference  on  this  ques 
tion  between  Gen.  Taylor  and  all  the  Presidents  ;  and  he  seems 
to  think  it  sufficient  detraction  from  Gen.  Taylor's  position  on 
it,  that  it  has  nothing  new  in  it.  But  all  others,  whom  I  have 
heard  speak,  assail  it  furiously.  A  new  member  from  Ken- 


102  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

tucky  (Mr.  Clarke*)  of  very  considerable  ability,  was  in  partic 
ular  concern  about  it.  He  thought  it  altogether  novel  and 
unprecedented  for  a  President,  or  a  Presidential  candidate,  to 
think  of  approving  bills  whose  Constitutionality  may  not  be 
entirely  clear  to  his  own  mind.  He  thinks  the  ark  of  our 
safety  is  gone,  unless  Presidents  shall  always  veto  such  bills 
as,  in  their  judgment,  may  be  of  doubtful  Constitutionality. 
However  clear  Congress  may  be  of  their  authority  to  pass  any 
particular  act,  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  thinks  the  Presi 
dent  must  veto  if  he  has  doubts  about  it.  Now  I  have  neither 
time  nor  inclination  to  argue  with  the  gentlemen  on  the  veto 
power  as  an  original  question  ;  but  I  wish  to  show  that  Gen. 
Taylor  and  not  he,  agrees  with  the  earliest  statesmen  on  this 
question.  When  the  bill  chartering  the  first  Bank  of  the 
United  States  passed  Congress,  its  constitutionality  was  ques 
tioned,  Mr.  Madison,  then  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
as  well  as  others, had  opposed  it  on  that  ground.  Gen.  Wash 
ington,  as  President,  was  called  on  to  approve  or  reject  it.  He 
sought  and  obtained,  on  the  constitutional  question,  the  sepa 
rate  written  opinions  of  Jefferson,  Hamilton  and  Edmund  Ran 
dolph,  they  then  being  respectively  Secretary  of  State,  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury,  and  Attorney  General.  Hamilton's 
opinion  was  for  the  power;  while  Randolph's  and  Jefferson's 
were  both  against  it.  Mr.  Jefferson,  after  giving  his  opinion 
decidedly  against  the  constitutionality  of  that  bill,  closed  his 
letter  with  the  paragraph  which  I  now  read  : 

"  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  unless  the  President's 
mind,  on  a  view  of  everything  which  is  urged  for  and  against 
this  bill,  is  tolerably  clear  that  it  is  unauthorized  by  the  Con 
stitution  ;  if  the  pro  and  the  con  hang  so  even  as  to  balance 
his  judgment,  a  just  respect  for  the  wisdom  of  the  Legislature 
would  naturally  decide  the  balance  in  favor  of  their  opinion  ; 
it  is  chiefly  for  cases  where  they  are  clearly  misled  by  error, 
ambition  or  interest,  that  the  Constitution  has  placed  a  check 
in  the  negative  of  the  President.  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

"  February  15,  1791." 

Gen.  Taylor's  opinion,  as  expressed  in  his  Allison  letter,  is 
as  I  now  read  : 

"  The  power  given  by  the  veto  is  a  high  conservative  power; 
but,  in  my  opinion,  should  never  be  exercised,  except  in  cases 
of  clear  violation  of  the  Constitution,  or  manifest  haste  and 
want  of  consideration  by  Congress." 

It  is  here  seen  that,  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  opinion,  if  on  the 
constitutionality  of  any  given  bill,  the  President  doubts,  he  is 

*Tke  late  Hou.  Beverly  L.  Clarke. 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  103 

not  to  veto  it,  as  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  would  have 
him  to  do,  hut  is  to  defer  to  Congress  and  approve  it.  And  if 
we  compare  the  opinions  of  Jefferson  and  Taylor,  as  expressed 
in  these  paragraphs,  we  shall  find  them  more  exactly  alike  than 
we  can  often  find  any  two  expressions  having  any  literal  differ 
ence.  None  but  interested  fault-finders,  can  discover  any  sub 
stantial  variation. 

THE    NATIONAL    ISSUES. 

But  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  are  unanimously  agreed 
that  Gen.  Taylor  has  no  other  principle.  They  are  in  utter 
darkness  as  to  his  opinions  on  any  of  the  questions  of  policy 
which  occupy  the  public  attention.  But  is  there  any  doubt  as 
to  what  he  will  do  on  the  prominent  questions,  if  elected  ? 
Not  the  least.  It  is  not  possible  to  know  what  he  will  or 
would  do  in  every  imaginable  case  ;  because  many  questions 
have  passed  away,  and  others  doubtless  will  arise  which  none 
of  us  have  yet  thought  of;  but  on  the  prominent  questions  of 
currency,  tariff,  internal  improvements,  and  Wilmot  proviso, 
General  Taylor's  course  is  at  least  as  well  defined  as  is  General 
Cass'.  Why,  in  their  eagerness  to  get  at  General  Taylor, 
several  Democratic  members'  here  have  desired  to  know 
whether,  in  case  of  his  election,  a  bankrupt  law  is  t9  be  estab 
lished.  Can  they  tell  us  General  Cass'  opinion  on  this  ques 
tion?  (Some  member  answered,  "He  is  against  it.")  Aye, 
how  do  you  know  he  is  ?  There  is  nothing  about  it  in  the 
platform,  nor  elsewhere,  that  I  have  seen.  If  the  gentleman 
knows  anything  which  I  do  not,  he  can  show  it.  But  to  return  : 
General  Taylor,  in  his  Allison  letter,  says  : 

"  Upon  the  subject  of  the  tariff,  the  currency,  the  improve 
ment  of  our  great  highways,  rivers,  lakes,  and  harbors,  the  will 
of  the  people,  as  expressed  through  their  Representatives  in 
Congress,  ought  to  be  respected  and  carried  out  by  the 
Executive." 

A    PRESIDENCY    FOR    THE    PEOPLE. 

Now,  this  is  the  whole  matter — in  substance,  it  is  this  :  The 
people  say  to  General  Taylor,  "  If  you  are  elected,  shall  we 
have  a  national  bank?"  He  answers,  "  Your  will,  gentlemen, 
not  miner  "What  about  the  tariff?"  "Say  yourselves." 
"  Shall  our  rivers  and  harbors  be  improved?"  "  Just  as  you 
please."  ^  "  If  you  desire  a  bank,  an  alteration  of  the  tariff, 
internal  improvements,  any  or  all,  I  will  not  hinder  you ;  if 
you  do  not  desire  them,  I  will  not  attempt  to  force  them  on 
you."  "  Send  up  your  members  of  Congress  from  the  various 
districts,  with  opinions  according  to  your  own,  and  if  they  are 
for  these  measures,  or  any  of  them,  I  shall  have  nothing  to 


104  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

oppose  ;  if  they  are  not  for  them,  I  shall  not,  by  any  appliances 
whatever,  attempt  to  dragoon  them  into  their  adoption."  Now, 
can  there  be  any  difficulty  in  understanding  this?  To 
you,  Democrats,  it  may  not  seem  like  principle  ;  but  surely  you 
can  not  fail  to  perceive  the  position  plainly  enough.  The  dis 
tinction  between  it  and  the  position  of  your  candidate  is  broad 
and  obvious,  and  I  admit  you  have  a  clear  right  to  show  it  is 
wrong,  if  you  can  ;  but  you  have  no  right  to  pretend  you 
can  not  see  it  at  all.  "VYe  see  it,  and  to  us  it  appears  like  prin 
ciple,  and  the  best  sort  of  principle  at  that — the  principle  of 
allowing  the  people  to  do  as  they  please  with  their  own  business. 
My  friend  from  Indiana  (Mr.  C.  B.  Smith)  has  aptly  asked, 
"  Are  you  willing  to  trust  the  people  ?"  Some  of  you  answered, 
substantially,  "We  are  willing  to  trust  the  people;  but  the 
President  is  as  much  the  representative  of  the  people  as  Con 
gress."  In  a  certain  sense,  and  to  a  certain  extent,  he  is  the 
representative  of  the  people.  He  is  elected  by  them,  as  well 
as  Congress  is.  But  can  he,  in  the  nature  of  things,  know  the 
wants  of  the  people  as  well  as  three  hundred  other  men  coming 
from  all  the  various  localities  of  the  nation?  If  so,  where  is 
the  propriety  of  having  a  Congress  ?  That  the  Constitution 
gives  the  President  a  negative  on  legislation,  all  know  ;  but 
that  this  negative  should  be  so  combined  with  platforms  and 
other  appliances  as  to  enable  him,  and,  in  fact,  almost  compel 
him,  to  take  the  whole  of  legislation  into  his  own  hands,  is 
what  we  object  to — is  what  General  Taylor  objects  to — and  is 
what  constitutes  the  broad  distinction  between  you  and  us. 
To  thus  transfer  legislation  is  clearly  to  take  it  from  those  who 
understand  with  minuteness  the  interest  of  the  people,  and 
give  it  to  one  who  does  not  and  can  not  so  well  understand  it. 
I  understand  your  idea,  that  if  a  Presidential  candidate  avow 
his  opinion  upon  a  given  question,  or  rather  upon  all 
questions,  and  the  people,  with  full  knowledge  of  this, 
elect  him,  they  thereby  distinctly  approve  all  those  opin 
ions.  This,  though  plausible,  is  a  most  pernicious  decep 
tion.  By  means  of  it  measures  are  adopted  or  rejected, 
contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  whole  of  one  party,  and  often 
nearly  half  of  the  other.  The  process  is  this :  Three,  four, 
or  half  a  dozen  questions  are  prominent  at  a  given  time ; 
the  party  selects  its  candidate,  and  he  takes  his  position  on 
each  of  these  questions.  On  all  but  one  his  positions  have 
already  been  indorsed  at  former  elections,  and  his  party  fully 
committed  to  them  :  but  that  one  is  new,  and  a  large  portion 
of  them  are  against  it.  But  what  are  they  to  do?  The  whole 
are  strung  together,  and  they  must  take  all  or  reject  all.  They 
can  not  take  what  they  like  and  leave  the  the  rest.  What  they 


LIFE   OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  105 

are  already  committed  to,  being  the  majority,  they  shut  their 
eyes  and  gulp  the  whole.  Next  election,  still  another  is 
introduced  in  the  same  way.  If  we  run  our  eyes  along  the 
line  of  the  past,  we  shall  see  that  almost,  if  not  quite,  all  the 
articles  of  the  present  Democratic  creed,  have  been  at  first 
forced  upon  the  party  in  this  very  way.  And  just  now,  and 
just  so,  opposition  to  internal  improvements  is  to  be  estab 
lished,  if  Gen.  Cass  shall  be  elected.  Almost  half  the  Demo 
crats  here  are  for  improvements,  but  they  will  vote  for  Cass ; 
and  if  he  succeeds,  their  votes  will  have  aided  in  closing  the 
doors  against  improvements.  Now,  this  is  a  process  which  we 
think  is  wrong.  We  prefer  a  candidate  who,  like  Gen.  Taylor, 
will  allow  the  people  to  have  their  own  way,  regardless  of  his 
private  opinion  ;  and  I  should  think  'the  internal-improvement 
Democrats,  at  least,  ought  to  prefer  such  a  candidate.  He  would 
force  nothing  on  them  which  they  don't  want,  and  he  would 
allow  them,  to  have  improvements,  which  their  own  candidate, 
if  elected,  will  not. 

GEN.  TAYLOR  AND  THE  WILMOT  PROVISO. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  have  said  Gen.  Taylor's  position  is  as  well 
defined  as  is  that  of  Gen.  Cass.  In  saying  this,  I  admit  I  do 
not  certainly  know  what  he  would  do  on  the  Wilroot  Proviso. 
I  am  a  Northern  man,  or,  rather,  a  Western  free -state  man, 
with  a  constituency  I  believe  to  be  and  with  personal  feelings 
I  know  to  be,  against  the  extension  of  slavery.  As  such,  and 
with  what  information  I  have,  I  hope,  and  believe,  Gen.  Taylor, 
if  elected,  would  not  veto  the  proviso ;  but  I  do  not  know  it. 
Yet,  if  I  knew  he  would,  I  still  would  vote  for  him.  I  should 
do  so,  because,  in  my  judgment,  his  election  alone  can  defeat 
Gen.  Cass ;  and  because,  should  slavery  thereby  go  into  the 
territory  we  now  have,  just  so  much  will  certainly  happen  by 
the  election  of  Cass  ;  and,  in  addition,  a  course  of  policy  lead 
ing  to  new  wars,  new  acquisitions  of  territory,  and  still  further 
extensions  of  slavery.  One  of  the  two  is  to  be  President  j 
which  is  preferable  ? 

CASS  ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS. 

But  there  is  as  much  doubt  of  Cass  on  improvements, 
as  there  is  of  Taylor  on  the  proviso.  I  have  no  doubt  myself 
of  Gen.  Cass  on  this  question,  but  I  know  the  Democrats 
differ  among  themselves  as  to  his  position.  My  internal- 
improvement  colleague  (Mr.  Wentworth)  stated  on  this  floor 
the  other  day,  that  he  was  satisfied  Cass  was  for  improve 
ments,  because  he  had  voted  for  all  the  bills  that  he  (Mr. 
W.)  had.  So  far  so  good.  But  Mr.  Polk  vetoed  some  of 


106  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

these  very  bills ;  the  Baltimore  Convention  passed  a  set  of 
resolutions,  among  other  things,  approving  these  vetoes,  and 
Cass  declares,  in  his  letter  accepting  the  nomination,  that  he 
has  carefully  read  these  resolutions,  and  that  he  adheres  to 
them  as  firmly  as  he  approves  them  cordially.  In  other  words, 
Gen.  Cass  voted  for  the  bills,  and  thinks  the  President  did 
right  to  veto  them;  and  his  friends  here  are  amiable  enough 
to  consider  him  as  being  on  one  side  or  the  other,  just  as  one 
or  the  other  may  correspond  with  their  own  respective  inclina 
tions.  My  colleague  admits  that  the  platform  declares  against 
the  constitutionality  of  a  general  system  of  improvements,  and 
that  Gen.  Cass  indorses  the  platform ;  but  he  still  thinks 
Gen.  Cass  is  in  favor  of  some  sort  of  improvements.  Well, 
what  are  they?  As  he  is  against  general  objects,  those  he  is 
/or,  must  be  particular  and  local.  Now,  this  is  taking  the 
subject  precisely  by  the  wrong  end.  Particularity — expend 
ing  the  money  of  the  whole  people  for  an  object  which  will 
benefit  only  a  portion  of  them,  is  the  greatest  real  objection  to 
improvements,  and  has  been  so  held  by  Gen.  Jackson,  Mr. 
Polk,  and  all  others,  I  believe,  till  now.  But  now,  behold,  the 
objects  most  general,  nearest  free  from  this  objection,  are  to  be 
rejected,  while  those  most  liable  to  it  are  to  be  embraced.  To 
return  :  I  can  not  help  believing  that  Gen.  Cass,  when  he 
wrote  his  letter  of  acceptance,  well  understood  he  was  to  be 
claimed  by  the  advocates  of  both  sides  of  this  question,  and 
that  he  then  closed  the  door  against  all  further  expressions  of 
opinion,  purposely  to  retain  the  benefits  of  that  double  position. 
His  subsequent  equivocation  at  Cleveland,  to  my  mind,  proves 
such  to  have  been  the  case. 

PLATFORMS. 

One  word  more,  and  I  shall  have  done  with  this  branch  of 
the  subject.  You  Democrats,  and  your  candidate,  in  the  main 
are  in  favor  of  laying  down,  in  advance,  a  platform — a  set  of 
party  positions,  as  a  unit ;  and  then  of  enforcing  the  people, 
by  every  sort  of  appliance,  to  ratify  them,  however  unpalata 
ble  some  of  them  may  be.  We,  and  our  candidate,  are  in 
favor  of  making  Presidential  elections  and  the  legislation  of 
the  country  distinct  matters ;  so  that  the  people  can  elect 
whom  they  please,  and  afterward  legislate  just  as  they  please, 
without  any  hindrance,  save  only  so  much  as  may  guard 
against  infractions  of  the  Constitution,  undue  haste,  and  want 
of  consideration.  The  difference  between  us  is  clear  as  noon 
day.  That  we  are  right,  we  can  not  doubt.  We  hold  the  true 
Republican  position.  In  leaving  the  people's  business  in 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  107 

their  hands,  we  can  not  be  wrong.     We  are  willing,  and  even 
anxious,  to  go  to  the  people  on  this  issue. 

MR,  CLAY'S  DEFEAT  AND  DEMOCRATIC  SYMPATHIES. 

But  I  suppose  I  can  not  reasonably  hope  to  convince  you 
that  we  have  any  principles.  The  most  I  can  expect  is,  to 
assure  you  that  we  think  we  have,  and  are  quite  contented 
with  them.  The  other  day  one  of  the  gentlemen  from 
Georgia  (Mr.  Iverson),  an  eloquent  man,  arid  a  man  of 
learning,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  not 'being  learned  myself, 
came  down  upon  us  astonishingly.  He  spoke  in  what  the 
Baltimore  American  calls  the  "scathing  and  withering  style." 
At  the  end  of  his  second  severe  flash  I  was  struck  blind,  and 
found  myself  feeling  with  my  fingers  for  an  assurance  of  my 
continued  physical  existence.  A  little  of  the  bone  was  left, 
and  I  gradually  revived.  He  eulogized  Mr.  Clay  in  high  and 
beautiful  terms,  and  then  declared  that  we  had  deserted  all 
our  principles,  and  had  turned  Henry  Clay  out,  like  an  old 
horse,  to  root.  This  is  terribly  severe.  It  can  not  be 
answered  by  argument ;  at  least,  I  can  not  so  answer  it.  I 
merely  wish  to  ask  the  gentlemen  if  the  Whigs  are  the  only 
party  he  can  think  of,  who  sometimes  turn  old  horses  out  to 
root  ?  Is  not  a  certain  Martin  Van  Buren  an  old  horse, 
which  your  own  party  have  turned  out  to  root  ?  and  is  he  not 
rooting  a  little  to  your  discomfort  about  now  ?  But  in  not 
nominating  Mr.  Clay,  we  deserted  our  principles,  you  say. 
Ah  !  in  what  ?  Tell  us,  ye  men  of  principles,  what  principle 
we  violated  ?  We  say  you  did  violate  principle  in  discarding 
Van  Buren,  and  we  can  tell  you  how.  You  violated  the 
primary,  the  cardinal,  the  one  great  living  principle  of  all 
Democratic  representative  government — the  principle  that  the 
representative  is  bound  to  carry  out  the  known  will  of  his 
constituents.  A  large  majority  of  th'e  Baltimore  Convention 
of  1844  were,  by  their  constituents,  instructed  to  procure 
Van  Buren's  nomination  if  they  could.  In  violation,  in 
utter,  glaring  contempt  of  this,  you  rejected  him — rejected 
him,  as  the  gentleman  from  New  York  (Mr.  Birdsall),  the 
other  day  expressly  admitted,  for  availability — that  same 
"  general  availability  "  which  you  charge  upon  us,  and  daily 
chew  over  here,  as  something  exceedingly  odious  and  unprin 
cipled.  But  the  gentleman  from  Georgia  (Mr.  Iverson), 
gave  us  a  second  speech  yesterday,  all  well  considered  and 
put  down  in  writing,  in  which  Van  Buren  was  scathed  and 
withered  a  "few"  for  his  present  position  and  movements.  I 
can  not  remember  the  gentleman's  precise  language,  but  I  do 


108  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

remember  he  put  Yan  Buren  down,  down,  till  he  got  him 
where  he  was  finally  to  "  stink  "  and  "  rot." 

Mr,  Speaker,  it  is  no  business  or  inclination  of  mine  to 
defen'd  Martin  Van  Buren.  In  the  war  of  extermination  now 
waging  between  him  and  his  old  admirers,  I  say,  devil  take 
the  hindmost — arid  the  foremost.  But  there  is  no  mistaking 
the  origin  of  the  breach  ;  and  if  the  curse  of  "stinking"  and 
"rotting"  is  to  fall  on  the  first  and  greatest  violators  of  princi 
ple  in  the  matter,  I  disinterestedly  suggest,  that  the  gentleman 
from  Georgia  and  hi*  present  co-workers  are  bound  to  take  it 
upon  themselves. 

[Mr.  Lincoln  then  proceeded  to  speak  of  the  objections 
against  Gen.  Taylor  as  a  mere  military  hero  ;  retorting  with 
effect,  by  citing  the  attempt  to  make  out  a  military  record  for 
Gen.  Cass  ;  and  referring,  in  a  bantering  way,  to  his  own  ser 
vices  in  the  Black-Hawk  war,  as  already  quoted.  He  then 
said  :] 

CASS   ON   THE    WILMOT   PROVISO. 

While  I  have  Gen.  Cass  in  hand,  I  wish  to  say  a  word  about 
his  political  principles.  As  a  specimen,  I  take  the  record  of 
his  progress  on  the  Wilmot  Proviso.  In  the  Washington 
Union,  of  March  2,  1847,  there  is  a  report  of  the  speech  of 
Gen.  Cass,  made  the  clay  before  in  the  Senate,  on  the  Wilmot 
Proviso,  during  the  delivery  of  which  Mr.  Miller,  of  New 
Jersey,  is  reported  to  have  interrupted  him  as  follows,  to  wit : 

"  Mr.  Miller  expressed  his  great  surprise  at  the  change  in 
the  sentiments  of  the  Senator  from  Michigan,  who  had  been 
regarded  as  the  great  champion  of  freedom  in  the  North-west, 
of  which  he  was  a  distinguished  ornament.  Last  year  the 
Senator  from  Michigan  was  understood  to  be  decidedly  in  favor 
of  the  Wilmot  Proviso  ;  and,  as  no  reason  had  been  stated  for 
the  change,  he  (Mr.  Miller)  could  not  refrain  from  the  expres 
sion  of  his  extreme  surprise.  ' 

To  this  Gen.  Cass  is  reported  to  have  replied  as  follows, 
to  wit : 

"  Mr.  Cass  said,  that  the  course  of  the  Senator  from  New 
Jersey  was  most  extraordinary.  Last  year  he  (Mr.  Cass) 
should  have  voted  for  the  proposition  had  it  come  up^.  But 
circumstances  had  altogether  changed.  The  honorable  Senator 
then  read  several  passages  from  the  remarks  as  given  above, 
which  he  had  committed  to  writing,  in  order  to  refute  such  a 
charge  as  that  of  the  Senator  from  New  Jersey." 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  109 

In  the  "remarks  above  committed  to  writing,"  is  one  num 
bered  4,  as  follows,  to-wit : 

"  4th.  Legislation  would  now  be  wholly  imperative,  because 
no  territory  hereafter  to  be  acquired  can  be  governed  with 
out  an  act  of  Congress  providing  for  its  government.  And 
such  an  act,  on  its  passage,  would  open  the  whole  subject,  and 
leave  the  Congress,  called  on  to  pass  it,  free  to  exercise  its  own 
discretion,  entirely  uncontrolled  by  any  declaration  found  in 
the  statute  book." 

In  Niles'  Register,  vol.  73,  page  293,  there  is  a  letter  of  Gen. 
Cass  to  A.  0.  P.  Nicholson,  of  Nashville,  Tennessee,  dated 
December  24,  1847,  from  which  the  following  are  correct 
extracts  : 

"  The  Wilmot  Proviso  has  been  before  the  country  some 
time.  It  has  been  repeatedly  discussed  in  Congress,  and  by 
the  public  press.  I  am  strongly  impressed  with  the  opinion 
that  a  great  change  has  been  going  on  in  the  public  mind 
upon  this  subject — in  my  own  as  well  as  others  ;  and  that 
doubts  are  resolving  themselves  into  convictions,  that  the  prin 
ciple  it  involves  should  be  kept  out  of  the  National  Legislature, 
and  left  to  the  people  of  the  Confederacy  in  their  respective 
local  Governments.  ^  * 

"  Briefly,  then,  I  am  opposed  to  the  exercise  of  any  jurisdic 
tion  by  Congress  over  this  matter ;  and  I  am  in  favor  of  leaving 
the  people  of  any  territory  which  may  be  hereafter  acquired, 
the  right  to  regulate  it  themselves,  under  the  general  principles 
of  the  Constitution.  Because, 

"  1.  I  do  not  see  in  the  Constitution  any  grant  of  the 
requisite  power  to  Congress  ;  and  I  am  not  disposed  to  extend 
a  doubtful  precedent  beyond  its  necessity — the  establishment 
of  territorial  governments  when  needed — leaving  to  the  inhabi 
tants  all  the  rights  compatible  with  the  relations  they  bear  to 
the  Confederation." 

AN    OBEDIENT    DEMOCRAT. 

These  extracts  show  that,  in  1846,  Gen.  Cass  was  for  the 
Proviso  at  once ;  that,  in  March,  1847,  he  was  still  for  it,  but 
not  just  then ;  and  that  in  December,  1847,  he  was  against  it 
altogether.  This  is  a  true  index  to  the  whole  man.  When 
the  question  was  raised  in  1846,  he  was  in  a  blustering  hurry 
to  take  ground  for  it.  He  sought  to  be  in  advance,  and  to 
avoid  the  uninteresting  position  of  a  mere  follower  ;  but  soon 
he  began  to  see  glimpses  of  the  great  Democratic  ox-gad  way- 
ing  in  his  face,  and  to  hear  indistinctly,  a  voice  saying,  "  back," 
"  back,  sir,"  "  back  a  little."  He  shakes  his  head  and  bats  his 
eyes,  and  blunders  back  to  his  position  of  March,  1847  j  but 


110  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

still  the  gad  waves,  and  the  voice  grows  more  distinct,  and 
sharper  still— "  back,  sir  !"  "  back,  I  say!"  "  further  back !" 
and  back  he  goes  to  the  position  of  December,  1847  ;  at  which 
the  gad  is  still,  and  the  voice  soothingly  says — "So  !"  "  Stand 
still  at  that." 

Have  no  fears,  gentlemen,  of  your  candidate ;  he  exactly 
suits  you,  and  we  congratulate  you  upon  it.  However  much 
you  may  be  distressed  about  our  candidate,  you  have  all  cause 
to  be  contented  and  happy  with  your  own.  If  elected,  he  may 
not  maintain  all,  or  even  any  of  his  positions  previously  taken  ; 
but  he  will  be  sure  to  do  whatever  the  party  exigency,  for  the 
time  being,  may  require  ;  and  that  is  precisely  what  you  want. 
He  and  Van  Buren  are  the  same  "manner  of  men  ;"  and  like 
Van  Buren,  he  will  never  desert  you  till  you  first  desert  him. 

[After  referring  at  some  length  to  extra  "charges"  of  Gen 
Cass  upon  the  Treasury,  Mr.  Lincoln  continued  :] 

WONDERFUL    PHYSICAL    CAPACITIES. 

But  I  have  introduced  Gen.  Cass'  accounts  here,  chiefly  to 
show  the  wonderful  physical  capacities  of  the  man.  They 
show  that  he  not  only  did  the  labor  of  several  men  at  the  same 
time,  but  that  he  often  did  it,  at  several  places  many  hundred 
miles  apart,  at  the  same  time.  And  at  eating,  too,  his  capaci 
ties  are  shown  to  be  quite  as  wonderful.  From  October.  1821, 
to  May,  1822,  he  ate  ten  rations  a  day  in  Michigan,  ten  rations 
a  day  here,  in  Washington,  and  near  five  dollar's  worth  a  day 
besides,  partly  on  the  road  between  the  two  places.  And  then 
there  is  an  important  discovery  in  his  example — the  art  of 
being  paid  for  what  one  eats,  instead  of  having  to  pay  for  it. 
Hereafter,  if  any  nice  young  man  shall  owe  a  bill  which  he 
can  not  pay  in  any  other  way,  he  can  just  board  it  out.  Mr. 
Speaker,  we  have  all  heard  of  the  animal  standing  in  doubt 
between  two  stacks  of  hay,  and  starving  to  death ;  the  like  of 
that  would  never  happen  to  Gen.  Cass.  Place  the  stacks  a 
thousand  miles  apart,  he  would  stand  stock-still,  midway 
between  them,  and  eat  them  both  at  once  ;  and  the  green  grass 
along  the  line  would  be  apt  to  suffer  some  too,  at  the  same 
time.  By  all  means,  make  him  President,  gentlemen.  He 
will  feed  you  bounteously — if — if — there  is  any  left  after  he 
shall  have  helped  himself. 

THE    WHIGS    AND    THE    MEXICAN  WAR. 

But  as  Gen.  Taylor  is,  par  excellence,  the   hero  of  the  Mexi 
can  war ;  and,  as   you  Democrats   say  we  Whigs  have  always 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  Ill 

opposed  the  war,  you  think  it  must  be  very  awkward  and 
embarrassing  for  us  to  go  for  Gen.  Taylor.  The  declaration 
that  we  have  always  opposed  the  war,  is  true  or  false  accord 
ingly  as  one  may  understand  the  term  "  opposing  the  war." 
If  to  say  '*  the  wrar  was  unnecessarily  and  unconstitutionnlly 
commenced  by  the  President,"  be  opposing  the  war,  then  the 
Whigs  have  very  generally  opposed  it.  Whenever  they  have 
spoken  at  all,  they  have  said  this ;  and  they  have  said  it  on 
what  has  appeared  good  reason  to  them :  The  marching  an 
army  into  the  midst  of  a  peaceful  Mexican  settlement,  fright 
ening  the  inhabitants  away,  leaving  their  growing  crops  and 
other  property  to  destruction,  to  you  may  appear  a  perfectly 
amiable,  peaceful,  unprovoking  procedure ;  but  it  does  not 
appear  so  to  us.  So  to  call  such  an  act,  to  us  appears  no  other 
than  a  naked,  impudent  absurdity,  and  we  speak  of  it  accord 
ingly.  But  if,  when  the  war  had  begun,  and  had  become  the 
cause  of  the  country,  the  giving  of  our  money  and  our  blood, 
in  common  with  yours,  was  support  of  the  war,  then  it  is  not 
true  that  we  have  always  opposed  the  war.  With  few  indi 
vidual  exceptions,  you  have  constantly  had  our  votes  here  for 
all  the  necessary  supplies.  And,  more  than  this,  you  have  had 
the  services,  the  blood,  and  the  lives  of  our  political  brethren 
in  every  trial,  and  on  every  field.  The  beardless  boy  and  the 
mature  man — the  humble  and  the  distinguished — you  have  had 
them.  Through  suffering  and  death,  by  disease  and  in  battle, 
they  have  endured,  and  fought,  and  fallen  with  you.  Clay  and 
Webster  each  gave  a  son,  never  to  be  returned.  From  the 
State'  of  my  own  residence,  besides  other  worthy  but  less  known 
Whig  names,  we  sent  Marshall,  Morrison,  Baker,  and  Hardin  ; 
they  all  fought,  and  one  fell,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  one,  we 
lost  our  best  Whig  man.  Nor  were  the  Whigs  few  in  number, 
or  laggard  in  the  day  of  danger.  In  that  fearful,  bloody, 
breathless  struggle  at  Buena  Vista,  where  each  man's  hard  task 
was  to  beat  back  five  foes,  or  die  himself,  of  the  five  high  offi 
cers  who  perished,  four  were  Whigs. 

In  speaking  of  this,  I  mean  no  odious  comparison  between 
the  lion-hearted  Whigs  and  Democrats  who  fought  there.  On 
other  occasions,  and  among  the  lower  officers  and  privates  on 
that  occasion,  I  doubt  not  the. proportion  was  different.  I  wish 
to  do  justice  to  all.  I  think  of  all  those  brave  men  as  Ameri 
cans,  in  whose  proud  fame,  as  an  American,  I,  too,  have  a  share. 
Many  of  them,  Whigs  and  Democrats,  are  my  constituents  and 
personal  friends  ;  and  I  thank  them — more  than  thank  them — • 
one  and  all,  for  the  high,  imperishable  honor  they  have  con 
ferred  on  our  common  State. 


112  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

AN    IMPORTANT    DISTINCTION. 

But  the  distinction  between  the  cause  of  the  President  in 
beginning  the  war,  and  the  cause  of  the  country  after  it  was 
begun,  is  a  distinction  which  you  can  not  perceive.  To  you, 
the  President  and  the  country  seem  to  be  all  one.  You  are 
interested  to  see  no  distinction  between  them ;  and  I  venture 
to  suggest  that  possibly  your  interest  blinds  you  a  little.  We 
see  the  distinction,  as  we  think,  clearly  enough  ;  and  our 
friends,  who  have  fought  in  the  war,  have  no  difficulty  in  see 
ing  it  also.  What  those  who  have  fallen  would  say,  were  they 
alive  and  here,  of  course  we  can  never  know  ;  but  with  those 
who  have  returned  there  is  no  difficulty.  Col.  Haskell  and 
Maj.  Graines,  members  here,  both  fought  in  the  war;  and  one 
of  them  underwent  extraordinary  perils  and  hardships  ;  still 
they,  like  all  other  Whigs  here,  vote  on  the  record  that  the  war 
was  unnecessarily  and  unconstitutionally  commenced  by  the 
President.  And  even  Gen.  Taylor  himself,  the  noblest  Roman 
of  the tn  all,  has  declared  that,  as  a  citizen,  and  particularly  as 
a  soldier,  it  is  sufficient  for  him  to  know  that  his  country  is  at 
war  with  a  foreign  nation,  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  bring  it  to 
a  speedy  and  honorable  termination,  by  the  most  vigorous  and 
energetic  operations,  without  inquiring  about  its  justice,  or 
anything  else  connected  with  it. 

Mr.  Speaker,  let  our  Democratic  friends  be  comforted  with 
the  assurance  that  we  are  content  with  our  position,  content 
with  our  company,  and  content  with  our  candidate ;  and  that 
although  they,  in  their  generous  sympathy,  think  we  ought  to 
be  miserable,  we  really  are  not,  and  that  they  may  dismiss  the 
great  anxiety  they  have  on  our  account. 

Mr.  Lincoln  concluded  with  some  allusions  to  the  then 
divided  condition  of  the  New  York  Democracy. 

This  session  of  Congress  came  to  a  close  on  the  14th  day  of 
August.  The  chief  points  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Congressional 
record,  thus  far,  have  been  noticed,  and  his  principal  speeches 
given  at  length.  He  stood  firmly  by  the  sicfe  of  John  Quincy 
Adams,  in  favor  of  the  unrestricted  right  of  petition,  as  will 
be  seen  by  his  vote,  among  others,  against  laying  on  the  table 
a  petition  presented  by  Caleb  B.  Smith  (December  27,  1847), 
praying  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  and  the  slave-trade  in  the 
District  of  Columbia.  He  favored  a  liberal  policy  toward 
the  people  in  disposing  of  the  public  lands,  as  indicated  by 


10  GRAVE  OF  ME,  LINCOLN'S  MOTHER, 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  113 

his  imperfectly  reported  remarks  (May  11, 1848),  at  the  time 
of  the  passing  of  the  bill  admitting  Wisconsin  into  the  Union 
as  a  State.  He  was  careful  to  scrutinize  particular  claims,  to 
satisfy  which  he  was  asked  to  vote  for  an  appropriation,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  proposition  to  pay  the  Texas  volunteers  for 
lost  horses  (May  4,  1848).  All  his  acts  show  a  purpose  to 
do  his  duty  to  the  country,  no  less  than  to  his  immediate  con 
stituents,  without  fear  or  favor. 

After  the  session  closed,  Mr.  Lincoln  made  a  visit  to  New 
England,  where  he  delivered  some  effective  campaign- speeches, 
which  were  enthusiastically  received  by  his  large  audiences,  as 
appears  from  the  reports  in  the  journals  of  those  days,  and  as 
will  be  remembered  by  many.  His  time,  however,  was  chiefly 
given,  during  the  Congressional  recess,  to  the  canvass  in  the 
West,  where,  through  the  personal  strength  of  Mr.  Cass  as  a 
North-western  man,  the  contest  was  more  severe  and  exciting 
than  in  any  other  part  of  the  country.  The  final  triumph  of 
Gen.  Taylor,  over  all  the  odds  against  him,  did  much  to  coun 
terbalance,  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  mind,  the  disheartening  defeat  of 
four  years  previous.  As  before  stated,  he  had  declined  to  be 
a  candidate  for  re-election  to  Congress,  yet  he  had  the  satis 
faction  of  aiding  to  secure,  in  his  own  district,  a  majority  of 
1,500  for  the  Whig  Presidential  candidates. 

Mr.  Lincoln  again  took  his  seat  in  the  House  in  December, 
on  the  re-assembling  of  the  thirtieth  Congress  for  its  second 
session.  Coming  between  the  Presidential  election,  which  had 
effected  a  political  revolution,  and  the  inauguration  of  the  now 
Government,  this  session  was  generally  a  quiet  one,  passing 
away  without  any  very  important  measure  of  general  legisla 
tion  being  acted  upon.  A  calm  had  followed  the  recent  storms. 
There  were,  indeed,  certain  movements  in  regard  to  slavery  . 
and  the  slave-trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  which  pro 
duced  some  temporary  excitement,  bnt  resulted  in  no  serious 
commotion.  On  the  21st  of  December,  Mr.  Gott,  a  represen 
tative  from  New  York,  introduced  a  resolution,  accompanied  by 
a  strong  preamble,  instructing  the  Committee  on  the  District 
of  Columbia  to  report  a  bill  prohibiting  the  slave-trade  in  the 
District.  The  language  used  was  as  follows  : 
8 


114  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

WHEREAS,  The  traffic  now  prosecuted  in  this  metropolis  of 
the  Republic  in  human  beings,  as  chattels,  is  contrary  to  natu 
ral  justice  and  the  fundamental  principles  of  our  political 
system,  and  is  notoriously  a  reproach  to  our  country  throughout 
Christendom,  and  a  serious  hinderance  to  the  progress  of  repub 
lican  liberty  among  the  nations  of  the  earth  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  for  the  District  of  Columbia 
be  instructed  to  report  a  bill,  as  soon  as  practicable,  prohibit 
ing  the  slave-trade  in  said  District. 

Mr.  Haralson,  of  Georgia,  moved  to  lay  the  same  on  the 
table,  and  the  yeas  and  nays  were  taken  on  his  motion.  Mr. 
Lincoln,  Joseph  R.  Ingersoll,  Richard  W.  Thompson,  and 
George  G.  Dunn,  were  nearly  or  quite  the  only  Northern 
Whigs  who  voted  in  the  affirmative.  The  motion  was  lost,  and 
the  resolution,  under  pressure  of  the  previous  question,  was 
adopted,  ninety-eight  to  eighty-eight,  Mr.  Lincoln  voting  in 
the  negative.  A  motion  to  re-consider  this  vote  came  up  for 
action  on  the  27th  of  the  same  month.  A  motion  to  lay  on 
the  table  the  motion  to  re-consider  having  been  lost  (yeas  58, 
nays  107,  Mr.  Lincoln  voting  in  the  negative),  the  subject 
was  postponed  until  the  10th  of  January.  At  that  date,  Mr. 
Lincoln  read  a  substitute  which  he  proposed  to  offer  for  the 
resolution,  in  case  of  a  re-consideration.  This  substitute  con 
tained  the  form  of  a  bill  enacting  that  no  person  not  already 
within  the  District  should  be  held  in  slavery  therein,  and  pro 
viding  for  the  gradual  emancipation  of  the  slaves  already 
within  the  District,  with  compensation  to  the  owners,  if  a 
majority  of  the  legal  voters  of  the  District  should  assent  to 
the  act,  at  an  election  to  be  holden  for  the  purpose.  It  made 
an  exception  of  the  right  of  citizens  of  the  slaveholding  States, 
coming  to  the  District  on  public  business,  "  be  attended  into 
and  out  of  said  District,  and  while  there,  by  the  necessary 
servants  of  themselves  and  their  families."  These  were  the 
chief  provisions  of  the  measure  contemplated  by  Mr.  Lincoln, 
which  compared  favorably  with  the  act  prohibiting  the  slave- 
trade  in  the  District,  included  among  the  Compromise  measures 
of  1850.  After  rehearsing  the  details  of  the  bill,  according 
to  the  report  in  the  Congressional  Globe — 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  said,  that  he  was  authorized  to   say,  that 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  115 

of  about  fifteen  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia  to  whom  this  proposition  had  been  submitted,  there  was 
no  one  but  who  approved  of  the  adoption  of  such  a  proposi 
tion.  He  did  not  wish  to  be  misunderstood.  He  did  not  know 
whether  or  not  they  would  vote  for  this  bill  on  the  first  Mon 
day  of  April ;  but  he  repeated,  that  out  of  fifteen  persons  to 
whom  it  had  been  submitted,  he  had  authority  to  say  that 
every  one  of  them  desired  that  some  proposition  like  this 
should  pass. 

A  motion  to  lay  on  the  table  the  proposition  to  re-consider 
was  again  lost,  and  by  a  much  larger  majority  than  before, 
and  the  resolution  was  re-considered,  119  to  81.  Mr.  Smith, 
of  Indiana,  then  moved  the  following  substitute  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  the  District  of  Columbia 
be  instructed  to  report,  as  soon  as  practicable,  a  bill  so  amend 
ing  the  present  law  in  this  District,  as  effectually  to  prevent 
the  bringing  of  slaves  into  the  District,  either  for  sale  here,  or 
to  be  sold  and  carried  to  any  place  beyond  the  District. 

Mr.  Meade,  of  Virginia,  offered  the  following  as  an  amend 
ment  to  Mr.  Smith's  amendment : 

And  that  the  said  committee  is  hereby  instructed  to  report 
a  bill  more  effectually  to  enable  owners  to  recover  their  slaves 
escaping  from  one  State  into  another. 

Here,  it  is  observable,  are  two  of  the  propositions  which 
were  ultimately  embraced  in  the  great  Compromise  "  settle 
ment"  of  1850,  and  these  several  amendments,  proposed  by 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  others,  may  be  termed  the  springs  in  Con 
gress  from  which  flowed  a  portion  of  that  celebrated  series  of 
measures. 

The  Speaker  (Mr.  Winthrop)  ruled  Mr.  Meade's  amend 
ment  out  of  order,  and  without  any  decisive  action  thereon, 
the  House  adjourned,  leaving  the  resolution  and  amendments 
to  disappear  among  the  files  of  unfinished  business  on  the 
Speaker's  table. 

An  unsuccessful  attempt  had  previously  been  made  by  Mr. 
Palfrey,  of  Massachusetts,  a  Free-Soil  member  who  refused  to 
vote  for  Mr.  Winthrop  for  Speaker,  to  introduce  a  bill  "  to 
repeal  all  acts,  or  parts  of  acts,  of  Congress  establishing  or 
maintaining  slavery  or  the  slave-trade  in  the  District  of  Colum- 


116  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

bia."  Mr.  Holmes,  of  South  Carolina,  having  objected,  the 
yeas  and  nays  were  taken  on  granting  the  leave  asked,  and  the 
negative  prevailed  by  thirteen  majority.  The  Northern  Whigs 
in  general,  excepting  Messrs.  Vinton  and  Dunn,  and  many 
Northern  Democrats,  including  John  Wentworth,  David 
Wilmot,  and  J.  J.  Faran,  of  Ohio,  voted  in  the  affirmative. 
Mr.  Lincoln's  name  is  recorded  among  the  nays.  So  sweep 
ing  and  unqualified  a  measure  he  had  ever  been  opposed  to,  as 
he  avowed  himself  to  be  in  1858,  and  he  never  hesitated,  from 
a  fear  of  popular  misapprehension,  to  vote  in  strict  accord 
ance  with  his  own  convictions. 

On  the  31st  of  January,  Mr.  Edwards,  from  the  Committee 
on  the  District  of  Columbia,  reported  a  bill,  suitably  guarded 
in  its  terms,  prohibiting  the  slave-trade  in  the  District.  On  a 
motion  to  lay  this  on  the  table,  Mr.  Lincoln  voted  in  the  neg 
ative,  with  the  friends  of  that  measure,  who  were  a  majority. 
This  bill,  however,  passed  over  among  the  unfinished  business 
of  the  session. 

In  regard  to  the  grant  of  public  lands  to  the  new  States,  to 
aid  in  the  construction  of  railroads  and  canals,  Mr.  Lincoln 
favored  the  interests  of  his  own  constituents,  under  such  rea 
sonable  restrictions  as  the  proper  carrying  out  of  the  purpose 
of  these  grants  required.  This  policy  had  been  strongly 
opposed  by  Mr.  Yinton,  while  one  of  the  bills  of  this  sort  was 
pending.  In  the  brief  remarks  which  Mr.  Lincoln  offered  in 
reply,  there  are  some  points  (Congressional  Globe,  page  533) 
worth  quoting  here : 

In  relation  to  the  fact  assumed,  that,  after  awhile,  the  new 
States,  having  got  hold  of  the  public  lands  to  a  certain  extent, 
would  turn  round  and  compel  Congress  to  relinquish  all 
claim  to  them,  he  had  a  word  to  say,  by  way  of  recurring  to 
the  history  of  the  past.  When  was  the  time  to  come  (he 
asked)  when  the  States  in  which  the  public  lands  were  sit 
uated  would  compose  a  majority  of  the  representation  in 
Congress,  or  any  thing  like  it.  A  majority  of  Representa 
tives  would  very  soon  reside  West  of  the  mountains,  he 
admitted  ;  but  would  they  all  come  from  States  in  which  the 
public  lands  were  situated?  They  certainly  would  not;  for, 
as  these  Western  States  grew  strong  in  Congress,  the  public 
lands  passed  away  from  them,  and  they  got  on  the  other  side 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  117 

of  the  question,  and  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  (Mr.  Yiriton) 
was  an  example  attesting  that  fact. 

Mr.  Vinton  interrupted  here  to  say,  that  he  had  stood  upon 
this  question  just  where  he  was  now,  for  five-and-twenty  years. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  making  an  argument  for  the  purpose 
of  convicting  the  gentleman  of  any  impropriety  at  all.  He 
was  speaking  of  a  fact  in  history,  of  which  his  State  was  an 
example.  He  was  referring  to  a  plain  principle  in  the  nature 
of  things.  The  State  of  Ohio  had  now  grDwn  to  he  a  gfent. 
She  had  a  large  delegation  on  that  floor ;  but  was  she  now  in 
favor  of  granting  lands  to  the  new  States,  as  she  used  to  be  ? 
The  New  England  States,  New  York,  and  the  Old  Thirteen, 
were  all  rather  quiet  upon  the  subject ;  and  it  was  seen  just 
now  that  a  member  from  one  of  the  new  States  was  the  first 
man  to  rise  up  in  opposition.  And  so  it  would  be  with  the 
history  of  this  question  for  the  future.  There  never  would 
come  a  time  when  the  people  residing  in  the  States  embracing 
the  public  lands  would  have  the  entire  control  of  this  subject; 
and  so  it  was  a  matter  of  certainty  that  Congress  would  never 
do  more  in  this  respect  than  what  would  be  dictated  by  a  just 
liberality.  The  apprehension,  therefore,  that  the  public  lands 
were  in  danger  of  being  wrested  from  the  General  Govern 
ment  by  the  strength  of  the  delegation  in  Congress  from  the 
new  States,  was  utterly  futile.  There  never  could  be  such  a 
thing.  If  we  take  these  lands  (said  he)  it  will  not  be  without 
your  consent.  We  can  never  outnumber  you.  The  result  is, 
that  all  fear  of  the  new  States  turning  against  the  right  of 
Congress  to  the  public  domain  must  be  effectually  quelled,  as 
those  who  are  opposed  to  that  interest  must  always  hold  a  vast 
majority  here,  and  they  will  never  surrender  the  whole  or  any 
part  of  the  public  lands,  unless  they  themselves  choose  so  to 
do.  This  was  all  he  desired  to  say. 

"With  the  termination  of  the  Thirtieth  Congress,  by  Consti 
tutional  limitation,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1849,  Mr.  Lincoln's 
career  as  a  Congressman  came  to  a  close.  He  had  refused  to 
be  a  candidate  for  re-election  in  a  district  that  had  given  him 
over  1,500  majority  in  1846,  and  nearly  the  same  to  General 
Taylor,  as  the  Whig  candidate  for  the  Presidency  in  1848.  His 
name  was  prominently  presented  for  the  position  of  Commis 
sioner  of  the  General  Land  Office,  under  President  Taylor,  but, 
though  he  zealously  labored  to  bring  in  the  new  Administra 
tion,  he  made  no  complaint,  and  certainly  did  not  afterward 
seriously  regret  that  his  valued  services  were  not  thus  recog- 


118  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

nized.  He  retired  once  more  to  private  life,  renewing  the 
professional  practice  which  had  been  temporarily  interrupted 
by  his  public  employment.  The  duties  of  his  responsible 
position  had  been  discharged  with  assiduity  and  with  fearless 
adherence  to  his  convictions  of  right,  under  whatever  circum 
stances.  Scarcely  a  list  of  yeas  and  nays  can  be  found,  for 
either  session,  which  does  not  contain  his  name.  Pie  was 
never  conveniently  absent  on  any  critical  vote.  He  never 
shrank  from  any  responsibility  which  his  sense  of  justice 
impelled  him  to  take.  His  record,  comparatively  brief  as  it 
is,  is  no  doubtful  one,  and  will  bear  the  closest  scrutiny. 
And  though  one  of  the  youngest  and  most  inexperienced 
members  of  an  uncommonly  able  and  brilliant  Congress,  he 
might  well  have  been  ranked,  without  the  more  recent  events 
which  have  naturally  followed  upon  his  previous  career,  among 
the  distinguished  statesmen  of  the  Thirtieth  Congress. 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  119 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PROFESSIONAL  LIFE.— THE  ANTI-NEBRASKA  CANVASS.— 

1849—1854. 

Mr.  Lincoln  in  Retirement  for  Five  Years. — Gen.  Taylor's  Adminis 
tration. — The  Slavery  Agitation  of  1850. — The  Compromise  of  Clay 
and  Fillmore.— The  "Final  Settlement"  of  1852.— How,  and  by 
Whom  it  was  Disturbed. — Violation  of  the  most  Positive  Pledges. — 
The  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill. — Douglas,  the  Agitator. — Popular  Indig 
nation  and  Excitement. — Mr.  Lincoln  takes  part  in  the  Canvass  of 
1854.— Great  Political  Changes. — The  Anti-Nebraska  Organization. — 
Springfield  Resolutions  of  1854. — Results  of  the  Election. — A  Major 
ity  of  Congressmen  and  of  the  Legislature  Anti-Nebraska. — Election 
of  United  States  Senator  to  Succeed  Gen.  Shields. — Mr.  Lincoln  and 
Mr.  Trumbull. — A  Magnanimous  Sacrifice. — Mr.  Trumbull  Elected. 

DURING  the  five  years  immediately  following  the  close  of  his 
Congressional  life,  Mr.  Lincoln  attentively  pursued  his  profes 
sion  of  the  law.  He  took  no  active  part  in  politics  through 
the  period  of  Gen.  Taylor's  Administration,  or  in  any  of  the 
exciting  scenes  of  1850.  His  great  political  leader,  Henry 
Clay,  had  resumed  his  place  in  the  Senate,  and  was  earnestly 
striving — one  of  the  last  great  labors  of  his  life — to  avert  the 
dangers  to  the  country,  which  he  believed  to  be  threatened  by 
the  fierce  contests  over  the  question  of  Slavery.  It  was,  with 
the  slave  States,  a  desperate  struggle  to  retain  the  balance  of 
power  in  the*  Senate,  by  rejecting  the  application  of  another 
free  State  for  admission,  the  granting  of  which  would  destroy 
the  exact  equilibrium  then  existing.  The  policy  of  admitting 
a  slave  State  along  with  every  new  free  one,  had  substantially 
prevailed  for  years ;  but,  at  this  time,  despite  the  extensive 
additions  of  Mexican  territory,  there  was  no  counterbalancing 
Blave  State  ready  for  admission.  The  exclusion  of  slavery 


120  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

from  California  hj'd,  in  fact,  been  rather  a  surprise,  and  this 
application  was  evidently  still  more  an  irritating  circumstance 
for  that  reason.  And  yet  this  movement  was  in  strict  accord 
ance  with  the  policy  of  a  Southern  President.  As  a  final 
result,  the  admission  of  California  was  only  carried  by  means 
of  great  counterbalancing  concessions  on  the  part  of  the  free 
States.  For  months  after,  there  was  much  discontent  in  both 
sections,- in  regard  to  the  compromise  measures  of  1850,  which 
were  defeated  in  Congress,  when  first  acted  upon  as  a  whole, 
but  were  ultimately  carried  in  detail.  It  was  not  until  1852, 
when  both  the  great  parties  of  the  country  agreed  to  accept 
those  measures  as  a  "  final  settlement "  of  the  slavery  contro 
versy,  that  public  sentiment,  North  and  South,  appeared  to 
have  become  fully  reconciled  to  this  adjustment.  The  Admin 
istration,  brought  into  power  by  the  election  of  that  year,  was 
most  thoroughly  and  sacredly  committed  to  the  maintenance 
of  this  settlement,  and  against  the  revival  of  the  slavery  agita 
tion  in  any  form.  To  introduce  that  subject  under  any  pre 
tence,  into  the  halls  of  Congress,  was  an  act  of  wanton  incen 
diarism,  in  utter  disregard  of  most  solemn  pledges,  by  the  aid 
of  which  the  Democratic  party  had  secured  whatever  real  hold 
it  had  upon  popular  confidence.  Such  was  the  state  of  affairs 
in  1852,  and  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Pierce's  inauguration  in  1853. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  as  a  private  citizen,  engrossed  with  his  profes 
sional  duties,  had  borne  no  part  in  the  original  controversy, 
and  had  taken  no  share  in  its  settlement.  Whether  preferring 
the  non-intervention  policy  of  President  Taylor,  or  the  com 
promise  course  of  Clay  and  Fillmore,  he  had  undoubtedly 
regarded  the  peace  established,  by  means  of  the  latter,  as  one 
that  ought  by  all  means  to  be  preserved,  and  the  pledges  of 
both  sections  of  the  country,  through  the  action  of  both  the 
national  parties,  as  religiously  binding  upon  every  public  man 
who  had  openly  or  tacitly  assented  thereto.  That  he  approved 
all  the  details  of  this  compromise  is  not  probable.  But  that, 
if  faithfully  adhered  to,  the  practical  results  would  have  been 
satisfactory,  he  was  undoubtedly  convinced. 

The  introduction  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  in  1854,  in 
the  midst  of  this  profound  peace  on  the  slavery  question,  was 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  121 

"  the  alarm  of  the  fire-bell  at  night"  which  startled  Mr.  Lin 
coln  in  the  repose  of  his  private  life,  and  showed  that  the 
incendiary  had  but  too  successfully  been  at  his  work.  The 
solemn  pledge  of  peace  had  -been  violated  by  the  very  men 
who  were  most  forward  in  making  it,  and  most  noisy  in  their 
professions  of  a  desire  that  the  slavery  conflict  should  cease. 
This  new  agitating  movement,  not  only  unsettling  all  the  more 
recent  stipulations  made  for  the  sake  of  peace,  but  even  going 
back  to  destroy  the  only  condition  yet  assailable,  of  the  Com 
promise  of  1820,  and  that  the  very  portion  which  was 
agreed  on  as  a  consideration  to  the  free  States,  was  led  by 
the  ambitious  politician  of  Illinois,  Stephen  A.  Douglas. 
Not  only  had  Senator  Douglas  committed  himself  as  fully  as 
any  man  could  do  to  the  maintenance  of  peace  on  this  ques 
tion,  after  the  compromise  of  1850,  but  he  had,  a  year  previ 
ous,  called  down  vengeance  upon  the  hand  that  would  dare  dis 
turb  the  time-honored  Missouri  compact — that  settlement  which 
secured  freedom  "forever"  to  the  soil  embraced  within  the 
limits  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  Yet  the  first  hand  raised  for 
the  commission  of  this  incalculable  wrong  was  his  own ! 
Douglas  himself  reported  the  act  which  violated  that  com 
pact,  and  which  opened  the  new  territories  to  slavery  (pro 
fessedly,  not  really,  at  the  option  of  the  people),  contrary  to 
the  spirit  of  all  the  early  legislation,  and  to  the  hitherto  uni 
form  course  of  the  Government.  Even  he  himself  had  recently 
voted  for  the  Wilmot  Proviso  as  applied  to  the  territory 
acquired  from  Mexico,  and  Mr.  Polk  had  approved  the  Oregon 
bill,  containing  the  same  restriction.  Never  was  there  more 
universal  indignation  among  the  people  of  the  North,  and 
many  of  the  more  sagacious  statesmen  of  the  South  clearly 
foresaw  the  mischiefs  that  were  to  follow  from  this  sacrilege. 
Yet  strange  to  say,  this  measure  sundered  and  broke  up  the 
Whig  party  forever,  through  the  action  of  a  large  portion  of 
the  Southern  Whig  Congressmen,  in  joining  the  Democracy  in 
this  act  of  bad  faith,  for  the  sake  of  supposed  sectional  advan 
tage.  The  most  intense  excitement  prevailed  throughout  the 
country,  and  the  destruction  of  the  old  party  lines  was  effect 
ually  accomplished. 


122  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

These  events  called  forth  Mr.  Lincoln  once  more  to  do  battle 
for  the  right.  He  entered  into  the  canvass  of  1854,  as  one  of 
the  most  active  leaders  of  the  "  Anti-Nebraska"  movement. 
He  addressed  the  people  repeatedly  from  the  stump,  with  all 
his  characteristic  earnestness  and  energy.  He  met  and  cowed 
the  author  of  the  "  Nebraska  iniquity,"  in  the  presence  of  the 
masses,  and  powerfully  aided  in  effecting  the  remarkable  politi 
cal  changes  of  that  year  in  Illinois. 

The  incendiary  act  had  come  to  the  final  vote,  in  the  Senate, 
on  the  26th  day  of  May.  About  the  first  of  August,  Congress 
adjourned.  Douglas  lingered  by  the  way  on  his  return  to  his 
constituents,  and  reached  Chicago  near  the  close  of  that  month. 
Here  he  met  a  storm  of  indignation  from  the  people  whom,  for 
manifesting  their  disapprobation  of  his  conduct,  he  compla 
cently  termed  a  "  mob,"  He  had  proposed  to  speak  in  self- 
vindication,  on  the  evening  of  the  first  day  of  September. 
He  was  received  with  the  most  decisive  demonstrations  of 
popular  indignation,  which  he  attempted  to  face  down  with  an 
uncompromising  insolence  of  manner,  that  only  tended  to  in 
crease  the  excitement  against  him.  After  long  perseverance  in 
an  attempt  to  compel  a  hearing,  he  was  forced  to  succumb. 
All  over  the  State  he  early  discovered  the  same  state  of  feeling 
existing  among  a  large  portion  of  his  constituents,  although 
there  was  no  refusal  to  hear  him,  except  in  this  first  unlucky 
effort  to  defy  and  silence  a  crowd  by  bullying  deportment. 
The  popular  rage  gradually  subsided,  but  the  deliberate  senti 
ment  of  the  people  of  Illinois  on  this  subject  was  rather 
confirmed  and  strengthened  in  succeeding  years.  From 
commanding  a  large  majority  of  the  popular  vote,  as  he  had 
done  previously,  his  strength  dwindled  away,  until  from  that 
time  on,  he  and  the  party  that  sustained  him,  were  in  a  pos 
itive  minority  in  the  State.  The  reader  can  judge  how  much 
this,  to  him,  painful  truth,  had  to  do  with  the  change  of  policy 
adopted  by  him,  in  opposing  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  the 
legitimate  fruit  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  and  substantially 
approved  by  him  in  advance,  in  a  speech  made  in  Springfield, 
in  1857. 

Mr.  Douglas  visited  several  parts  of  the  State,  vainly  attempt- 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  123 

ing,  by  ingenious  but  sophistical  addresses  to  the  people  to  avert 
the  impending  revolution.  Mr.  Lincoln  met  him  in  debate  at 
Springfield,  during  the  time  of  the  State  Fair,  early  in  Octo 
ber,  1854,  and  the  encounter  was  a  memorable  one  in  the  great 
campaign  then  in  progress.  They  met  a  few  days  later  at  Peo- 
ria,  where  Mr.  Douglas  had  no  better  fortune.  Subsequently 
to  that  encounter,  he  showed  a  decided  preference  for  speaking 
at  other  times  and  places  than  Mr.  Lincoln  did. 

The  Anti-Nebraska  organization,  formed  at  Springfield  in 
October  of  that  year,  and  embracing  men  of  all  parties  opposed 
to  the  ill-judged  measures  which  had  introduced  the  most  vio 
lent  agitation  in  regard  to  slavery  -ever  known  in  the  country, 
was  the  beginning  from  which  the  Republican  party  in  Illinois 
was  to  be  matured.  Among  the  resolutions  at  that  time 
adopted,  after  setting  forth  in  a  preamble  that  a  majority  of  Con 
gress  had  deliberately  and  wantonly  re-opened  the  controversy 
respecting  the  extension  of  slavery  under  our  national  juris 
diction,  which  a  majority  of  the  people  had  understood  to  be 
closed  forever  by  the  successive  compromises  of  1820  and  1850, 
were  the  following : 

Resolved,  That  the  doctrine  affirmed  by  the  Nebraska  Bill, 
and  gilded  over  by  its  advocates,  with  the  specious  phrases  of 
non-intervention  and  popular  sovereignty,  is  really  and  clearly 
a  complete  surrender  of  all  the  ground  hitherto  asserted  and 
maintained  by  the  Federal  Government,  with  respect  to  the 
limitation  of  slavery,  is  a  plain  confession  of  the  right  of  the 
slaveholder  to  transfer  his  human  chattels  to  any  part  of  the 
public  domain,  and  there  hold  them  as  slaves  as  long  as  inclina 
tion  or  interest  may  dictate  ;  and  that  this  is  an  attempt  totally 
to  reverse  the  doctrine  hitherto  uniformly  held  by  statesmen 
and  jurists,  that  slavery  is  the  creature  of  local  and  State  law, 
and  to  make  it  a  national  institution. 

Resolved,  That  as  freedom  is  national,  and  slavery  sectional 
and  local,  the  absence  of  all  law  upon  the  subject  of  slavery 
presumes  the  existence  of  a  state  of  freedom  alone,  while  slavery 
exists  only  by  virtue  of  positive  law. 

Resolved,  That  we  heartily  approve  the  course  of  the  freemen 
of  Connecticut,  Vermont,  Iowa,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Wisconsin, 
New  York,  Michigan  and  Maine,  postponing  or  disregarding 
their  minor  diiferences  of  opinion  or  preferences,  and  acting 
together  cordially  and  trustingly  in  the  same  cause  of  freedom, 


124  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

of  free  labor,  and  free  soil,  and  we  commend  their  spirit  to  the 
freemen  of  this  and  other  States,  exhorting  each  to  renounce 
his  party  whenever  and  wherever  that  party  proves  unfaithful 
to  human  freedom. 

In  behalf  of  these  principles,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  already  taken 
the  stump,  and  for  them  he  did  valiant  service  in  various  parts 
of  the  State. 

This  new  party  was  organized  late  in  the  season,  and  the 
canvass  for  Treasurer,  the  only  State  officer  to  be  elected,  was 
but  imperfectly  made.  In  some  parts  of  the  State,  there  was 
even  no  distribution  of  tickets  containing  the  name  of  this 
candidate.  The  result,  even  under  these  unfavorable  circum 
stances,  and  in  spite  of  the  overwhelming  Democratic  prepon 
derance  during  the  previous  twenty-five  years,  was  extremely 
close,  and  for  a  long  time  doubtful.  The  Democratic  candidate 
barely  escaped  defeat.  This  was  the  last  election  in  which 
the  party  sustaining  Douglas  has  had  even  the  appearance  of 
a  majority  in  Illinois.  The  revolution  was  now  substantially 
accomplished.  From  that  day  to  the  present,  the  Republican 
party  has  been  steadily  gaining  in  strength,  and  that  opposed  to 
it  sinking  more  and  more  into  a  hopeless  minority.  Even  the 
temporary  reaction,  under  the  Anti-Lecompton  flag,  was  more 
apparent  than  real. 

Of  the  nine  Congressional  Districts,  the  Opposition  now, 
for  the  first  time,  carried  a  majority,  electing  five  members, 
and  the  Democrats  four.  The  Legislature  would  have  been 
completely  revolutionized,  in  both  branches,  with  little  doubt, 
but  for  the  large  number  of  Democrats  "holding  over,"  as 
members  of  the  new  Senate.  In  the  House,  the  Anti-Nebraska 
representatives  numbered  forty,  and  the ,  Democratic  thirty- 
five.  In  the  Senate,  there  were  seventeen  elected  as  Demo 
crats,  and  eight  as  Opposition  men.  Of  the  former,  however, 
there  were  three,  elected  two  years  previously,  who  repudiated 
Douglas  and  his  policy,  and  inclined  to  the  Opposition. 
These  were  Norman  B.  Judd,  J.  M.  Palmer,  and  B.  C.  Cook. 
Reckoning  these  with  the  Anti-Nebraska  side,  the  Senate 
stood.  Opposition  eleven,  Democrats  fourteen — leaving  a 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  125 

majority  against  the  Douglas  Democracy  of  two  on  joint 
ballot. 

A  United  States  Senator,  to  succeed  Gen.  Shields  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1855,  was  to  be  chosen  by  this  Legislature. 
For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Illinois,  the  election  of  an 
Anti-Democratic  Senator  was  within  the  reach  of  possibility. 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  first  choice  of  the  great  mass  of  the  Oppo 
sition  for  this  position.  From  his  prominence,  for  a  long  time, 
in  the  old  Whig  party,  it  was  but  natural  that  a  portion  of 
the  members  having  Democratic  antecedents  who  had  come 
into  the  new  organization,  should  hesitate  to  give  Mr.  Lin 
coln  their  votes.  This  was  especially  true  of  the  three 
Senators  above  named  as  holding  over,  they  having  been 
elected  as  regular  Democrats.  Under  this  state  of  things,  it 
was  manifest,  after  a  few  ballots,  that,  with  the  close  vote  in 
joint  convention  the  election  of  a  Democrat,  not  to  be  cer 
tainly  relied  on  as  an  opponent  of  the  Douglas  policy,  and  at 
best  uncommitted  in  regard  to  the  new  party  organization, 
might  be  the  result  of  adhering  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  He,  accord 
ingly,  with  the  self-sacrificing  disposition  which  had  always 
characterized  him,  promptly  appealed  to  his  Whig  friends  to 
go  over  in  a  solid  body  to  Mr.  Trumbull,  a  man  of  Demo 
cratic  antecedents,  who  could  command  the  full  vote  of  the 
Anti -Nebraska  Democrats.  By  these  earnest  and  disinterested 
efforts,  the  difficult  task  was  accomplished,  great  as  was  the 
sacrifice  of  personal  feeling  which  it  cost  the  devoted  friends 
of  Mr.  Lincoln.  On  the  part  of  himself  and  them,  it  involved 
the  exercise  of  a  degree  of  self-denial  and  magnanimity,  as 
rare  as  it  was  noble.  It  demonstrated  their  honest  attachment 
to  the  great  cause  for  which  old  party  lines  had  been  aban 
doned,  and  their  sincere  purpose  of  thoroughly  ignoring  all 
differences  founded  on  mere  partisan  prejudice.  It  cemented 
the  union  of  these  Anti-Nebraka  elements,  and  consolidated 
the  new  organization  into  a  permanent  party. 

The  joint  convention  for  electing  a  United  States  Senator 
met  on  the  8th  day  of  February,  1855.  On  the  first  ballot, 
James  Shields,  then  Senator,  who  had  been  induced  by 
Douglas,  against  his  own  better  judgment,  to  vote  for  the 


126  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  received  41  votes,  and  three  other 
Democrats  had  one  vote  each.  Abraham  Lincoln  had  45 
votes,  Lyrnan  Trumbull  5,  Mr.  Koerner  2,  and  there  were 
three  other  scattering  votes.  On  the  seventh  ballot,  the 
Democratic  vote  was  concentrated  upon  Gov.  Matteson,  with 
two  exceptions,  and  he  received  also  the  votes  of  two  Anti- 
Nebraska  Democrats,  making  44  in  all.  On  the  tenth  ballot, 
Mr.  Trumbull  was  elected,  in  the  way  just  explained,  receiving 
51  votes,  and  Mr.  Matteson  47.  Every  Whig  vote  but  one 
was  given  to  Mr.  Trumbull. 

Among  the  speeches  delivered  by  Mr.  Lincoln  in  this 
memorable  campaign,  which  gave  the  Republicans  an  able 
Senator  from  Illinois,  and  which  effectually  accomplished  the 
overthrow  of  the  Democracy  in  that  State,  perhaps  the  ablest 
and  most  characteristic  was  the  one  delivered  at  Peoria, 
important  portions  of  which  were  quoted  by  him  in  the  can 
vass  with  Douglas,  four  years  later.  The  following  detached 
passages  of  this  speech  are  specially  memorable  : 

This  declared  indifference,  but  as  I  must  think  real  zeal  for 
the  spread  of  slavery,  I  can  not  but  hate.  I  hate  it-because  of 
the  monstrous  injustice  of  slavery  itself;  I  hate  it  because  it 
deprives  our  republican  example  of  its  just  influence  in  the 
world  ;  enables  the  enemies  of  free  institutions  with  plausi 
bility  to  taunt  us  as  hypocrites;  causes  the  real  friends  of  free 
dom  to  doubt  our  sincerity  ;  and  especially  because  it  forces 
so  many  really  good  men  among  ourselves  into  an  open  war 
with  the  very  fundamental  principles  of  civil  liberty,  criticis 
ing  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  insisting  that  there 
is  no  right  principle  of  action  but  self-interest. 

When  the  Southern  people  tell  us  they  are  no  more  respon 
sible  for  the  origin  of  slavery,  than  we  are,  I  acknowledge  the 
fact.  When  it  is  said  that  the  institution  exists,  and  that  it  is 
very  difficult  to  get  rid  of  it  in  any  satisfactory  way,  I  can  un 
derstand  and  appreciate  the  saying.  I  surely  will  not  blame 
them  for  not  doing  what  I  should  not  know  how  to  do  myself. 
If  all  earthly  power  were  given  me,  I  should  not  know  what 
to  do,  as  to  the  existing  institution. 

When  the  white  man  governs  himself,  that  is,  self-govern 
ment ;  but  when  he  governs  himself,  and  also  g-overns  another 
man,  that  is  more  than  self-government — that  is  despotism.  If 
the  negro  is  a  man,  why,  then  my  ancient  faith  teaches  me  that 
"  all  men  are  created  equal ;"  and  that  there  can  be  no  moral 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  127 

right  in  connection  with  one  man's  making  a  slave  of  an 
other. 

Slave  States  are  places  for  poor  white  people  toremove/rom, 
not  to  remove  to ;  new  free  States  are  the  places  for  poor  people 
to  go  to  and  better  their  condition.  For  this  use,  the  nation 
needs  these  territories. 

Slavery  is  founded  in  the  selfishness  of  man's  nature — oppo 
sition  to  it,  in  his  love  of  justice. 

In  our  greedy  chase  to  make  profit  of  the  negro ;  let  us  be 
ware  lest  we  "cancel  and  tear  to  pieces"  even  the  white  man's 
charter  of  freedom. 

Some  men,  mostly  Whigs,  ^svho  condemn  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  nevertheless  hesitate  to  go  for  its  resto 
ration,  lest  they  be  thrown  in  company  with  the  Abolitionist. 
Will  they  allow  me,  as  an  old  Whig,  to  tell  them,  good-hurnor- 
edly,  that  I  think  this  is  very  silly  ?  Stand  with  anybody  that 
stands  right.  Stand  with  him  while  he  is  right,  andpar^  with 
him  when  he  goes  wrong. 

Little  by  little,  but  steadily  as  man's  march  to  the  grave,  we 
have  been  giving  up  the  old  for  the  new  faith.  Near  eighty 
years  ago  we  began  by  declaring  that  all  men  are  ereatecf  equal; 
but  now  from  that  beginning  we  have  run  down  to  the  other 
declaration,  that  for  some  men  to  enslave  others  is  a  "  sacred 
right  of  self-government."  These  principles  can  not  stand  to 
gether.  They  are  as  opposite  as  God  and  Mammon ;  and 
whoever  holds  to  one  must  despise  the  other. 

In  the  course  of  my  main  argument,  Judge  Douglas  inter 
rupted  me  to  say  that  the  principle  of  the  Nebraska  bill  was 
very  old  ;  that  it  originated  when  God  made  man,  and  placed 
good  and  evil  before  him,  allowing  him  to  choose  for  himself, 
being  responsible  for  the  choice  he  should  make.  At  the  time,  I 
thought  this  was  merely  playful ;  and  I  answered  it  accordingly. 
But  in  his  reply  to  me,  he  renewed  it  as  a  serious  argument. 
In  seriousness,  then,  the  facts  of  this  proposition  are  not  true, 
as  stated.  God  did  not  place  good  and  evil  before  man,  telling 
him  to  make  his  choice.  On  the  contrary,  He  did  tell  him 
there  was  one  tree,  of  the  fruit  of  which  he  should  not  eat, 
upon  pain  of  certain  death.  I  should  scarcely  wish  so  strong 
a  prohibition  against  slavery  in  Nebraska. 


128  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  X. 

POLITICAL  MOVEMENTS   IN  1856  AND  '57. 

The  Republican  Party  Organized. — Their  Platform  adopted  at  Bloom' 
ington. — The  Canvass  of  1856. — Mr.  Lincoln  Sustains  Fremont  and 
Dayton. — His  Active  Labors  on  the  Stump. — Col.  Bissell  Elected 
Governor  of  Illinois.— Mr.  Buchanan  Inaugurated. — His  Kansas  Pol 
icy. — Mr.  Douglas  Committed  to  it  in  June,  1857. — John  Calhoun  his 
Special  Friend. — The  Springfield  Speech  of  Douglas. — Mr.  Lincoln's 
Reply. 

MR.  LINCOLN  took  an  active  part  in  the  formation  of  the 
Republican  party  as  such.  The  State  Convention  of  that  organ 
ization,  which  met  at  Bloomington,  on  the  29th  of  May,  1856, 
sent  delegates  to  the  Philadelphia  Convention  of  that  year,  held 
for  the  nomination  of  Presidential  candidates.  Among  the  res 
olutions  of  the  Bloomington  Convention  were  the  following  : 

Resolved,  That  foregoing  all  former  differences  of  opinion 
upon  other  questions,  we  pledge  ourselves  to  unite  in  opposition 
to  the  present  Administration,  and  to  the  party  which  upholds 
and  supports  it,  and  to  use  all  honorable  and  constitutional 
means  to  wrest  the  Government  from  the  unworthy  hands  which 
now  control  it,  and  to  bring  it  back  in  its  administration  to  the 
principles  and  practices  of  Washington,  Jefferson,  and  their 
great  and  good  compatriots  of  the  Revolution. 

Resolved,  That  we  hold,  in  accordance  with  the  opinions  and 
practices  of  all  the  great  statesmen  of  all  parties,  for  the  first 
sixty  years  of  the  administration  of  the  Government,  that,  under 
the  Constitution,  Congress  possesses  full  power  to  prohibit  sla 
very  in  the  Territories  ;  and  that  while  we  will  maintain  all  con 
stitutional  rights  of  the  South,  we  also  hold  that  justice,  human 
ity,  the  principles  of  freedom  as  expressed  in  our  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  our  National  Constitution,  and  the  purity 
and  perpetuity  of  our  Government  require  that  that  power 
should  be  exerted,  to  prevent  the  extension  of  slavery  into  Ter 
ritories  heretofore  free. 

Resolved,  That  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  was 
unwise,  unjust  and  injurious  ;  in  open  and  aggravated  violation 
of  the  plighted  faith  of  the  States,  and  that  the  attempt  of  the 
present  Administration  to  force  slavery  into  Kansas  against  the 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  12!) 

known  wishes  of  the  legal  voters  of  that  Territory,  is  an  arbi 
trary  and  tyrannous  violation  of  the  rights  of  the  people  to 
govern  themselves,  and  that  we  will  strive,  by  all  constitutional 
means,  to  secure  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska  the  legal  guarantee 
against  slavery,  of  which  they  were  deprived,  at  the  cost  of  the 
violation  of  the  plighted  faith  of  the  nation. 

With  this  creed,  and  the  Philadelphia  platform,  subsequently 
adopted,  the  Republicans  of  Illinois  went  into  the  canvass  of 
1856.  Mr.  Lincoln  labored  earnestly  during  the  campaign, 
sustaining  the  nominations  of  Fremont  and  Dayton.  In  the 
State  canvass,  Col.  Win.  H.  Bissell  received  the  united  support 
of  the  Opposition  for  Governor,  and  was  elected  by  a  decisive 
majority.  On  the  Presidential  candidates,  there  being,  unfor 
tunately,  two  tickets  in  the  field,  the  divided  Opposition  were 
unsuccessful,  although  Fremont,  in  spite  of  the  heavy  Fillmore 
vote,  ran  so  closely  upon  Buchanan  that  the  result  was  for  a 
time  in  doubt,  and  only  the  nearly  solid  vote  of  "  Egypt " 
decided  the  result  in  favor  of  the  latter.  The  untiring  ^exer 
tions  of  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  stump,  in  enlightening  the  people 
as  to  the  real  issues  involved,  did  much  toward  securing  this 
remarkable  vote. 

Mr.  Buchanan  came  into  power  in  March,  1857,  and  the 
hopes  which  had  been  entertained  of  a  material  change,  under 
his  administration,  of  the  unjust  and  execrable  policy  hitherto 
pursued  toward  Kansas,  were  speedily  dissipated.  After  some 
little  show  of  resistance  at  first,  he  was  soon  found  acting  in 
accordance  with  the  dictates  of  the  extreme  pro-slavery  inter 
est.  A  deep  scheme  was  concocted,  into  the  secrets  of  which 
even  the  Governor  and  Secretary  of  that  territory  were  not 
admitted,  for  forcing  Kansas  into  the  Union  as  a  slave  State. 
This  plot  began  to  be  suspected,  and  its  existence  more  and 
more  confirmed  by  the  course  of  events,  not  long  after  Mr. 
Buchanan's  inauguration.  The  thin  veil  of  "bogus  Popular 
Sovereignty,"  with  which  Douglas  had  tried  to  hide  the  naked 
deformity  of  the  act  under  which  Kansas  and  Nebraska  were 
organized,  was  to  be  rent  asunder.  People  were  beginning  to 
look  with  curiosity  for  the  next  evasion  or  artful  afterthought 
by  which  he  would  attempt  to  escape  the  force  of  a  public 
sentiment  which  was  already  rapidly  bearing  him  down,  before 


130  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN,     f 

this  more  complete  exposure  became  inevitable.  This  interest 
in  his  course  was  the  more  lively,  for  the  reason  thut  his  Sena 
torial  term  had  nearly  expired,  and  that,  without  some  remark 
able  change  of  affairs,  or  some  ingenious  device,  the  curse  he 
had  himself  pronounced  in  advance  upon  the  disturber  of  the 
Missouri  compact,  was  to  be  most  signally  realized. 

Meantime,  the  machinery  had  been  put  in  motion  for  a 
Convention  at  Lecompton,  which  was  to  ratify  a  Constitution 
prepared  at  Washington,  under  Administration  auspices,  and 
to  secure  the  great  purpose  intended  by  the  Southern  sup 
porters  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  scheme.  How  grossly  unjust 
and  unequal  were  the  provisions  of  the  act  calling  this  Con 
vention,  and  how  deliberate  was  its  design  of  excluding  the 
free  State  men  from  any  effectual  voice  in  determining  "  the 
domestic  institutions  "  of  a  State  in  which  the  party  of  free 
labor  comprised  about  four-fifths  of  the  people,  as  had  already 
been  distinctly  indicated,  need  not  be  here  rehearsed.  To 
Douglas,  at  least,  the  real  facts  were  not  unknown.  That 
these  iniquities  must  all  ultimately  come  out,  and  receive  the 
condemnation  of  the  people,  he  can  not  have  seriously  ques 
tioned.  Yet,  in  spite  of  these  facts,  it  is  undeniably  true,  and 
is  clearly  of  record,  that  he  committed  himself  in  advance — 
not  at  all  uncertain,  most  assuredly,  as  to  what  it  was  substan 
tially  to  be — in  favor  of  .the  Lecompton  Constitution.  John 
Calhoun  the  chosen  instrument  of  the  Administration  for  car 
rying  out  its  plot  to  defeat  "Popular  Sovereignty"  in  Kansas, 
was  one  of  the  special  friends  of  Douglas,  and  understood  to 
share  his  intimate  confidence.  And  when,  in  his  speech  at 
Springfield,  in  June,  1857,  Mr.  Douglas  substantially  indorsed 
the  Lecompton  Convention  and  its  doings,  beforehand,  no  one 
had  any  reason  to  doubt  that  he  intended  fully  to  sustain  the 
Administration  in  attempting  to  force  a  slave  Constitution  on 
the  people  of  Kansas — a  process  for  which  his  "organic  act" 
had  prepared  the  way.  In  the  course  of  his  remarks  on  that 
occasion,  he  said  : 

Kansas  is  about  to  speak  for  herself,  through  her  delegates 
assembled  in  convention,  to  form  a  Constitution,  preparatory 
to  her  admission  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  131 

original  States.  Peace  and  prosperity  now  prevail  throughout 
her  borders.  The  law  under  which  her  delegates  are  about  to 
be  elected  is  believed  to  be  just  and  fair  in  all  its  objects  and 
provisions.  There  is  every  reason  to  hope  and  believe  that  the 
law  will  be  fairly  interpreted  and  impartially  executed,  so  as  tc 
insure  every  bona  fide  inhabitant  the  free  and  quiet  exercise  of 
the  elective  franchise.  If  any  portion  of  the  inhabitants,  acting 
under  the  advice  of  political  leaders  in  distant  States,  shall 
choose  to  absent  themselves  from  the  polls,  and  withhold  their 
votes,  with  a  view  of  leaving  the  Free  State  Democrats  in  a  minor 
ity,  and  thus  securing  a  pro-slavery  Constitution  in  opposition 
to  the  wishes  of  a  majority  of  the  people  living  under  it,  let  the 
responsibility  rest  on  those  who,  for  partisan  purposes,  will  sac 
rifice  the  principles  they  profess  to  cherish  and  promote.  Upon 
them,  upon  the  political  party  for  whose  benejit  and  under  the 
direction  of  whose  leaders  they  act,  let  the  blame  be  visited  of 
fastening  upon  the  people  of  a  new  State  institutions  repug 
nant  to  their  feelings  and  in  violation  of  their  wishes. 

« 
Words  could  not  have  more  positively  indicated  his  purpose 

of  sustaining  all  the  acts  of  the  Lecompton  Convention,  or 
that  he  anticipated  the  formation  of  a  pro-slavery  Constitution, 
for  which  he  meant  to  charge  the  blame  upon  the  Free  State 
men  and  upon  the  Republican  party  in  general,  anticipating 
then  that  the  non-voting  policy  would  be  adopted.  In  a  sub 
sequent  part  of  this  same  speech,  he  still  more  fully  and  unre 
servedly  indorsed  the  act  providing  for  the  Lecompton  Consti 
tutional  Convention,  committing  himself  to  all  its  legitimate 
consequences.  He  said: 

The  present  election  law  in  Kansas  is  acknowledged  to  be 
fair  and  just — the  rights  of  the  voters  are  clearly  defined — 
and  the  exercise  of  those  rights  will  be  efficiently  and  scru 
pulously  protected.  Hence,  if  the  majority  of  the  people  of 
Kansas  desire  to  have  it  a  free  State  (and  we  are  told  by 
the  Republican  party  that  nine-tenths  of  the  people  of  that 
Territory  are  free  State  men),  there  is  no  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
bringing  Kansas  into  the  Union  as  a  free  State,  by  the  votes  and 
voice  of  her  own  people,  and  in  conformity  with  the  great  princi 
ples  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act ;  provided  all  the  Free  State 
men  will  go  to  the  polls,  and  vote  their  principles  in  accordance 
with  their  professions.  If  such  is  not  the  result,  let  the  conse 
quences  be  visited  upon  the  heads  of  those  whose  policy  it  is  to 
produce  strife,  anarchy  and  bloodshed  in  Kansas,  that  their 
party  may  profit  by  slavery  agitation  in  the  Northern  States  of 


132  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

tliis  Union.  That  the  Democrats  in  Kansas  will  perform  their 
duty  fearlessly  and  nobly,  according  to  the  principles  they  cher 
ish,  I  have  no  doubt,  and  that  the  result  of  the  struggle  will 
be  such  as  will  gladden  the  heart  and  strengthen  the  hopes  of 
every  friend  of  the  Union,  I  have  entire  confidence. 

The  Lecompton  Convention  was  to  settle  the  whole  Kansas 
controversy,  "peacefully  and  satisfactorily,"  according  to  the 
professed  faith  of  Mr.  Douglas.  He  fully  indorsed  it  in  its 
origin,  and  committed  himself  to  abide  by  its  results,  which 
were  accomplished  through  the  instrumentality  of  one  of  his 
warmest  personal  friends.  And  what  these  results  would  be, 
in  his  opinion,  he  clearly  foreshadowed  in  the  extracts  above 
given  from  his  speech.  He  expected  a  pro-slavery  Constitu 
tion,  and  he  repeatedly  approved,  without  any  reservation,  the 
convention-act  which,  by  its  regular  carrying-out,  accomplished 
that  expectation.  He  declared,  substantially,  that  the  will  of 
the  people  could  be  fully  and  fairly  expressed  in  forming  a  Con 
stitution  at  Lecompton,  under  that  act ;  and  that  if  they  did  not 
obtain  such  a  Constitution  as  they  desired,  it  would  be  their  own 
fault — plainly  implying  that  they  must  submit  to  such  action  as 
should  be  taken.  He  left  himself  scarcely  a  loophole  of  retreat, 
whatever  might  come  of  the  Lecompton  Convention. 

In  the  same  speech,  Mr.  Douglas  spoke  at  length  in  indorse 
ment  of  the  dogmas  embraced  in  what  is  popularly  called  the 
Dred  Scott  decision,  and  particularly  of  the  one  which  denies 
the  power  of  Congress  to  exclude  slavery  from  the  Territories. 
He  tried,  also,  to  convey  the  impression  that  the  Republican 
party  was  in  favor  of  negro  equality,  because  dissenting  in 
general  to  a  judicial  opinion,  of  which  one  of  the  details  is  a 
denial  to  the  negro  race  of  any  legal  redress  for  wrongs  in  the 
higher  courts. 

A  third  subject  of  this  speech  was  the  Utah  rebellion,  which 
Mr.  Douglas  proposed  to  end  by  annulling  the  act  establishing 
the  Territory  of  Utah. 

To  this  speech  Mr.  Lincoln  replied  at  Springfield,  two  weeks 
later.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  first  two  of  the  topics  of  Mr. 
Douglas's  speech  formed  leading  subjects  of  the  great  canvass 
of  the  next  year.  It  is  not  impossible  that  this  prompt  joining 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  133 

of  issues  may  have  had  its  influence  in  inducing  Mr.  Douglas 
BO  completely  to  change  front,  before  another  twelve-month 
had  passed.  In  any  event,  these  two  speeches  have  a  rare 
interest,  from  their  immediate  relations  to  the  coming  contest, 
of  which  they  are  properly  the  prelude.  We  give  Mr.  Lin 
coln's  remarks  at  length : 

SPEECH  OF  MR.  LINCOLN,  IN  REPLY  TO  MR.  DOUGLAS,  ON  KAN 
SAS,  THE  DRED  SCOTT  DECISION,  AND  THE  UTAH  QUESTION. 
(Delivered  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  June  26,  1857. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS:  I  am  here  to-night,  partly  by  invita 
tion  of  some  of  you,  and  partly  by  my  own  inclination.  Two 
weeks  ago  Judge  Douglas  spoke  here,  on  the  several  subjects 
of  Kansas,  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  Utah.  I  listened  to 
the  speech  at  the  time,  and  have  read  the  report  of  it  since. 
It  was  intended  to  controvert  opinions  which  I  think,  just,  and 
to  assail  (politically,  not  personally)  those  men  who,  in  com 
mon  with  me,  entertain  those  opinions.  For  this  reason  I 
wished  then,  and  still  wish  to  make  some  answer  to  it,  which  I 
now  take  the  opportunity  of  doing. 

I  begin  with  Utah.  If  it  prove  to  be  true,  as  is  probable, 
that  the  people  of  Utah  are  in  open  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  then  Judge  Douglas  is  in  favor  of  repealing  their  terri 
torial  organization,  and  attaching  them  to  the  adjoining  States 
for  judicial  purposes.  I  say,  too,  if  they  are  in  rebellion,  they 
ought  to  be  somehow  coerced  to  obedience ;  and  I  am  not  now 
prepared  to  admit  or  deny,  that  the  Judge's  mode  of  coercing 
them  is  not  as  good  as  any.  The  Republicans  can  fall  in  with  it, 
without  taking  back  anything  they  have  ever  said.'  To  be 
sure,  it  would  be  a  considerable  backing  down  by  Judge  Doug 
las,  from  his  much  vaunted  doctrine  of  self-government  for  the 
territories ;  but  this  is  only  additional  proof  of  what  was  very 
plain  from  the  beginning,  that  that  doctrine  was  a  mere  deceit 
ful  pretence  for  the  benefit  of  slavery.  Those  who  could  not 
see  that  much  in  the  Nebraska  act  itself,  which  forced  Govern 
ors,  and  Secretaries,  and  Judges  on  the  people  of  the  Terri 
tories,  without  their  choice  or  consent,  could  not  be  made  to 
see,  though  one  should  rise  from  the  dead. 

But  in  all  this,  it  is  very  plain  the  Judge  evades  the  only 
question  the  Republicans  have  ever  pressed  upon  the  Democ 
racy  in  regard  to  Utah.  That  question  the  Judge  well  knew 
to  be  this :  "  If  the  people  of  Utah  shall  peacefully  form  a 
State  Constitution  tolerating  polygamy,  will  the  Democracy 
admit  them  into  the  Union?"  There  is  nothing  in  the  United 
States  Constitution  or  law  against  polygamy ;  and  why  is  it 


134  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

not  a  part  of  the  Judge's  "  sacred  right  of  self-government  " 
for  the  people  to  have  it,  or  rather  to  keep  it,  if  they  choose  ? 
These  questions,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  Judge  never  answers 
It  might  involve  the  Democracy  to  answer  them  either  way; 
and  they  go  unanswered. 

As  to  Kansas.  The  substance  of  the  Judge's  speech  on 
Kansas  is  an  effort  to  put  the  Free  State  men  in  the  wrong  for 
not  voting  at  the  election  of  delegates  to  the  Constitutional 
Convention.  He  says:  "There  is  every  reason  to  hope  and 
believe  that  the  law  will  be  fairly  interpreted  and  impartially 
executed,  so  as  to  insure  to  every  bona  Jide  inhabitant  the  free 
and  quiet  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise." 

It  appears  extraordinary  that  Judge  Douglas  should  make 
such  a  statement.  He  knows  that,  by  the  law,  no  one  can  vote 
who  has  not  been  registered  ;  and  he  knows  that  the  Free  State 
men  place  their  refusal  to  vote  on  the  ground  that  but  few  of 
them  have  been  registered.  It  is  possible  this  is  not  true,  but 
Judge  Douglas  knows  it  is  asserted  to  be  true  in  letters.,  news 
papers  and  public  speeches,  and  borne  by  every  mail,  and 
blown  by  every  breeze  to  the  eyes  and  ears  of  the  world.  He 
knows  it  is  boldly  declared,  that  the  people  of  many  whole 
counties,  and  many  whole  neighborhoods  in  others,  are  left 
unregistered ;  yet,  he  does  not  venture  to  contradict  the  decla 
ration,  or  to  point  out  how  they  can  vote  without  being  regis 
tered  ;  but  he  just  slips  along,  not  seeming  to  know  there  is 
any  such  question  of  fact,  and  complacently  declares,  "  There 
is  every  reason  to  hope  and  believe  that  the  law  will  be  fairly 
and  impartially  executed,  so  as  to  insure  to  every  bona  Jide 
inhabitant  the  free  and  quiet  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise." 

I  readily  agree  that  if  all  had  a  chance  to  vote,  they  ought 
to  have  voted.  If,  on  the  contrary,  as  they  allege,  and  Judge 
Douglas  ventures  not  particularly  to  contradict,  few  only  of  the 
Free  State  men  had  a  chance  to  vote,  they  were  perfectly  right 
in  staying  from  the  polls  in  a  body. 

By  the  way,  since  the  Judge  spoke,  the  Kansas  election  has 
come  off.  The  Judge  expressed  his  confidence  that  all  the 
Democrats  in  Kansas  would  do  their  duty — including  "  Free 
State  Democrats"  of  course.  The  returns  received  here,  as 
yet,  are  very  incomplete ;  but,  so  far  as  they  go,  they  indicate 
that  only  about  one-sixth  of  the  registered  voters  have  really 
voted  ;  and  this,  too,  when  not  more,  perhaps,  than  one-half  of 
the  rightful  voters  have  been  registered,  thus  showing  the 
thing  to  have  been  altogether  the  most  exquisite  farce  ever 
enacted.  I  am  watching  with  considerable  interest,  to  ascer 
tain  what  figure  the  "  Free  State  Democrats  "  cut  in  the  con 
cern.  Of  course  they  voted — all  Democrats  do  their  duty — 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  135 

and  of  course  they  did  not  vote  for  Slave  State  candidates. 
"We  soon  shall  know  how  many  delegates  they  elected,  how 
many  candidates  they  had  pledged  to  a  free  State,  and  how 
many  votes  were  cast  for  them. 

Allow  me  to  barely  whisper  my  suspicion,  that  there  were 
no  such  things  in  Kansas  as  "  Free  State  Democrats  " — that 
they  were  altogether  mythical,  good  only  to  figure  in  newspa 
pers  and  speeches  in  the  Free  States.  If  there  should  prove 
to  be  one  real,  living  Free  State  Democrat  in  Kansas,  I  suggest 
that  it  might  be  well  to  catch  him,  and  stuff  and  preserve  his 
skin,  as  an  interesting  specimen  of  that  soon  to  be  extinct 
variety  of  the  genus  Democrat. 

And  now,  as  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  That  decision 
declares  two  propositions — first,  that  a  negro  can  not  sue  in 
the  United  States  Courts  ;  and  secondly,  that  Congress  can  not 
prohibit  slavery  in  the  Territories.  It  was  made  by  a  divided 
court — dividing  differently  on  the  different  points.  Judge 
Douglas  does  not  discuss  the  merits  of  the  decision,  and  in  that 
respect,  I  shall  follow  his  example,  believing  I  could  no  more 
improve  upon  McLean  and  Curtis,  than  he  could  on  Taney. 

He  denounces  all  who  question  the  correctness  of  that  decis 
ion,  as  offering  violent  resistance  to  it.  But  who  resists  it '? 
Who  has,  in  spite  of  the  decision,  declared  Dred  Scott  free,  and 
resisted  the  authority  of  his  master  over  him  ? 

Judicial  decisions  have  two  uses — first,  to  absolutely  deter 
mine  the  case  decided  ;  and  secondly,  to  indicate  to  the  public 
how  other  similar  cases  will  be  decided  when  they  arise.  For 
the  latter  use,  they  are  called  "precedents"  and  "  authorities." 

We  believe  as  much  as  Judge  Douglas  (perhaps  more)  in 
obedience  to  and  respect  for  the  judicial  department  of  Gov 
ernment.  We  think  its  decisions  on  Constitutional  questions, 
when  fully  settled,  should  control,  not  only  the  particular  cases 
decided,  but  the  general  policy  of  the  country,  subject  to  be 
disturbed  only  by  amendments  of  the  Constitution,  as  provided 
in  that  instrument  itself.  More  than  this  would  be  revolution. 
But  we  think  the  Dred  Scott  decision  is  erroneous.  We  know 
the  court  that  made  it  has  often  overruled  its  own  decisions, 
and  we  shall  do  what  we  can  to  have  it  overrule  this.  We 
offer  no  resistance  to  it. 

Judicial  decisions  are  of  greater  or  less  authority  as  prece 
dents,  according  to  circumstances.  That  this  should  be  so, 
accords  both  with  common  sense,  and  the  customary  under 
standing  of  the  legal  profession. 

If  this  important  decision  had  been  made  by  the  unanimous 
concurrence  of  the  judges,  and  without  any  apparent  partisan 
bias,  and  in  accordance  with  legal  public  expectation,  and  with 


136  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  steady  practice  of  the  departments,  throughout  our  his 
tory,  and  had  been  in  no  part  based  on  assumed  historical  facts 
which  are  not  really  true  ;  or,  if  wanting  in  some  of  these,  it 
had  been  before  the  court  more  than  once,  and  had  there  been 
affirmed  and  re-affirmed  through  a  course  of  years,  it  then 
might  be,  perhaps  would  be,  factious,  nay,  even  revolutionary, 
not  to  acquiesce  in  it  as  a  precedent. 

But  when,  as  is  true,  we  find  it  wanting  in  all  these  claims 
to  the  public  confidence,  it  is  not  resistance,  it  is  not  factious, 
it  is  not  even  disrespectful,  to  treat  it  as  not  having  yet  quite 
established  a  settled  doctrine  for  the  country.  But  Judge 
Douglas  considers  this  view  awful.  Hear  him  : 

"  The  courts  are  the  tribunals  prescribed  by  the  Constitu 
tion  and  created  by  the  authority  of  the  people  to  determine, 
expound  and  enforce  the  law.  Hence,  whoever  resists  the 
final  decision  of  the  highest  judicial  tribunal,  aims  a  deadly 
blow  to  our  whole  Republican  system  of  government — a  blow 
which,  if  successful,  would  place  all  our  rights  and  liberties  at 
the  mercy  of  passion,  anarcy  and  violence.  I  repeat,  there 
fore,  that  if  resistance  to  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  in  a  matter  like  the  points  decided  in 
the  Dred  Scott  case,  clearly  within  their  jurisdiction  as  defined 
by  the  Constitution,  shall  be  forced  upon  the  country  as 
political  issue,  it  will  become  a  distinct  and  naked  issue  between 
the  friends  and  enemies  of  the  Constitution — the  friends  and 
the  enemies  of  the  supremacy  of  the  laws." 

Why,  this  same  Supreme  Court  once  decided  a  national  bank 
to  be  Constitutional ;  but  General  Jackson,  as  President  of  the 
United  States,  disregarded  the  decision,  and  vetoed  a  bill  for 
a  re-charter,  partly  on  Constitutional  ground,  declaring  that 
each  public  functionary  must  support  the  Constitution,  "  as  he 
understands  it."  But  hear  the  General's  own  words.  Here 
they  are,  taken  from  his  veto  message : 

"  It  is  maintained  by  the  advocates  of  the  bank,  that  its 
constitutionality,  in  all  its  features,  ought  to  be  considered  as 
settled  by  precedent,  and  by  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  To  this  conclusion  I  can  not  assent.  Mere  precedent 
is  a  dangerous  source  of  authority,  and  should  not  be  regarded 
as  deciding  questions  of  Constitutional  power,  except  where 
the  acquiescence  of  the  people  and  the  States  can  be  con 
sidered  as  well  settled.  So  far  from  this  being  the  case  on 
this  subject,  an  argument  against  the  bank  might  be  based 
on  precedent.  One  Congress,  in  1791,  decided  in  favor  of  a 
bank;  another  in  1811,  decided  against  it.  One  Congress, 
in  1815,  decided  against  a  bank  ;  another  in  1816,  decided  in 
its  favor.  Prior  to  the  present  Congress,  therefore,  the  prece- 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  137 

dents  drawn  from  that  source  were  equal.  If  we  resort  to  the 
States  the  expressions  of  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive 
opinions  against  the  bank  have  been  probably  to  those  in  its 
favor  as  four  to  one.  There  is  nothing  in  precedent,  there 
fore,  which,  if  its  authority  were  admitted,  ought  to  weigh  in 
favor  of  the  act  before  me." 

I  drop  the  quotations  merely  to  remark,  that  all  there  ever 
was,  in  the  way  of  precedent,  up  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision, 
on  the  points  therein  decided,  had  been  against  that  decision. 
But  hear  General  Jackson  further  : 

"  If  the  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court  covered  the  whole 
ground  of  this  act,  it  ought  not  to  control  the  co-ordinate 
authorities  of  this  Government.  The  Congress,  the  Executive 
and  the  Court,  must  each  for  itself  be  guided  by  its  own  opin 
ion  of  the  Constitution.  Each  public  officer,  who  takes  an 
oath  to  support  the  -Constitution,  swears  that  he  will  support 
it  as  he  understands  it,  and  not  as  it  is  understood  by  others." 

Again  and  again  have  I  heard  Judge  Douglas  denounce 
that  bank  decision,  and  applaud  General  Jackson  for.  disre 
garding  it.  It  would  be  interesting  for  him  to  look  over  his 
recent  speech,  and  see  how  exactly  his  fierce  philippics  against 
us  for  resisting  Supreme  Court  decisions,  fall  upon  his  own 
head.  It  will  call  to  mind  a  long  and  fierce  political  war  in 
this  country,  upon  an  issue  which,  in  his  own  language,  and, 
of  course,  in  his  own  changeless  estimation,  was  "  a  distinct 
issue  between  the  friends  and  the  enemies  of  the  Constitu 
tion,"  and  in  which  war  he  fought  in  the  ranks  of  the  ene 
mies  of  the  Constitution. 

I  have  said,  in  substance,  that  the  Dred  Scott  decision  was, 
in  part,  based  on  assumed  historical  facts  which  were  not 
really  true,  and  I  ought  not  to  leave  the  subject  without  giv 
ing  some  reasons  for  saying  this :  I,  therefore,  give  an 
instance  or  two,  which  I  think  fully  sustains  me.  Chief  Jus 
tice  Taney,  in  delivering  the  opinion  of  the  majority  of  the 
Court,  insists  at  great  length,  that  negroes  were  no  part  of  the 
people  who  made,  or  for  whom  was  made,  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  or  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  contrary,  Judge  Curtis,  in  his  dissenting  opinion, 
shows  that  in  five  of  the  then  thirteen  States,  to-wit :  New 
Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  North 
Carolina,  free  negroes  were  voters,  and,  in  proportion  to  their 
numbers,  had  the  same  part  in  making  the  Constitution  that 
the  white  people  had.  He  shows  this  with  so  much  particu 
larity  as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  its  truth  ,  and  as  a  sort  of  con 
clusion  on  that  point,  holds  the  following  language : 

"The  Constitution    was   ordained    and    established  by  the 


138  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

people  of  the  United  States,  through  the  action,  in  each  State, 
of  those  persons  who  were  qualified  by  its  laws  to  act  thereon 
in  behalf  of  themselves  and  all  other  citizens  of  the  State. 
In  some  of  the  States,  as  we  have  seen,  colored  persons  were 
among  those  qualified  by  law  to  act  on  the  subject.  These 
colored  persons  were  not  only  included  in  the  body  of  '  the 
people  of  the  United  States,'  by  whom  the  Constitution  was 
ordained  and  established ;  but  in  at  least  five  of  the  States 
they  had  the  power  to  act,  and,  doubtless,  did  act,  by  their 
suffrages,  upon  the  question  of  its  adoption." 

Again,  Chief  Justice  Taney  says:  "It  is  difficult,  at  this 
day,  to  realize  the  state  of  public  opinion  in  relation  to  that 
unfortunate  race,  which  prevailed  in  the  civilized  and  enlight 
ened  portions  of  the  world  at  the  time  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  when  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
was  framed  and  adopted."  And  again,  after  quoting  from  the 
Declaration,  he  says  :  "  The  general  words  above  quoted  would 
seem  to  include  the  whole  human  family,  and  if  they  were 
used  in  a  similar  instrument  at  this  day,  would  be  so  under 
stood." 

In  these  the  Chief  Justice  does  not  directly  assert,  but 
plainly  assumes,  as  a  fact,  that  the  public  estimate  of  the 
black  man  is  more  favorable  now  than  it  was  in  the  days  of 
the  Revolution.  This  assumption  is  a  mistake.  In  some  tri 
fling  particulars,  the  condition  of  that  race  has  been  amelior 
ated  ;  but,  as  a  whole,  in  this  country,  the  change  between 
then  and  now  is  decidedly  the  other  way  ;  and  their  ultimate 
destiny  has  never  appeared  so  hopeless  as  in  the  last  three  or 
four  years.  In  two  of  the  five  States — New  Jersey  and 
North  Carolina — that  then  gave  the  free  negro  the  right  of 
voting,  the  right  has  since  been  taken  away;  and  in  the  third 
— New  York — it  has  been  greatly  abridged  ;  while  it  has  not 
been  extended,  so  far  as  I  know,  to  a  single  additional  State, 
though  the  number  of  the  States  has  more  than  doubled.  In 
those  days,  as  I  understand,  masters  could,  at  their  own  pleas 
ure,  emancipate  their  slaves ;  but  since  then  such  legal 
restraints  have  been  made  upon  emancipation  as  to  amount 
almost  to  prohibition.  In  those  days  Legislatures  held  the 
unquestioned  power  to  abolish  slavery  in  their  respective 
States ;  but  now  it  is  becoming  quite  fashionable  for  State 
Constitutions  to  withhold  that  power  from  the  Legislatures. 
In  those  days,  by  common  consent,  the  spread  of  the  black 
man's  bondage  to  the  new  countries  was  prohibited  ;  but  now, 
Congress  decides  that  it  will  not  continue  the  prohibition — 
and  the  Supreme  Court  decides  that  it  could  not  if  it  would. 
In  those  days  our  Declaration  of  Independence  was  held 


LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  139 

pacred  by  all,  and  thought  to  include  all ;  but  now,  to  aid  in 
making  the  bondage  of  the  negro  universal  and  eternal,  it  is 
assailed,  sneered  at,  construed,  hawked  at,  and  torn,  till,  if  its 
framers  could  rise  from  their  graves,  they  could  not  at  all 
recognize  it.  All  the  powers  of  earth  seem  rapidly  combining 
against  him.  Mammon  is  after  him ;  ambition  follows,  phi 
losophy  follows,  and  the  theology  of  the  day  is  fast  joining 
the  cry.  They  have  him  in  his  prison-house ;  they  have 
'searched  his  person,  and  left  no  prying  instrument  with  him. 
One  after  another  they  have  closed  the  heavy  iron  doors  upon 
him;  and  now  they  have  him,  as  it  were,  bolted  in  with  a  lock 
of  a  hundred  keys,  which  can  never  be  unlocked  without  the 
concurrence  of  every  key;  the  keys  in  the  hands  of  a  hun 
dred  different  men,  and  they  scattered  to  a  hundred  different 
and  distant  places ;  and  they  stand  musing  as  to  what  inven 
tion,  in  all  the  dominions  of  mind  and  matter,  can  be  pro 
duced  to  make  the  impossibility  of  his  escape  more  complete 
than  it  is. 

It  is  grossly  incorrect  to  say  or  assume,  that  the  public  esti 
mate  of  the  negro  is  more  favorable  now  than  it  was  at  the 
origin  of  the  Government. 

Three  years  and  a  half  ago  Judge  Douglas  brought  forward 
his  famous  Nebraska  bill.  The  country  was  at  once  in  a 
blaze.  He  scorned  all  opposition,  and  carried  it  through  Con 
gress.  Since  then  he  has  seen  himself  superseded  in  a  Presi 
dential  nomination,  by  one  indorsing  the  general  doctrine  of 
his  measure,  but  at  the  same  time  standing  clear  of  the  odium 
of  its  untimely  agitation,  and  its  gross  breach  of  national  faith  ; 
and  he  has  seen  that  successful  rival  constitutionally  elected, 
not  by  the  strength  of  friends,  but  by  the  division  of  his  adver 
saries,  being  in  a  popular  minority  of  nearly  four  hundred 
thousand  votes.  He  has  seen  his  chief  aids  in  his  own  State, 
Shields  and  Richardson,  politically  speaking,  successively  tried, 
convicted,  and  executed,  for  an  offense  not  their  own,  but  his. 
And  now  he  sees  his  own  case,  standing  next  on  the  docket 
for  trial. 

There  is  a  natural  disgust,  in  the  minds  of  nearly  all  white 
people,  to  the  idea  of  an  indiscriminate  amalgamation  of  the 
white  and  black  races;  and  Judge  Douglas  evidently  is  basing 
his  chief  hope  upon  the  chances  of  his  being  able  to  appro"- 
priate  the  benefit  of  this  disgust  to  himself.  If  he  can,  by 
much  drumming  and  repeating,  fasten  the  odium  of  that  idea 
upon  his  adversaries,  he  thinks  he  can  struggle  through  the 
Btorui,  He,  therefore,  clings  to  this  hope,  as  a  drowning  man 
to  the  last  plank.  He  makes  an  occasion  for  lugging  it  in 
from  the  opposition  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  He  finds  the 


140  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Republicans  insisting  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
includes  ALL  men,  black  as  well  as  white,  and  forthwith  he 
boldly  denies  that  it  includes  negroes  at  all,  and  proceeds  to 
argue  gravely  that  all  who  contend  it  does,  do  so  only  because 
they  want  to  vote,  eat  and  sleep,  and  marry  with  negroes  !  He 
will  have  it  that  they  can  not  be  consistent  else.  Now,  I  pro 
test  against  the  counterfeit  logic  which  concludes  that,  because 
I  do  not  want  a  black  woman  for  a  slave,  I  must  necessarily, 
want  her  for  a  wife.  I  need  not  have  her  for  either.  I  can 
just  leave  her  alone.  In  some  respects  she  certainly  is  not  my 
equal ;  but  in  her  natural  right  to  eat  the  bread  she  earns  with 
her  own  hands,  without  asking  leave  of  any  one  else,  she  is  my 
equal,  and  the  equal  of  all  others. 

Chief  Justice  Taney,  in  his  opinion  in  the  Dred  Scott  case, 
admits  that  the  language  of  the  Declaration  is  broad  enough 
to  include  the  whole  human  family ;  but  he  and  Judge  Doug 
las  argue  that  the  authors  of  that  instrument  did  not  intend  to 
include  negroes,  by  the  fact  that  they  did  not  at  once  actually 
place  them  on  an  equality  with  the  whites.  Now,  this  grave 
argument  comes  to  just  nothing  at  all,  by  the  other  fact,  that 
they  did  not  at  once,  or  ever  afterward,  actually  place  all  white 
people  on  an  equality  with  one  another.  And  this  is  the  staple 
argument  of  both  the  Chief  Justice  and  the  Senator  for  doing 
this  obvious  violence  to  the  plain,  unmistakable  language  of 
the  Declaration. 

I  think  the  authors  of  that  notable  instrument  intended  to 
include  all  men,  but  they  did  not  intend  to  declare  all  men 
equal  in  all  respects.  They  did  not  mean  to  say  all  were  equal 
in  color,  size,  intellect,  moral  developments,  or  social  capacity. 
They  defined  with  tolerable  distinctness  in  what  respects  they 
did  consider  all  men  created  equal — equal  with  •'  certain 
inalienable  rights,  among  which  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pur 
suit  of  happiness."  This  they  said,  and  this  meant.  They  did 
not  mean  to  assert  the  obvious  untruth,  that  all  were  then 
actually  enjoying  that  equality,  nor  yet,  that  they  were  about 
to  confer  it  immediately  upon  them.  In  fact,  they  had  no 
power  to  confer  such  a  boon.  They  meant  simply  to  declare 
the  right,  so  that  the  enforcement  of  it  might  follow  as  fast  as 
circumstances  should  permit. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  in  conclusion,  pointed  out  in  a  clear  and  forci 
ble  manner  the  real  distinction  between  his  own  views  and 
those  of  Mr.  Douglas  on  this  question,  as  he  has  done  in  other 
speeches, 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE  LINCOLN-DOUGLAS  CAMPAIGN  OF  1858. 

The  Lecompton  Struggle. — The  Policy  of  Douglas  Changed. — He 
Breaks  with  the  Administration  and  Loses  Caste  at  the  South. — • 
Republican  Sympathies. — Douglas  Falters,  but  Opposes  the  English 
Bill. — Passage  of  that  Measure. — Democratic  State  Convention  of 
Illinois. — Douglas  Indorsed,  and  Efforts  for  his  Re-Election  Com 
menced. — The  Democratic  Bolt. — Meeting  of  the  Republican  State 
Convention  in  June. — Mr.  Lincoln  named  as  the  First  and  Only 
Choice  of  the  Republicans  for  Senator. — His  Great  Speech  Before 
the  Convention  at  Springfield. — Douglas  and  Lincoln  at  Chicago. — 
Speeches  at  Bloomington  and  Springfield. — Unfairness  of  the  Appor 
tionment  Pointed  out  by  Mr.  Lincoln. — He  Analyzes  the  Douglas 
Programme. — Seven  Joint  Debates. — Douglas  Produces  a  Bogus 
Platform,  and  Propounds  Interrogatories. — "  Unfriendly  Legisla 
tion."— Lincoln  Fully  Defines  his  Position  on  the  Slavery  Question. — 
Result  of  the  Canvass. — The  People  for  Lincoln,  the  Apportionment 
for  Douglas. — Public  Opinion. 

THE  Lecompton  Convention  did  its  work  according  to  the 
programme  laid  down  at  Washington.  It  adopted  the  Consti 
tution  desired,  and  probably  devised,  at  the  national  capital, 
with  the  design  of  forcing  slavery  upon  an  unwilling  people. 
One  of  the  chief  instruments  in  the  execution  of  this  work, 
so  far  as  it  could  be  consummated  at  Lecompton,  was  John 
Calhoun,  an  Illinois  politician.  The  act  under  which  that 
Convention  was  assembled,  had  received  an  unreserved  and 
complete  indorsement  from  Douglas,  as  "  fair  and  just."  He 
was  emphatically  committed  in  advance  by  his  Springfield 
speech  to  the  action  of  that  Convention,  which  exercised  no 
powers  not  distinctly  conferred  upon  it  by  the  act  thus 
indorsed,  or  not  in  strict  accordance  with  what  was  contem 
plated  from  the  first  by  its  framers.  Yet  late  in  the  autumn 
of  1857,  a  rumor  began  to  be  circulated  that  Douglas  was  hes 
itating  about  sustaining  the  Lecompton  Constitution.  Know- 


142  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

ing  his  previous  attitude,  people  were  generally  incredulous  in 
regard  to  this  report.  After  a  time,  however,  some  of  the 
leading  Democratic  papers  of  Illinois  began  to  break  ground 
against  the  Lecompton  scheme,  and  when  Congress  assembled, 
in  December,  there  were  serious  doubts  as  to  whether  Douglas 
did  not  intend  to  break  with  the  Admisistration  on  this  sub 
ject.  Suspense  on  this  point  was  soon  relieved.  Immedi 
ately  after  the  annual  message  of  Mr.  Buchanan  was  read  in 
the  Senate,  Douglas  took  occasion  to  announce  his  disagree 
ment  with  the  President  on  the  Kansas  question,  and  this 
notice  was  followed  up  by  an  elaborate  speech  the  next  day, 
in  which  he  boldly  talked  against  "  forcing  this  Constitution 
down  the  throats  of  the  people  of  Kansas,  in  opposition  to 
their  wishes  and  in  violation  of  our  pledges."  He  ignored  all 
his  recent  attempts  to  charge  the  responsibility  upon  the  non- 
voters  if  the  Constitution  did  not  suit  them.  He  seemed  to 
forget  his  declaration  that  the  act  calling  the  Lecompton  Con 
vention  was  "just  and  fair  in  all  its  objects  and  provisions." 
He  now  denied  the  right  of  the  minority  represented  at 
Lecompton,  in  accordance  with  the  well-understood  "  objects 
and  provisions  "  of  that  act,  "  to  defraud  the  majority  of  that 
people  out  of  their  elective  franchise." 

In  brief,  whatever  his  motives — and  these  may  be  left  to 
himself — he  had  completely  changed  his  attitude  during  the 
last  few  months,  and  now  co-operated  with  the  Republicans 
in  opposing  the  Lecompton  policy  to  which  the  President  and 
the  Democratic  party  had  become  definitely  committed  before 
the  world.  These  two  facts,  however,  are  undeniable.  The 
re-election  of  Douglas  as  Senator  was  to  depend  on  the  com 
ing  election  in  Illinois,  and  without  some  definite  change  of 
course,  from  that  he  had  indicated  at  Springfield  in  June  pre 
vious,  he  would  be  compelled  to  yield  his  place  to  Abraham 
Lincoln,  as  the  associate  of  Lyman  Trumbull. 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  follow  the  history  of  the  despe 
rate  struggle  which  this  change  cost  him  during  the  long 
session  of  Congress.  He  carried  with  him  but  two  Democratic 
Senators  out  of  nearly  forty,  and  only  a  little  larger  fraction, 
of  the  Democratic  members  of  the  House.  He  was  generally 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  143 

denounced  at  the  South  as  a  traitor,  and  this  fact,  added  to 
the  energy  with  which  he  carried  on  his  warfare  with  the 
Administration  against  so  many  odds,  gained  him  not  a  little 
sympathy  in  many  Republican  quarters.  This,  however,  for 
the  most  part,  his  subsequent  course  alienated.  It  is  believed 
that  but  for  the  firm  stand  taken  by  the  lamented  Broderick, 
in  opposition  to  the  course  intended,  Douglas  would  have 
made  his  peace  with  the  Administration  by  voting  for  the 
shabby  compromise  known  as  the  English  Bill.  That  meas 
ure,  in  spite  of  his  final  influence  against  it,  passed  both 
Houses  on  the  4th  of  May. 

Previous  to  that  date,  the  Democratic  State  Convention,  of 
Illinois,  had  met  at  Springfield  (April  21st),  nominated  a 
State  ticket  and  indorsed  Douglas  and  his  Anti-Lecomptoii 
associates  from  that  State.  The  issue  was  thus  fairly  joined 
early  in  the  season  ;  and  all  the  influence  of  the  Administra 
tion  was  brought  to  bear  in  getting  up  a  counter  Democratic 
organization  sustaining  the-  Lecompton  policy.  However 
promising  for  a  time,  this  undertaking  was  not  brilliantly 
successful.  The  friends  of  Douglas  had  taken  time  by  the 
forelock,  and  made  the  most  of  their  advantage  in  having  the 
regular  organization,  with  a  State  ticket  early  in  the  field. 
They  spared  no  labor  from  this  time  forward  in  preparing  for 
the  re-election  of  Douglas.  Without  expecting  the  election 
of  their  candidates  on  the  State  ticket,  they  hoped,  through  an 
unequal  apportionment  strongly  favoring  their  side,  and  from 
the  large  number  of  Democratic  Senators  holding  over,  to  be 
able,  at  least,  to  get  the  control  of  the  Senate,  and  to  prevent 
the  choice  of  a  Republican  successor  to  Douglas,  if  they  could 
not  accomplish  their  full  purpose. 

On  the  16th  of  June — the  day  on  which  the  session  of  Con 
gress  closed — the  Republicans  held  their  State  Convention  at 
Springfield.  Richard  Yates  was  the  temporary,  and  Gustavus 
Koerner  the  permanent  President.  Nearly  every  one  of  the 
hundred  counties  of  Illinois  was  duly  represented,  the  delegates 
numbering  over  five  hundred.  Candidates  were  nominated  for 
State  Treasurer  and  for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
and  a  Platform  was  adopted  essentially  the  same  as  that  put 


144  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

forth  two  years  previously  at  Bloomington,  as  already  quoted, 
A  resolution  approving  the  course  of  Lyman  Trumbull  as  Sen 
ator  was  carried  without  opposition.  The  following  resolution 
was  then  introduced,  which,  according  to  the  official  report, 
"  was  greeted  with  shouts  of  applause,  and  unanimously 
adopted :" 

Resolved,  That  Abraham  Lincoln  is  the  first  and  only  choice 
of  the  Republicans  of  Illinois  for  the  United  States  Senate, 
as  the  successor  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas. 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  not  been  present  during  the  Convention, 
and  when  called  on  to  speak,  at  the  adjourned  evening  session, 
he  had  no  knowledge  that  such  a  resolution  had  been  offered. 
So  far  was  it  from  being  true  that  his  speech  on  that  occasion, 
as  subsequently  stated  by  Douglas,  was  made  on  accepting  a 
nomination  for  the  Senatorship,  that,  of  course,  he  did  not  allude 
to  that  subject.  The  speech,  too,  though  carefully  prepared, 
as  Mr.  Lincoln  afterward  admitted,  was  never  known  to  any 
one  else  than  himself  until  its  delivery,  notwithstanding  the 
insinuation  of  Douglas  that  it  was  a  subject  of  special  con 
sultation  among  the  Republican  leaders.  It  was  the  result 
of  a  broad  and  profound  survey  of  the  slavery  question,  from 
the  point  of  view  then  reached  in  the  progress  of  parties. 
It  laid  down  certain  propositions  as  philosophical  truths,  derived 
from  a  close  observation  of  events.  Its  opening  paragraph 
has  already  become  one  of  the  most  celebrated  passages  in 
the  political  literature  of  the  country.  However  it  may  be 
perverted,  there  is  no  portion  of  this  speech  which  can  be 
successfully  assailed,  when  taken  in  its  true  meaning.  There 
is  a  moral  sublimity  in  the  rugged  honesty  and  directness  with 
which  the  grand  issues  in  this  whole  slavery  agitation  are  pre 
sented.  The  two  forces  of  slavery  and  free  labor  in  our  civil 
and  social  system,  inevitably  antagonistic,  so  long  as  they  come 
into  collision  in  our  national  politics,  have  each  their  peculiar 
tendency,  the  one  to  make  slavery,  and  the  other  to  make  free 
labor  universal.  Until  slavery  is  again  reduced  to  its  true  local 
and  sectional  character,  from  which  Douglas,  Buchanan,  and 
other  agitators  had  conspired  to  raise  it  into  national  pre 
dominance,  the  antagonism  will  not  cease.  What  Douglas 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  145 

always  superficially  slurred  over — assuming  an  indifference, 
sucli  as  no  earnest  or  sound  statesman  can  really  feel,  whether 
"  slavery  is  voted  up  or  voted  down" — Lincoln  treats  with 
true  philosophic  insight,  and  in  the  light  of  earnest  convic 
tions.  This  famous  speech  is  in  entire  harmony  with  the 
views  of  the  earlier  statesmen,  even  of  the  South.  If  any 
man  at  first  reads  this  great  effort  doubtingly,  or  with  an 
inclination  toward  dissent — as  most  assuredly  few  really 
earnest,  thinking  men  can — let  him  carefully  look  onward  and 
see  how  it  endures  the  test  of  a  severe  campaign,  and  how  its 
chief  positions  are  maintained  against  all  the  assaults  of  a 
wily  foe,  who  is  himself  really  on  trial,  solemnly  indicted  by 
that  speech,  yet  vainly  imagines  that  he  is  placing  Mr.  Lin 
coln  on  the  defensive. 

"  The  hall,  and  lobbies,  and  galleries  were  even  more 
densely  crowded  and  packed  than  at  any  time  during  the 
day,"  says  the  official  report,  as  the  Convention  re-assembled 
in  the  evening  to  hear  Mr.  Lincoln.  "  As  he  approached  the 
speaker's  stand,  he  was  greeted  with  shouts,  and  hurrahs,  and 
prolonged  cheering." 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  FIRST  SPEECH  IN  THE  SENATORIAL  CANVASS. 

(At  the  Republican  State  Convention,  June  16,  1858.) 
Mr.  Lincoln  said — 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE,  CONVENTION:— If  we  could  first  know 
where  we  are,  and  whither  we  are  tending,  we  could  then  better 
judge  what  to  do,  and  how  to  do  it.  We  are  now  far  on  into 
the  fifth  year,  since  a  policy  was  initiated,  with  the  avowed 
object,  and  confident  promise,  of  putting  an  end  to  slavery 
agitation.  Under  the  operation  of  that  policy,  that  agitation 
has  not  only  not  ceased,  but  has  constantly  augmented.  In 
my  opinion,  it  will  not  cease,  until  a  crisis  shall  have  been 
reached,  and  passed.  "  A  house  divided  against  itself  can  not 
stand."  [  believe  this  Government  can  not  endure  perma 
nently,  half  slave  <and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union 
to  be  dissolved— I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall— but  I  do 
expect  it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one 
thing,  or  all  the  other.  Either  the  opponents  of  slavery  will 
arrest  the  further  spread  of  it,  and  place  it  where  the  public 
mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  course  of  ultimate 
extinction,  or  its  advocates  will  push  it  forward,  till  it  shall 
10 


146  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

become  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States — old  as  well  as  new- 
North  as  well  as  South. 

Have  we  no  tendency  to  the  latter  condition?  Let  any 
one  who  doubts,  carefully  contemplate  that  now  almost  com 
plete  legal  combination — piece  of  machinery,  so  to  speak — 
compounded  of  the  Nebraska  doctrine  and  the  Dred  Scott 
decision.  Let  him  consider  not  only  what  work  the  machinery 
is  adapted  to  do,  and  how  well  adapted,  but  also  let  him  study 
the  history  of  its  construction,  and  trace,  if  he  can,  or  rather 
fail,  if  he  can,  to  trace  the  evidences  of  design,  and  concert 
of  action,  among  its  chief  master-workers  from  the  beginning. 

But,  so  far,  Congress  only  had  acted;  and  an  indorsement 
by  the  people,  real  or  apparent,  was  indispensable,  to  save  the 
point  already  gained,  and  give  chance  for  more.  The  new 
year  of  1854  found  slavery  excluded  frcm  more  than  half  the 
States  by  State  Constitutions,  and  from  most  of  the  national 
territory  by  Congressional  prohibition.  Four  days  later  com 
menced  the  struggle,  which  ended  in  repealing  that  Congress 
ional  prohibition^  This  opened  all  the  national  territory  to 
slavery,  and  was  the  first  point  gained. 

This  necessity  had  not  been  overlooked,  but  had  been  pro- 


only  rightful  basis  of  any  government,  was  so  perverted  in  this 
attempted  use  of  it  as  to  amount  to  jist  this:  that  if  any 
one  man  choose  to  enslave  another,  no  third  man  shall  be 
allowed  to  object.  That  argument  was  incorporated  into  the 
Nebraska  bill  itself,  in  the  language  which  follows :  "  It 
being  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act  not  to  legislate 
slavery  into  any  Territory  or  State,  nor  exclude  it  therefrom; 
but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  reg 
ulate  their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

Then  opened  the  roar  of  loose  declamation  in  favor  of 
"  squatter  sovereignty,"  and  "  sacred  right  of  self-govern 
ment." 

"  But,"  said  opposition  members,  "let  us  be  more  specific — 
let  us  amend  the  bill  so  as  to  expressly  declare  that  the  people 
of  the  territory  may  exclude  slavery."  "  Not  we,"  said  the 
friends  of  the  measure;  and  down  they  voted  the  amendment. 

While  the  Nebraska  Bill  was  passing  through  Congress,  a 
law  case,  involving  the  question  of  a  negro's  freedom,  by 
reason  of  his  owner  having  voluntarily  vaken  him  first  into  a 
free  State  and  then  a  territory  covered  by  the  Congressional 
prohibition,  and  held  him  as  a  slave — for  a  long  time  in  each — 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  147 

was  passing  through  the  U.  S.  Circuit  Court  for  the  District  of 
Missouri ;  and  both  the  Nebraska  Bill  and  law  suit  were 
brought  to  a  decision  in  the  same  month  of  May,  1854.  The 
negro's  name  was  "  Dred  Scott,"  which  name  now  designates 
the  decision  finally  made  in  the  case. 

Before  the  then  next  Presidential  election  case,  the  law  came 
to,  and  was  argued  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States; 
but  the  decision  of  it  was  deferred  until  after  the  election. 
Still,  be/ere  the  election,  Senator  Trumbull,  on  the  floor  of  the 
Senate,  requests  the  leading  advocate  of  the  Nebraska  Bill  to 
state  his  opinion  whether  a  people  of  a  territory  can  constitu 
tionally  exclude  slavery  from  their  limits ;  and  the  latter 
answers,  "  That  is  a  question  for  the  Supreme  Court." 

The  election  came.  Mr.  Buchanan  was  elected,  and  the 
indorsement,  such  as  it  was,  secured.  That  was  the  second 
point  gained.  The  indorsement,  however,  fell  short  of  a  clear 
popular  majority  by  nearly  four  hundred  thousand  votes,  and 
so,  perhaps,  was  not  overwhelmingly  reliable  and  satisfatory. 
The  outgoing  President  in  his  last  annual  message,  as  impres 
sively  as  possible  echoed  back  upon  the  people  the  weight  and 
authority  of  the  indorsement.  + 

The  Supreme  Court  met  again ;  did  not  announce  their 
decision,  but  ordered  a  re-argument.  The  Presidential  inau 
guration  came,  and  still  no  decision  of  the  court;  but  the 
incoming  President,  in  his  Inaugural  Address,  fervently 
exhorted  the  people  to  abide  by  the  forthcoming  decision, 
whatever  it  might  be.  Then,  in  a  few  days,  came  the  decision. 

This  was  the  third  point  gained. 

The  reputed  author  of  the  Nebraska  Bill  finds  an  early 
occasion  to  make  a  speech  at  this  capitol  indorsing  the  Dred 
Scott  decision,  and  vehemently  denouncing  all  opposition  to 
it.  The  new  President,  too,  seizes  the  early  occasion  of  the 
Silliman  letter  to  indorse  and  strongly  construe  that  decision, 
and  to  express  his  astonishment  that  any  different  view  had 
ever  been  entertained.  At  length  a  squabble  springs  up 
between  the  President  and  the  author  of  the  Nebraska  Bill 
on  the  mere  question  of  fact,  whether  the  Lecompton  Consti 
tution  was,  or  was  not,  in  any  just  sense,  made  by  the  people 
of  Kansas ;  and,  in  that  squabble,  the  latter  declares  that  all 
he  wants  is  a  fair  vote  for  the  people,  and  that  he  cares  not 
whether  slavery  be  voted  down  or  voted  up.  I  do  not  under 
stand  his  declaration  that  he  cares  not  whether  slavery  be 
voted  down  or  voted  up,  to  be  intended  by  him  other  than  as 
an  apt  definition  of  the  policy  he  would  impress  upon  the 
public  mind — the  principle  for  which  he  declares  he  has  suf 
fered  much,  and  is  ready  to  suffer  to  the  end. 


148  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

And  well  may  he  cling  to  that  principle.  If  he  has  any 
parental  feeling,  well  may  he  cling  to  it.  That  principle  is 
the  only  shred  left  of  his  original  Nebraska  doctrine.  Under 
the  Dred  Scott  decision,  ''  squatter  sovereignty  "  squatted  out 
of  existence,  tumbled  down  like  temporary  scaffolding — like 
the  mould  at  the  foundry,  served  through  one  blast,  and  fell 
back  into  loose  sand — helped  to  carry  an  election,  and  then 
was  kicked  to  the  winds.  His  late  joint  struggle  with  the 
Republicans,  against  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  involves 
nothing  of  the  original  Nebraska  doctrine.  That  struggle 
was  made  on  a  point — the  right  of  a  people  to  make  their  own 
Constitution — upon  which  he  and  the  Republicans  have  never 
differed. 

The  several  points  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  in  connection 
with  Senator  Douglas'  "  care-not "  policy,  constitute  the  piece 
of  machinery  in  its  present  state  of  advancement.  The  work 
ing  points  of  that  machinery  are  : 

First,  That  no  negro  slave,  imported  as  such  from  Africa, 
and  no  descendant  of  such,  can  ever  be  a  citizen  of  any  State 
in  the  sense  of  that  term  as  used  in  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  ^ 

This  point  is  made  in  order  to  deprive  the  negro,  in  every 
possible  event,  of  the  benefit  of  this  provision  of  the  United 
States  Constitution,  which  declares  that — "  The  citizens  of  each 
State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of 
citizens  in  the  several  States." 

Secondly,  That  "  subject  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,"  neither  Congress  nor  a  Territorial  Legislature  can 
exclude  slavery  from  any  Urtited  States  Territory. 

This  point  is  made  in  order  that  individual  men  may  fill  up 
the  Territories  with  slaves,  without  danger  of  losing  them  as 
property,  and  thus  to  enhance  the  chances  of  permanency  to 
the  institution  through  all  the  future. 

Thirdly,  That  whether  the  holding  a  negro  in  actual  slavery 
in  a  free  State  makes  him  free,  as  against  the  holder,  the  Uni 
ted  States  courts  will  not  decide,  but  will  leave  to  be  decided 
by  the  courts  of  any  slave  State  the  negro  may  be  forced  into 
by  the  master. 

This  point  is  made,  not  to  be  pressed  immediately  ;  but,  if 
acquiesced  in  for  a  while  and  apparently  indorsed  by  the  peo 
ple  at  an  election,  then,  to  sustain  the  logical  conclusion  that 
what  Dred  Scott;s  master  might  lawfully  do  with  Dred  Scott, 
in  the  free  State  of  Illinois,  every  other  master  may  lawfully 
do  with  any  other  one,  or  one  thousand  slaves,  in  Illinois,  or 
in  any  other  free  State. 

Auxiliary  to  all  this,  and  working  hand  in  hand  with  it, 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  149 

the  Nebraska  doctrine,  or  what  is  left  of  it,  is  to  educate  and 
mold  public  opinion,  at  least  Northern  public  opinion,  not  to 
care  whether  slavery  is  voted  down  or  voted  up. 

This   shows  exactly  where  we  now  are,  and  partially,  also 
whither  we  are  tending. 

It  will  throw  additional  light  on  the  latter,  to  go  back,  and 
run  the  mind  over  the  string  of  historical  facts  already  stated. 
Several  things  will  now  appear  less  dark  and  mysterious  than 
they  did  when  they  were  transpirtng.  The  people  were  to  be 
left  "perfectly  free,"  "subject-only  to  the  Constitution." 
What  the  Constitution  had  to  f'o  with  it,  outsiders"  could  not 
then  see.  Plainly  enough  now,  it  was  an  exactly  fitted  niche 
for  the  Dred  Scott  decision  afterward  to  come  in,  and  declare 
that  perfect  freedom  of  the  people,  to  be  just  no  freedom  at  all. 

Why  was  the  amendment,  expressly  declaring  the  right  of 
the  people  to  exclude  slavery,  voted  down  ?  Plainly  enough 
now,  the  adoption  of  it  would  have  spoiled  the  niche  for  the 
Dred  Scott  decision. 

WThy  was  the  court  decision  held  up?  Why  even  a  Sena 
tor's  individual  opinion  withheld  till  after  the  Presidential 
election  ?  Plainly  enough  now  ;  the  speaking  out  then  would 
have  damaged  the  "perfectly  free  "  argument  upon  which  the 
election  was  to  be  carried. 

Why  the  outgoing  President's  felicitation  on  the  indorse 
ment  ?  Why  the  delay  of  a  re-argument  ?  Why  the  incom 
ing  President's  advance  exhortation  in  favor  of  the  decision  ? 
These  things  look  like  the  cautious  patting  and  petting  of  a 
spirited  horse,  preparatory  to  mounting  him,  when  it  is  dreaded 
that  he  may  give  the  rider  a  fall.  And  why  the  hasty  after- 
indorsements  of  the  decision,  by  the  President  and  others? 

We  can  not  absolutely  know  that  all  these  exact  adaptations 
are  the  result  of  pre-concert.  But  when  we  see  a  lot  of  framed 
timbers,  different  portions  of  which  we  know  have  been  gotten 
out,  at  different  times  and  places,  and  by  different  workmen — 
Stephen,  Franklin,  Roger  and  James,  for  instance — and  when 
we  see  these  timbers  joined  together,  and  see  they  exactly  make 
the  frame  of  a  house  or  a  mill,  all  the  tenons  and  mortises 
exactly  fitting,  and  all  the  lengths  and  proportions  of  the  dif 
ferent  pieces  exactly  adapted  to  their  respective  places,  and  not 
a  piece  too  many  or  too  few — not  omitting  even  scaffolding — 
or,  if  a  single  piece  be  lacking,  we  can  see  the  place  in  the 
frame  exactly  fitted  and  prepared  to  yet  bring  such  piece  in — 
in  such  a  case,  we  find  it  impossible  not  to  believe  that  Stephen 
and  Franklin  and  Roger  and  James  all  understood  one  another 
from  the  beginning,  and  all  worked  upon  a  common  plan  or 
draft  drawn  up  before  the  first  blow  was  struck. 


150  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

It  should  not  be  overlooked  that,  by  the  Nebraska  Bill,  the 
people  of  a  State,  as  well  as  Territory,  were  to  be  left  " per 
fectly  free"  "  subject  only  to  the  Constitution."  Why  mention 
a  State  ?  They  were  legislating  for  Territories,  and  not  for  or 
about  States.  Certainly  the  people  of  a  State  are  and  ought 
to  be  subject  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States ;  but 
why  is  mention  of  this  lugged  into  this  merely  territorial  law  ? 
Why  are  the  people  of  a  territory  and  the  people  of  a  State 
therein  lumped  together,  an^- their  relation  to  the  Constitution 
therein  treated  as  being  precisely  the  same  ? 

While  the  opinion  of  the  Ctfurt,  by  Chief  Justice  Taney,  in 
the  Dred  Scott  case,  and  the  separate  opinions  of  all  the  con 
curring  judges,  expressly  declare  that  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  neither  permits  Congress  nor  a  Territorial  Legis 
lature  to  exclude  slavery  from  any  United  States  Territory, 
they  all  omit  to  declare  whether  or  not  the  same  Constitution 
permits  a  State,  or  the  people  of  a  State  to  exclude  it.  Possi- 
l)iy,  this  was  a  mere  omission;  but  who  can  be  quite  sure,  if- 
McLean  or  Curtis  had  sought  to  get  into  the  opinion  a  declar 
ation  of  unlimited  power  in  the  people  of  a  State  to  exclude 
slavery  from  their  limits,  just  as  Chase  and  Mace  sought  to  get 
such  declaration  in  behalf  of  the  people  of  a  Territory  into  the 
Nebraska  Bill — I  ask,  who  can  be  quite  sure  that  it  would  not 
have  been  voted  down,  in  the  one  case,  as  it  had  been  in  the  other. 

The  nearest  approach  to  the  point  of  declaring  the  power  of 
a  State  over  slavery,  is  made  by  Judge  Nelson.  He  approaches 
it  more  than  once,  using  the  precise  idea,  and  almost  the  lan 
guage,  too,  of  the  Nebraska  Act.  On  one  occasion  his  exact 
language  is,  "  except  in  cases  where  the  power  is  restrained 
by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  law  of  the  State 
is  supreme  over  the  subject  of  slavery  within  its  jurisdiction." 

In  what  cases  the  power  of  the  State  is  so  restrained  by  the 
United  States  Constitution,  is  left  an  open  question,  precisely 
as  the  same  question,  as  to  the  restraint  on  the  power  of  the 
Territories,  was  left  open  in  the  Nebraska  Act.  Put  that  and 
that  together,  and  we  have  another  nice  little  niche,  which  we 
may,  ere  long,  see  filled  with  another  Supreme  Court  decision, 
declaring  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  does  not 
permit  a  State  to  exclude  slavery  from  its  limits,  And  this 
may  especially  be  expected  if  the  doctrine  of  "  care  not  whether 
slavery  be  voted  down  or  voted  up,"  shall  gain  upon  the  public 
mind  sufficiently  to  give  promise  that  such  a  decision  can  be 
maintained  when  made. 

Such  a  decision  is  all  that  slavery  now  lacks  of  being  alike 
lawful  in  all  the  States.  Welcome  or  unwelcome,  such  decis 
ion  is  probably  coming,  and  will  soon  be  upon  us,  unless  the 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  151 

power  of  the  present  political  dynasty  shall  be  met  and  over 
thrown.  We  shall  lie  down  pleasantly  dreaming  that  the 
people  of  Missouri  are  on  the  verge  of  making  their  State  free; 
and  we  shall  awake  to  the  reality,  instead,  that  the  Supreme 
Court  has  made  Illinois  a  slave  State. 

To  meet  and  overthrow  the  power  of  that  dynasty,  is  the 
work  now  before  all  those  who  would  prevent  that  consumma 
tion.  That  is  what  we  have  to  do.  But  how  can  we  best  do  it? 

There  are  those  who  denounce  us  openly  to  their  own  friends, 
and  yet  whisper  softly,  that  Senator  Douglas  is  the  aptest 
instrument  there  is,  with  which  to  effect 'that  object.  They 
do  not  tell  us,  nor  has  he  told  us,  that  he  wishes  any  such 
object  to  be  effected.  They  wish  us  to  infer  all,  from  the  facts 
that  he  now  has  a  little  quarrel  with  the  present  head  of  the 
dynasty  ;  and  that  he  has  regularly  voted  with  us,  on  a  single 
point,  upon  which  he  and  we  have  never  differed. 

They  remind  us  that  he  is  a  very  great  man,  and  that  the 
largest  of  us  are  very  small  ones.  Let  this  be  granted.  But 
"  a  living  dog  is  better  than  a  dead  lion."  Judge  Douglas,  if 
not  a  dead  lion  for  this  work,  is  at  least  a  caged  and  toothless 
one.  How  can  he  oppose  the  advances  of  slavery?  He  don't 
care  anything  about  it.  If  is  avowed  mission  is  impressing  the 
£i  public  heart"  to  care  nothing  about  it. 

A  leading  Douglas  Democratic  newspaper  thinks  Douglas' 
superior  talent  will  be  needed  to  resist  the  revival  of  the  Afri 
can  slave-trade.  Does  Douglas  believe  an  effort  to  revive  that 
trade  is  approaching?  He  has  not  said  so.  Does  he  really 
think  so?  But  if  it  is,  how  can  he  resist  it?  For  years  he 
has  labored  to  prove  it  a  sacred  right  of  white  men  to  take 
negro  slaves  into  the  new  Territories.  Can  he  possibly  show 
that  it  is  less  a  sacred  right  to  buy  them  where  they  can  be 
bought  cheapest?  And,  unquestionably,  they  can  be  bought 
cheaper  in  Africa  than  in  Virginia. 

He  has  done  all  in  his  power  to  reduce  the  whole  question  of 
slavery  to  one  of  a  mere  right  of  property ;  and  as  such,  how 
can  he  oppose  the  foreign  slave-trade — how  can  he  refuse  that 
trade  in  that  "  property,"  shall  be  "  perfectly  free" — unless  he 
does  it  as  a  protection  to  the  home  production?  And  as  the 
home  producers  will  probably  not  ask  the  protection,  he  will 
be  wholly  without  a  ground  of  opposition. 

Senator  Douglas  holds,  we  know,  that  a  man  may  rightfully 
be  wiser  to-day  than  he  was  yesterday — that  he  may  rightfully 
change  when  he  finds  himself  wrong.  But,  can  we  for  that 
reason  run  ahead  and  infer  that  he  will  make  any  particular 
change,  of  which  he  himself  has  given  no  intimation  ?  Can 
we  safely  base  our  action  upon  any  such  vague  inferences? 


152  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Now,  as  ever,  I  wish  not  to  misrepresent  Judge  Douglas' 
position,  question  his  motives,  or  do  aught  that  can  be  person- 
ally  offensive  to  him.  \Vhenever,  if  ever,  he  and  we  can  come 
together  on  principle,  so  that  our  great  cause  may  have  assist 
ance  from  his  great  ability,  I  hope  to  have  interposed  no 
adventitious  obstacle. 

But  clearly,  he  is  not  now  with  us — he  does  not  pretend  to 
be — he  does  not  promise  ever  to  be.  Our  cause,  then,  must  be 
intrusted  to,  and  conducted  by  its  own  undoubted  friends — 
those  whose  hands  are  free,  whose  hearts  are  in  the  work — who 
do  care  for  the  result. 

Two  years  ago  the  Republicans  of  the  nation  mustered  over 
thirteen  hundred  thousand  strong.  We  did  this  under  the 
single  impulse  of  resistance  to  a  common  danger,  with  every 
external  circumstance  against  us.  Of  strange,  discordant,  and 
even  hostile  elements,  we  gathered  from  the  four  winds,  and 
formed  and  fought  the  battle  through,  under  the  constant  hot 
fire  of  a  disciplined,  proud  and  pampered  enemy.  Did  we 
brave  all  then  to  falter  now  ? — now — when  that  same  enemy  is 
wavering,  dissevered  and  belligerent? 

The  result  is  not  doubtful.  We  shall  not  fail — if  we  stand 
firm,  we  shall  not  fail.  TPise  counsels  may  accelerate  or  mistakes 
delay  it,  but,  sooner  or  later,  the  victory  is  sure  to  come. 

Mr.  Douglas,  having  lingered  for  more  than  three  weeks  on 
his  way  homeward,  preparing  for  the  struggle  before  him, 
arrived  in  Chicago  on  the  9th  of  July,  amid  the  most  showy 
demonstrations  of  his  friends.  He  made  a  long  speech  on 
the  occasion,  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  present  to  hear.  Douglas 
claimed  great  credit  as  having  defeated  the  President's 
Lecompton  policy,  and  imperiously  returned  thanks  to  the 
Republicans  for  "  coming  up  manfully  and  sustaining"  him 
and  his  little  band  in  opposition  to  the  Administration — a 
course,  certainly,  for  which  the  Republican  party  deserved  no 
special  thanks,  as  it  required  of  them  no  sacrifice  of  either 
consistency  or  partisan  fellowship.  Subsequently  he  charged 
an  alliance  between  the  Republicans  and  the  Administration 
party  for  his  defeat.  He  took  care  again  to  avow  an  utter 
indifference  as  to  whether  Kansas  should  be  slave  soil  or  free 
soil,  only  asking  that  the  popular  majority  should  prevail. 
At  length  he  came  to  the  great  opening  speech  of  Mr,  Lin 
coln,  which  had  been  carefully  pondered  during  the  last  three 
weeks. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  153 

"  I  have  observed,"  he  said  with  condescending  assurance, 
"  I  have  observed  from  the  public  prints,  that  but  a  few  days 
ago  the  Republican  party  of  the  State  of  Illinois  assembled 
in  convention  at  Springfield,  and  not  only  laid  down  their 
platform,  but  nominated  a  candidate  for  the  United  States 
Senate  as  my  successor.  I  take  great  pleasure  in  saying  that 
I  have  known,  personally  and  intimately,  for  about  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  the  worthy  gentleman  who  has  been  nominated 
for  my  place ;  and  I  will  say  that  I  regard  him  as  a  kind, 
amiable  and  intelligent  gentleman,  a  good  citizen,  and  an  hon 
orable  opponent;  and  whatever  issue  I  may  have  with  him 
will  be  of  principle,  and  not  involving  personalities."  He 
then  proceeded  to  specify  his  two  chief  points  of  attack  on 
Mr.  Lincoln,  after  citing  a  portion  of  the  first  paragraph  of 
his  Springfield  speech.  Mr.  Douglas  endeavored  thus  to  put 
his  opponent  on  the  defensive,  by  selecting  sentences  out  of 
their  connection,  and  imputing  to  them  a  meaning  not  intended. 
His  first  point  he  thus  states : 

In  other  words,  Mr.  Lincoln  asserts  as  a  fundamental  prin 
ciple  of  this  Government,  that  there  must  be  uniformity  in 
the  local  laws  and  domestic  institutions  of  each  and  all  the 
States  of  the  Union,  and  he  therefore  invites  all  the  non- 
Blaveholdmg  States  to  band  together,  organize  as  one  body, 
and  make  war  upon  slavery  in  Kentucky,  upon  slavery  in 
Virginia,  upon  slavery  in  the  Carolinas,  upon  slavery  in  all 
of  the  slaveholding  States  in  this  Union,  and  to  persevere  in 
that  war  until  it  shall  be  exterminated.  He  then  notifies  the 
slaveholdiug  States  to  stand  together  as  a  unit  and  make  an 
aggressive  war  upon  the  free  States  of  this  Union,  with  a  view 
of  establishing  slavery  in  them  all ;  of  forcing  it  upon  Illi 
nois,  of  forcing  it  upon  New  York,  upon  New  England,  and 
upon  every  other  free  State,  and  that 'they  shall  keep  up  the 
warfare  until  it  has  been  formally  established  in  them  all.  In 
other  words,  Mr.  Lincoln  advocates  boldly  and  clearly  a  war 
of  sections,  a  war  of  the  North  against  the  South,  of  the  free 
States  against  the  slave  States — a  war  of  extermination — to  be 
continued  relentlessly  until  the  one  or  the  other  should  be  sub 
dued,  and  all  the  States  shall  either  become  free  or  become 
slave. 

His  other  point  was  made  in  these  words  : 

The  other  proposition    discussed    by  Mr.  Lincoln    in  his 


154  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

speech  consists  in  a  crusade  against  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  on  account  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  On  this 
question,  also,  I  desire  to  say  to  you,  unequivocally,  that  I 
take  direct  and  distinct  issue  with  him.  I  have  no  warfare  to 
make  on  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  either  on 
account  of  that  or  any  other  decision  which  they  have  pro 
nounced  from  that  bench.  The  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  has  provided  that  the  powers  of  Government  (and  the 
Constitution  cf  each  State  has  the  same  provision)  shall  "be 
divided  into  three  departments — executive,  legislative  and  judi 
cial.  The  right  and  the  province  of  expounding  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  constructing  the  law,  is  vested  in  the  judiciary  estab 
lished  by  the  Constitution.  As  a  lawyer,  I  feel  at  liberty  to 
appear  before  the  court  and  controvert  any  principle  of  law 
•while  the  question  is  pending  before  the  tribunal ;  but  when 
the  decision  is  made,  my  private  opinion,  your  opinion,  all 
other  opinions  must  yield  to  the  majesty  of  that  authoritative 
adjudication. 

Later  in  the  same  speech,  Mr.  Douglas  said  on  this  head  : 
On  the  other  point,  Mr.  Lincoln  goes  fora  warfare  upon 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  because  of  their 
decision  in  the  Dred  Scott  case.  I  yield  obedience  to  the 
decisions  of  that  Court — to  the  final  determination  of  the 
highest  judicial  tribunal  known  to  our  Constitution.  He 
objects  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision  because  it  does  not  put  the 
nesro  in  the  possession  of  the  rights  of  citizenship  on  an 
equality  with  the  white  man.  I  am  opposed  to  negro  equal 
ity.  I  repeat  that  this  nation  is  a  white  people — a  people 
composed  of  European  descendants  —  a  people  that  have 
established  this  Government  for  themselves  and  their  pos 
terity,  and  I  am  in  favor  of  preserving,  not  only  the  purity  of 
the  blood,  but  the  purity  of  the  Government,  from  any  mix 
ture  or  amalgamation  with  inferior  races.  I  have  seen  the 
effects  of  this  mixture  of  superior  and  inferior  races  —  this 
amalgamation  of  white '  men  and  Indians  and  negroes ;  we 
have°seen  it  in  Mexico,  in  Central  America,  in  South  America, 
and  in  all  the  Spanish- American  States,  and  its  result  has 
been  degeneration,  demoralization,  and  degradation  below  the 
capacity  "for  self-government. 

How  completely  the  positions  of  Mr.  Lincoln  were  mis 
construed  in  these  extracts,  will  partly  appear  from  reading 
his  speech,  made  at  Springfield  on  the  26th  of  June,  1857. 
These  misconceptions  were  completely  disposed  of  in  Mr. 
Lincoln's  reply,  at  Chicago,  on  the  following  evening,  July 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  155 

10th.  An  instense  eagerness  to  hear  his  answer  drew  together 
a  great  crowd,  aud  the  reception  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  his 
appearance,  was  most  enthusiastic,  the  applause  continuing  for 
several  minutes 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  REPLY  TO  MR.  DOUGLAS. 

(At  Chicago,  on  the  evening  of  July  10th}  1858.) 

Mr.  Lincoln  said  : 

MY  FELLOW-CITIZENS  :  On  yesterday  evening,  upon  the 
occasion  of  the  reception  given  to  Senator  Douglas,  I  was 
furnished  with  a  seat  very  convenient  for  hearing  him,  and 
was  otherwise  very  courteously  treated  by  him  and  his  friends, 
for  which  I  thank  him  and  them.  During  the  course  of  his 
remarks  my  name  was  mentioned  in  such  a  way  as,  I  suppose, 
renders  it  at  least  not  improper  that  I  should  make  some  sort 
of  reply  to  him.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  follow  him  in  the 
precise  order  in  which  he  addressed  the  assembled  multitude 
upon  that  occasion,  though  I  shall  perhaps  do  so  in  the  main. 

THE    ALLEGED   ALLIANCE. 

There  was  one  question  to  which  he  asked  the  attention  of 
the  crowd,  which  I  deem  of  somewhat  less  importance — at 
least  of  propriety  for  me  to  dwell  upon — than  the  others, 
which  he  brought  in  near  the  close  of  his  speech,  and  which 
I  think  it  would  not  be  entirely  proper  for  me  to  omit  attend 
ing  to,  and  yet  if  I  were  not  to  give  some  attention  to  it  now, 
I  should  probably  forget  it  altogether.  While  I  am  upon 
this  subject,  allow  me  to  say  that  I  do  not  intend  to  indulge 
in  that  inconvenient  mode  sometimes  adopted  in  public 
speaking,  of  reading  from  documents ;  but  I  shall  depart 
from  that  rule  so  far  as  to  read  a  little  scrap  from  his  speech, 
which  notices  this  first  topic  of  which  I  shall  speak— that  is, 
provided  I  can  find  it  in  the  paper.  [Examines  the  morning's 
paper.] 

"I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  appeal  to  the  people  against 
the  combination  that  has  been  made  against  me  !  the  Repub 
lican  leaders  having  formed  an  alliance,  an  unholy  and 
unnatural  alliance,  with  a  portion  of  unscrupulous  federal 
office-holders.  I  intend  to  fight  that  allied  army  wherever  I 
meet  them.  I  know  they  deny  the  alliance,  but  yet  these  men, 
who  are  trying  to  divide  the  Democratic  party  for  the  purpose 
of  electing  a  Republican  Senator  in  my  place,  are  just  as 
much  the  agents  and  tools  of  the  supporters  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 
Hence  I  shall  deal  with  this  allied  army  just  as  the  Russians 
dealt  with  the  allies  at  Sebastopol — that  is,  the  Russians  did 


156  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

not  stop  to  inquire,  when  they  fired  a  broadside,  whether  it 
hit  an  Englishman,  a  Frenchman,  or  a  Turk.  Nor  will  I  stop 
to  inquire,  nor  shall  I  hesitate  whether  my  blows  shall  hit 
these  Republican  leaders  or  their  allies,  who  are  holding  the 
federal  offices,  and  yet  acting  in  concert  with  them." 

Well,  now,  gentlemen,  is  not  that  very  alarming?  Just  to 
think  of  it !  right  at  the  outset  of  his  canvass,  I,  a  poor,  kind, 
amiable,  intelligent  gentleman,  I  am  to  be  slain  in  this  way. 
Why,  my  friends,  the  Judge  is  not  only,  as  it  turns  out,  not 
a  dead  lion,  nor  even  a  living  one — he  is  the  rugged  Ptussian 
Bear  !  [Laughter  and  applause.] 

But  if  they  will  have  it — for  he  says  that  we  deny  it — that 
there  is  any  such  alliance,  as  he  says  there  is — and  I  don't 
propose  hanging  very  much  upon  this  question  of  veracity — 
but  if  he  will  have  it  that  there  is  such  an  alliance — that  the 
Administration  men  and  we  are  allied,  arid  we  stand  in  the 
attitude  of  English,  French  and  Turk,  he  occupying  the 
position  of  the  Russian,  in  that  case,  I  beg  that  he  will  indulge 
us  while  we  barely  suggest  to  him  that  these  allies  took 
Sebastopol.  [Great  applause.] 

Gentlemen,  only  a  few  more  words  as  to  this  alliance.  For 
my  part,  I  have  to  say,  that  whether  there  be  such  an  alliance, 
depends  so  far  as  I  know,  upon  what  may  be  a  right  defihi- 
nition  of  the  term  alliance.  If  for  the  Republican  party  to  see 
the  other  great  party  to  which  they  are  opposed  divided 
among  themselves,  and  not  try  to  stop  the  division  and  rather 
be  glad  of  it — if  that  is  an  alliance,  I  confess  I  am  in  ;  but  if 
it  is  meant  to  be  said  that  the  Republicans  had  formed  an 
alliance  going  beyond  that,  by  which  there  is  contribution  of 
money  or  sacrifice  of  principle  on  the  one  side  or  the  other, 
so  far  as  the  Republican  party  is  concerned,  if  there  be  any 
such  thing,  I  protest  that  I  neither  know  any  thing  of  it,  nor 
do  I  believe  it.  I -will,  however,  say — as  I  think  this  branch 
of  the  argument  is  lugged  in — I  would  before  I  leave  it,  state, 
for  the  benefit  of  those  concerned,  that  one  of  those  same 
Buchanan  men  did  once  tell  me  of  an  argument  that  be  made 
for  his  opposition  to  Judge  Douglas.  He  said  that  a  friend 
of  our  Senator  Douglas  had  been  talking  to  him,  and  had 
among  other  things  said  to  him:  "  Why,  you  don't  want  to 
beat  Douglas?"  "Yes,"  said  he,  "I  do  want  to  beat  him, 
and  I  will  tell  you  why.  I  believe  his  original  Nebraska  Bill 
was  right  in  the  abstract,  but  it  was  wrong  in  the  time  that  it 
was  brought  forward.  It  was  wrong  in  the  application  to  a 
Territory  in  regard  to  which  the  question  had  been  settled  ;  it 
was  brought  forward  at  a  time  when  nobody  asked  him  ;  it  was 
tendered  to  the  South  when  the  South  had  not  asked  for  it, 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  157 

but  when  they  could  not  well  refuse  it ;  and  for  this  same 
reason  he  forced  that  question  upon  our  party ;  it  has  sunk 
the  best  men  all  over  the  nation,  everywhere;  and  now  when 
our  President,  struggling  with  the  difficulties  of  this  man's 
getting  up,  has  reached  the  very  hardest  point  to  turn  in  the 
case,  he  deserts  him,  and  I  am  for  putting  him  where  he  will 
trouble  us  no  more." 

Now.  gentlemen,  that  is  not  my  argument — that  is  not  my 
argument  at  all.  I  have  only  been  stating  to  you  the  argu 
ment  of  a  Buchanan  man.  You  will  judge  if  there  is  any 
force  in  it. 

WHAT    IS   POPULAR   SOVEREIGNTY? 

Popular  Sovereignty!  everlasting  Popular  Sovereignty!  Let 
us  for  a  moment  inquire  into  this  vast  matter  of  Popular  Sov 
ereignty.  What  is  Popular  Sovereignty  ?  We  recollect  that  in 
an  early  period  in  the  history  of  this  struggle,  there  was  another 
name  for  the  same  thing — Squatter  Sovereignty.  It  was  not 
exactly  Popular  Sovereignty,  but  Squatter  Sovereignty.  What 
do  those  terms  mean  ?  What  do  those  terms  mean  when  used 
now  ?  And  vast  credit  is  taken  by  our  friend,  the  Judge,  in 
regard  to  his  support  of  it,  when  he  declares  the  last  years  of 
his  life  have  been,  and  all  the  future  years  of  his  life  shall  be, 
devoted  to  this  matter  of  Popular  Sovereignty.  What  is  it? 
Why,  it  is  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  !  What  was  Squatter 
Sovereignty  ?  I  suppose  if  it  had  any  significance  at  all,  it 
was  'the  right  of  the  people  to  govern  themselves,  to  be  sov 
ereign  in  their  own  affairs  while  they  were  squatted  down 
in  a  country  not  their  own,  while  they  had  squatted  on  a  Ter 
ritory  that  did  not  belong  to  them,  in  the  sense  that  a  State 
belongs  to  the  people  who  inhabit  it — when  it  belonged  to  the 
nation — such  right  to  govern  themselves  was  called  "  Squatter 
Sovereignty." 

Now  I  wish  you  to  mark.  What  has  become  of  that  Squat 
ter  Sovereignty?  What  has  become  of  it?  Can  you  get  any 
body  to  tell  you  now  that  the  people  of  a  territory  have  any 
authority  to  govern  themselves,  in  regard  to  this  mooted 
question  of  slavery,  before  they  form  a  State  Constitution? 
No  such  thing  at  all,  although  there  is  a  general  running 
fire,  and  although  there  has  been  a  hurrah  made  in  every  speech 
on  that  side,  assuming  that  policy  had  given  the  people  <  f '  a 
Territory  the  right  to  govern  themselves  upon  this  question  ; 
yet  the  point  is  dodged.  To-day  it  has  been  decided — no 
more  than  a  year  ago  it  was  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  and  is  insisted  upon  to-day,  that  the  people 


158  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  a  Territory  have  no  right  to  exclude  slavery  from  a  Terri 
tory,  that  if  any  one  man  chooses  to  take  slaves  into  a 
Territory,  all  the  rest  of  the  people  have  no  right  to  keep 
them  out.  This  being  so,  and  this  decision  being  made  one 
of  the  points  that  the  Judge  approved,  and  one  in  the  approval 
of  which  he  says  he  means  to  keep  me  down — put  me  down  I 
should  not  say,  for  I  have  never  been  up.  He  says  he  is  in 
favor  of  it,  and  sticks  to  it,  and  expects  to  win  his  battle  on 
that  decision,  which  says  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
Squatter  Sovereignty ;  but  that  any  one  man  may  take  slaves 
into  a  Territory,  and  all  the  other  men  in  the  Territory  may 
be  opposed  to  it,  and  yet  by  reason  of  the  Constitution  they 
can  not  prohibit  it.  When  that  is  so,  how  much  is  left  of  this 
vast  matter  of  Squatter  Sovereignty  I  should  like  to  know? 
[A  voice — "  It  is  all  gone."] 

When  we  get  back,  we  get  to  the  point  of  the  right  of  the 
people  to  make  a  Constitution.  Kansas  was  settled,  for 
example,  in  1854.  It  was  a  Territory  yet,  without  having 
formed  a  Constitution,  in  a  very  regular  way,  for  three  years. 
All  this  time  negro  slavery  could  be  taken  in  by  any  few 
individuals,  and  by  that  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  which 
the  Judge  approves,  all  the  rest  of  the  people  can  not  keep  it 
out;  but  when  they  come  to  make  a  Constitution  they  may 
say  they  will  not  have  slavery.  But  it  is  there ;  they  are 
obliged  to  tolerate  it  some  way,  and  all  experience  shows  it 
will  be  so — for  they  will  not  take  negro  slaves  and  abso 
lutely  deprive  the  owners  of  them.  All  experience  shows 
this  to  be  so.  All  that  space  of  time  that  runs  from  the 
beginning  of  the  settlement  of  the  Territory  until  there  is 
sufficiency  of  people  to  make  a  State  Constitution — all  that 
portion  of  time  popular  sovereignty  is  given  up.  The  seal  is 
absolutely  put  down  upon  it  by  the  Court  decision,  and  Judge 
Douglas  puts  his  on  the  top  of  that,  yet  he  is  appealing  to 
the  people  to  give  him  vast  credit  for  his  devotion  to  popular 
sovereignty.  [Applause.] 

Again,  when  we  get  to  the  question  of  the  right  of  the 
people  to  form  a  State  Constitution  as  they  please,  to  form  ii 
with  slavery  or  without  slavery — if  that  is  anything  new,  1 
confess  I  don't  know  it.  Has  there  ever  been  a  time  when 
any  body  said  that  any  other  than  the  people  of  a  Territory 
itself  should  form  a  Constitution?  What  is  now  in  it  that 
Judge  Douglas  should  have  fought  several  years  of  his  life, 
and  pledge  himself  to  fight  all  the  remaining  years  of  his 
life  for?  Can  Judge  Douglas  find  auy  body  on  earth  that 
Baid  that  any  body  else  should  form  a  Constitution  for  a 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  159 

people?  [A  voice,  "  Yes."]  Well,  I  should  like  you  to  name 
him;  I  should  like  to  know  who  he  was.  [Same  voice, 
"  John  Calhoun."] 

Mr.  Lincoln — No,  Sir,  I  no^or  heard  of  even  John  Calhoun 
saying  ,-ueh  a  thing.  He  insisted  on  the  same  principle  as 
Judge  Douglas  ;  but  his  mode  of  applying  it  in  fact,  w?is 
wrong.  It  is  enough  for  my  purpose  to  ask  this  crowd,  when 
ever  a  Republican  said  anything  against  it?  They  never  said 
anything  against  it,  but  they  have  constantly  spoken  for  it; 
and  whosoever  will  undertake  to  examine  the  platform,  and 
the  speeches  of  responsible  men  of  the  party,  and"  of  irre 
sponsible  men,  too,  if  you  please,  will  be  unable  to  find  one 
word  from  anybody  in  the  Republican  ranks,  opposed  to  that 
Popular  Sovereignty  which  Judge  Douglas  thinks  that  he  has 
invented.  [Applause.]  I  suppose  that  Judge  Douglas  will 
claim  in  a  little  while,  that  he  is  the  inventor  of  the  idea  that 
the  people  should  govern  themselves ;  that  nobody  ever 
thought  of  such  a  thing  until  he  brought  it  forward.  We  do 
remember,  that  in  that  old  Declaration  of  Independence,  it  is 
said  that  "  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all 
men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator 
with  certain  inalienable  rights  ;  that  among  these  are  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness ;  that  to  secure  these 
rights,  governments  are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their 
just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed."  There  is  the 
origin  of  Popular  Sovereignty.  [Loud  applause.]  Who, 
then,  shall  come  in  at  this  day  and  claim  that  he  invented  it? 

[After  referring,  in  appropriate  terms,  to  the  credit  claimed 
by  Douglas  for  defeating  the  Lecompton  policy,  Mr.  Lincoln 
proceeds :] 

I  defy  you  to  show  a  printed  resolution  passed  in  a  Demo 
cratic  meeting — I  take  it  upon  myself  to  defy  any  man  to 
show  a  printed  resolution  of  a  Democratic  meeting,  large  or 
small,  in  favor  of  Judge  Trumbull,  or  any  of  the  five  to  one 
Republicans  who  beat  that  bill.  Every  thing  must  be  for  the 
Democrats !  They  did  every  thing,  and  the  five  to  the  one 
that  really  did  the  thing,  they  snub  over,  and  they  do  not 
seem  to  remember  that  they  have  an  existence  upon  the  lace 
of  the  earth. 

LINCOLN   AND   DOUGLAS — THE    PERVERTED    ISSUES. 

Gentlemen,  I  fear  that  I  shall  become  tedious.  I  leave  thia 
branch  of  the  subject  to  take  hold  of  another.  I  tako  up  that 
part  of  Judge  Douglas'  speech  in  which  he  respectfully 
attended  to  me. 


160  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Judge  Douglas  mado  two  points  upon  my  recent  speech  at 
Springfield.  He  says  they  are  to  be  the  issues  of  this  cam 
paign.  The  first  one  of  these  points  he  bases  upon  the  lan 
guage  in  a  speech  which  I  delivered  at  Springfield,  which  I 
believe  I  can  quote  correctly  from  memory.  I  said  there  that 
"  we  are  now  far  on  in  the  fifth  year  since  a  policy  was  instituted 
for  the  avowed  object,  and  with  the  confident  promise,  of  put 
ting  an  end  to  slavery  agitation  ;  under  the  operation  of  that 
policv,  that  agitation  had  not  only  not  ceased,  but  had  con 
stantly  augmented.  I  believe  it  will  not  cease  until  a  crisis 
shall  have  been  reached  and  passed.  A  house  divided  against 
itself  can  not  stand.  I  believe  this  Government  can  not  endure 
permanently  half  slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the 
Union  to  be  dissolved" — I  am  quoting  from  my  speech — "  I 
do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall,  but  I  do  expect  it  will  cease 
to  be  divided.  It  will  come  all  one  thing  or  the  other.  Either 
the  opponents  of  slavery  will  arrest  the  spread  of  it,  and  place 
it  where  the  public  mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in 
the  course  of  ultimate  extinction,  or  its  advocates  will  push  it 
forward  until  it  shall  have  become  alike  lawful  in  all  the 
States,  North  as  well  as  South." 

In  this  paragraph  which  I  have  quoted  in  your  hearing,  and 
to  which  I  ask  the  attention  of  all,  Judge  Douglas  thinks  he 
discovers  great  political  heresy.  I  want  your  attention  par 
ticularly  to  what  he  has  inferred  from  it.  lie  says  I  am  in 
favor  of  making  all  the  States  of  this  Union  uniform  in  all 
their  internal  regulations  ;  that  in  all  their  domestic  concerns 
I  am  in  favor  of  making  them  entirely  uniform.  lie  draws 
this  inference  from  the  language  I  have  quoted  to  you.  He 
says  that  I  am  favor  of  making  war  by  the  North  upon  the 
South  for  the  extinction  of  slavery ;  that  I  am  also  in  favor  of 
inviting,  as  he  expresses  it,  the  South  to  a  war  upon  the  North, 
for  the  purpose  of  nationalizing  slavery.  Now,  it  is  singular 
enough,  if  you  will  carefully  read  that  passage  over,  that  I  did 
not  say  that  I  was  in  favor  of  any  thing  in  it.  I  only  said 
what  I  expected  would  take  place.  I  made  a  prediction  only — 
it  may  have  been  a  foolish  one  perhaps.  I  did  not  even  say 
that  I  desired  that  slavery  should  be  put  in  course  of  ultimate 
extinction.  I  do  say  so  now,  however,  so  there  need  be  no 
longer  any  difficulty  about  that.  It  may  be  written  down  in 
the  next  speech. 

Gentlemen,  Judge  Douglas  informed  you  that  this  speech  of 
mine  was  probably  carefully  prepared.  I  admit  that  it  was. 
I  am  not  master  of  language  ;  I  have  not  a  fine  education  ;  I 
am  not  capable  of  entering  into  a  disquisition  upon  dialectics, 
as  I  believe  you  call  it ;  but  I  do  not  believe  the  language  I 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  161 

employed  bears  any  such  construction  as  Judge  Douglas  puts 
upon  it.  But  I  don't  care  about  a  quibble  in  regard  to  words. 
I  know  what  I  meant,  and  I  will  not  leave  this  crowd  in  doubt, 
if  I  can  explain  it  to  them,  what  I  really  meant  in  the  use  of 
that  paragraph. 

I  am  not,  in  the  first  place,  unaware  that  this  Government 
has  endured  eighty-two  years,  half  slave  and  half  free.  I 
know  that.  I  am  tolerably  well  acquainted  with  the  history 
of  the  country,  and  J  know  that  it  has  endured  eighty-two 
years,  half  slave  and  half  free.  I  believe — and  that  is  what  I 
meant  to  allude  to  there — I  believe  it  has  endured,  because 
during  all  that  time,  until  the  introduction  of  the  Nebraska 
Bill,  the  public  mind  did  rest  all  the  time  in  the  belief  that 
slavery  was  in  course  of  ultimate  extinction.  That  was  what 
gave  us  the  rest  that  we  had  through  that  period  of  eighty-two 
years ;  at  least,  so  I  believe.  I  have  always  hated  slavery,  I 
think,  as  much  as  any  Abolitionist.  I  have  been  an  Old 
Line  Whig.  I  have  always  hated  it,  but  I  have  always  been 
quiet  about  it  until  this  new  era  of  the  introduction  of  the 
Nebraska  Bill  began.  I  always  believed  that  everybody  was 
against  it,  and  that  it  was  in  course  of  ultimate  extinction. 
[Pointing  to  Mr.  Browning,  who  stood  near  by  :]  Browning 
thought  so ;  the  great  mass  of  the  nation  have  rested  in  the 
belief  that  slavery  was  in  course  of  ultimate  extinction.  They 
had  reason  so  to  believe. 

The  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  and  its  attendant  history, 
led  the  people  to  believe  so  ;  and  that  such  was  the  belief  of 
the  framers  of  the  Constitution  itself.  Why  did  those  old 
men,  about  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
decree  that  slavery  should  not  go  into  the  new  territory,  where 
it  had  not  already  gone  ?  Why  declare  that  within  twenty 
years  the  African  slave-trade,  by  which  slaves  are  supplied, 
might  be  cut  off  by  Congress?  Why  were  all  these  acts  ?  I 
might  enumerate  more  of  such  acts — but  enough.  What  were 
they  but  a  clear  indication  that  the  framers  of  the  Constitution 
intended  and  expected  the  ultimate  extinction  of  that  institu 
tion  ?  [Cheers.]  And  now,  when  I  say,  as  I  said  in  this 
speech  that  Judge  Douglas  has  quoted  from,  when  I  say  that  I 
think  the  opponents  of  slavery  will  resist  the  further  spread  of 
it,  and  place  it  where  the  public  mind  shall  rest  with  the  belief 
that  it  is  in  course  of  ultimate  extinction,  I  only  mean  to  say, 
that  they  will  place  it  where  the  founders  of  this  Government 
originally  placed  it. 

I  have  said  a  hundred  times,  and  I  have  no  inclination  to 
take  it  back,  that  I  believe  there  is  no  right,  and  ought  to  be 
no  inclination  in  the  people  of  the  free  States  to  enter  into 
11 


162  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  slave  States,  and  to  interfere  with  the  question  of  slavery 
at  all.  I  have  said  that  always.  Judge  Douglas  has  heard 
me  say  it — if  not  quite  a  hundred  times,  at  least  as  good  as  a 
hundred  times  ;  and  when  it  is  said  that  I  am  in  favor  of 
interfering  with  slavery  where  it  exists,  I  know  that  it  is 
unwarranted  by  anything  I  have  ever  intended,  and,  as  I 
believe,  by  anything  I  have  ever  said.  If,  by  any  means,  I 
have  ever  used  language  which  could  fairly  be  so  construed 
(as,  however,  I  believe  I  never  have),  I  now  correct  it. 

So  much,  then,  for  the  inference  that  Judge  Douglas  draws, 
that  I  am  in  favor  of  setting  the  sections  at  war  with  one 
another.  I  know  that  I  never  meant  any  such  thing,  and  I 
believe  that  no  fair  mind  can  infer  any  such  thing  from  any 
thing  I  have  ever  said. 

Now  in  relation  to  his  inference  that  I  am  in  favor  of  a 
general  consolidation  of  all  the  local  institutions  of  the  various 
States.  I  will  attend  to  that  for  a  little  while,  and  try  to 
inquire,  if  I  can,  how  on  earth  it  could  be  that  any  man  could 
draw  such  an  inference  from  anything  I  said.  I  have  said, 
very  many  times,  in  Judge  Douglas'  hearing,  that  no  man 
believed  more  than  I  in  the  principle  of  self-government ; 
that  it  lies  at  the  bottom  of  all  my  ideas  of  just  government, 
from  beginning  to  end.  I  have  denied  that  his  use  of  that 
term  applies  properly.  But  for  the  thing  itself,  I  deny  that 
any  man  has  ever  gone  ahead  of  me  in  his  devotion  to  the 
principle,  whatever  he  may  have  done  in  efficiency  in  advocat 
ing  it.  I  think  that  I  have  said  it  in  your  hearing — that  I 
believe  each  individual  is  naturally  entitled  to  do  as  he  j;!eases 
with  himself  and  with  the  fruit  of  his  labor,  so  far  as  it  in 
no  wise  interferes  with  any  other  man's  rights — [applause] 
that  each  community,  as  a  State,  has  a  right  to  do  exactly  as 
it  pleases  with  all  the  concerns  within  that  State  that  inter 
fere  with  the  right  of  no  other  State,  and  that  the  General 
Government,  upon  principle,  has  no  right  to  interfere  with  any 
thing  other  than  that  general  class  of  things  that  does  concern 
the  whole.  I  have  said  that  at  all  times.  I  have  said,  as  illus 
trations,  that  I  do  not  believe  in  the  right  of  Illinois  to  inter 
fere  with  the  cranberry  laws  of  Indiana,  the  oyster  l-iv,  s  of 
Virginia,  or  the  liquor  laws  of  Maine.  I  have  said  these 
things  over  and  over  again,  and  I  repeat  them  here  as  my 
sentiments.  *  *  *  * 

So  much,  then,  as  to  my  disposition — my  wish — to  have  all 
the  State  Legislatures  blotted  out,  and  to  have  one  consolidated 
government,  and  a  uniformity  of  domestic  regulations  in  all 
the  States ;  by  which  I  suppose  it  is  meant,  if  we  raise  corn 
here,  we  must  make  sugar-cane  grow  here  too,  and  we  must 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  163 

make  those  which  grow  North  grow  in  the  South.  All  this  I 
suppose  he  understands  I  am  in  favor  of  doing.  Now,  so  much 
for  all  this  nonsense — for  I  must  call  it  so.  The  Judge  can 
have  no  issue  with  me  on  a  question  of  established  uniformity 
in  the  domestic  regulations  of  the  State's. 

DRED    SCOTT    DECISION. 

A  little  now  on  the  other  point — the  Dred  Scott  decision. 
Another  of  the  issues  he  says  that  is  to  be  made  with  me,  is 
upon  his  devotion  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  my  opposi 
tion  to  it. 

I  have  expressed  heretofore,  and  I  now  repeat  my  opposition 
to  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  but  I  should  be  allowed  to  state  the 
nature  of  that  opposition,  and  I  ask  your  indulgence  while  I 
do  so.  What  is  fairly  implied  by  the  term  Judge  Douglas  has 
used,  "resistance  to  the  decision?"  I  do  not  resist  it.  If  I 
wanted  to  take  Dred  Scott  from  his  master,  I  would  be  inter 
fering  with  property,  and  that  terrible  difficulty  that  Judge 
Douglas  speaks  of,  of  interfering  with  property,  would  arise. 
But  I  am  doing  no  such  thing  as  that,  but  all  that  I  am  doing 
is  refusing  to  obey  it  as  a  political  rule.  If  I  were  in  Con 
gress,  and  a  vote  should  come  up  on  a  question  whether  slavery 
should  be  prohibited  in  a  new  Territory,  in  spite  of  the  Dred 
Scott  decision,  I  would  vote  that  it  should. 

That  is  what  I  would  do.  Judge  Douglas  said  last  night, 
that  before  the  decision  he  might  advance  his  opinion,  and  it 
might  be  contrary  to  the  decision  when  it  was  made ;  but  after 
it  was  made  he  would  abide  by  it  until  it  was  reversed.  Just 
so  !  We  let  this  property  abide  by  the  decision,  but  we  will 
try  to  reverse  that  decision.  [Loud  applause.]  We  will  try 
to  put  it  where  Judge  Douglas  will  not  object,  for  he  says  he 
will  obey  it  until  it  is  reversed.  Somebody  has  to  reverse  that 
decision,  since  it  was  made,  and  we  mean  to  reverse  it,  and  we 
mean  to  do  it  peaceably. 

What  are  the  uses  of  decisions  of  courts?  They  have  two 
uses.  A.S  rules  of  property  they  have  two  uses.  First — they 
decide  upon  the  question  before  the  court.  They  decide  in  this 
case  that  Dred  Scott  is  a  slave.  Nobody  resists  that.  Not  only 
that,  but  they  say  to  every  body  else,  that  persons  standing 
just  as  Dred  Scott  stands,  is  as  he  is.  That  is,  they  say  that 
when  a  question  comes  up  upon  another  person,  it  will  be  so 
decided  again  unless  the  Court  decides  in  another  way,  unless 
the  Court  overrules  its  decision.  [Renewed  applause.]  "Well, 
we  mean  to  do  what  we  can  to  have  the  Court  decide  the  other 
way.  That  is  one  thing  we  mean  to  try  to  do. 


164  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

The  sacredness  that  Judge  Douglas  throws  around  this 
decision,  is  a  degree  of  sacredness  that  has  never  been  before 
thrown  around  any  other  decision.  I  have  never  heard  of  such 
a  thing.  Why,  decisions  apparently  contrary  to  that  decision, 
have  been  made  by  that  very  Court  before.  It  is  the  first 
of  its  kind  ;  it  is  an  astonisher  in  legal  history.  It  is  a  new 
wonder  of  the  world.  It  is  based  upon  falsehoods  in  the  main 
as  to  the  facts — allegations  of  facts  upon  which  it  stands  are 
not  facts  at  all  in  many  instances,  and  no  decision  made  on  any 
question — the  first  instance  of  a  decision  made  under  so  many 
unfavorable  circumstances — thus  placed,  has  ever  been  held  by 
the  profession  as  law,  and  it  has  always  needed  confirmation 
before  the  lawyers  regarded  it  as  settled  law.  But  Judge 
Douglas  will  have  it  that  all  hands  must  take  this  extraordinary 
decision,  made  under  these  extraordinary  circumstances,  and 
give  their  vote  in  Congress  in  accordance  with  it,  yield  to  it 
and  obey  it  in  every  possible  sense.  Circumstances  alter  cases. 
Do  not  gentlemen  here  remember  the  case  of  that  same 
Supreme  Court,  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago,  deciding  that 
a  National  Bank  was  constitutional?  I  ask  if  somebody  does 
not  remember  that  a  National  Bank  was  declared  to-  be  consti 
tutional  ?  Such  is  the  truth,  whether  it  be  remembered  or 
not.  The  Bank  charter  ran  out,  and  a  re-charter  was  granted 
by  Congress.  That  re-charter  was  laid  before  General  Jack 
son.  It  was  urged  upon  him,  when  he  denied  the  consti 
tutionality  of  the  Bank,  that  the  Supreme  Court  had  decided 
that  it  was  constitutional ;  and  that  General  Jackson  then 
said  that  the  Supreme  Court  had  no  right  to  lay  down  a  rule 
to  govern  a  co-ordinate  branch  of  the  Government,  the  mem 
bers  of  which  had  sworn  to  support  the  Constitution — that 
each  member  had  sworn  to  support  that  Constitution  as  he 
understood  it.  I  will  venture  here  to  say,  that  I  have  heard 
Judge  Douglas  say  that  he  approved  of  General  Jackson  for 
that  act.  What  has  now  become  of  all  his  tirade  about  "resist 
ance  to  the  Supreme  Court?" 

THE    DECLARATION    OF    INDEPENDENCE. 

We  were  often — more  than  once,  at  least — in  the  course 
of  Judge  Douglas'  speech  last  night,  reminded  that  this  Gov 
ernment  was  made  for  white  men — that  he  believed  it  was  made 
for  white  men.  Well,  that  is  putting  it  into  a  shape  in  which 
no  one  wants  to  deny  it;  but  the  Judge  then  goes  into  his  pas 
sion  for  drawing  inferences  that  are  not  warranted.  I  protest, 
now  and  forever,  against  that  counterfeit  logic  which  presumes 
that  because  I  did  not  want  a  negro  woman  for  a  slave,  I  do 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  165 

necessarily  want  her  for  a  wife.  My  understanding  is  that  I 
need  not  have  her  for  either ;  but,  as  God  made  us  separate, 
we  can  leave  one  another  alone,  and  do  one  another  much 
good  thereby.  There  are  white  men  enough  to  marry  all  the 
white  women,  and  enough  black  men  to  marry  all  the  black 
women,  and  in  God's  name  let  them  be  so  married.  The  Judge 
regales  us  with  the  terrible  enormities  that  take  place  by  the 
mixture  of  races  ;  that  the  inferior  race  bears  the  superior 
down.  Why,  Judge,  if  you  do  not  let  them  get  together  in 
the  Territories  they  won't  mix  there. 

A  voice — "  Three  cheers  for  Lincoln."  (The  cheers  were 
given  with  a  hearty  good  will.) 

Mr.  L. — I  should  say  at  least  that  this  is  a  self-evident  truth. 

Now,  it  happens  that  we  meet  together  once  every  year, 
some  time  about  the  Fourth  of  July,  for  some  reason  or  other. 
These  Fourth  of  July  gatherings  I  suppose  have  their  uses. 
If  you  will  indulge  me,  I  will  state  what  I  suppose  to  be  some 
of  them. 

We  are  now  a  mighty  nation  ;  we  are  thirty,  or  about  thirty, 
millions  of  people,  and  we  own  and  inhabit  about  one-fifteenth 
part  of  the  dry  land  of  the  whole  earth.  We  run  our  memory 
back  over  the  pages  of  history  for  about  eighty-two  years, 
and  we  discover  that  we  were  then  a  very  small  people  in 
point  of  numbers,  vastly  inferior  to  what  we  are  now,  with  a 
vastly  less  extent  of  country,  with  vastly  less  of  everything 
we  deem  desirable  among  men — we  look  upon  the  change  as 
exceedingly  advantageous  to  us  and  to  our  posterity,  and  we  fix 
upon  something  that  happened  away  back,  as  in  some  way  or 
other  being  connected  with  this  rise  of  prosperity.  We  find 
a  race  of  men  living  in  that  day  whom  we  claim  as  our  fathers 
and  grandfathers  ;  they  were  iron  men  ;  they  fought  for  the 
principle  that  they  were  contending  for ;  and  we  understood 
that  by  what  they  then  did  it  has  followed  that  the  degree  of 
prosperity  which  we  now  enjoy  has  come  to  us.  We  hold  this 
annual  celebration  to  remind  ourselves  of  all  the  good  done 
in  this  process  of  time,  of  how  it  was  done  and  who  did  it, 
and  how  we  are  historically  connected  with  it;  and  we  go 
from  these  meetings  in  better  humor  with  ourselves — we  feel 
more  attached  the  one  to  the  other,  and  more  firmly  bound  to 
the  country  we  inhabit.  In  every  way  we  are  better  men  in 
the  age,  and  race,  and  country  in  which  we  live,  for  these  cel 
ebrations.  But  after  we  have  done  all  this,  we  have  not  yet 
reached  the  whole.  There  is  something  else  connected  with 
it.  We  have,  besides  these — men  descended  by  blood  from 
our  ancestors — those  among  us,  perhaps  half  our  people,  who 
are  not  descendants  at  all  of  these  men  ;  they  are  men  who 


166  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

have  come  from  Europe — German,  Irish,  French  and  Scandi 
navian — men  that  have  come  from  Europe  themselves,  or 
whose  ancestors  have  come  hither  and  settled  here,  finding 
themselves  our  equals  in  all  things.  If  they  look  back 
through  this  history  to  trace  their  connection  with  those  days 
by  blood,  they  find  they  have  none  ;  they  can  not  carry  them 
selves  back  into  that  glorious  epoch  and  make  themselves  feel 
that  they  are  part  of  us  ;  but  when  they  look  through  that  old 
Declaration  of  Independence,  they  find  that  those  old  men  say 
that  "  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men  are 
created  equal,"  and  then  they  feel  that  that  moral  sentiment, 
taught  on  that  day,  evidences  their  relation  to  those  men,  that 
it  is  the  father  of  all  moral  principle  in  them,  and  that  they 
have  a  right  to  claim  it  as  though  they  were  blood  of  the 
blood  and  flesh  of  the  flesh  of  the  men  who  wrote  that  Dec 
laration  [loud  and  long-continued  applause],  and  so  they  are. 
That  is  the  electric  cord  in  that  Declaration  that  links  the 
hearts  of  patriotic  and  liberty-loving  men  together,  that  will 
link  those  patriotic  hearts  as  long  as  the  love  of  freedom 
exists  in  the  minds  of  men  throughout  the  world.  [Applause.] 
Now,  sirs,  for  the  purpose  of  squaring  things  with  this  idea 
of  "  don't  care  if  slavery  is  voted  up  or  voted  down,"  for  sus 
taining  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  for  holding  that  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence  did  not  mean  anything  at  all,  we  have 
Judge  Douglas  giving  his  exposition  of  what  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  means,  and  we  have  him  saying  that  the 
people  of  America  are  equal  to  the  people  of  England. 
According  to  his  construction,  you  Germans  are  not  connected 
with  it.  Now  I  ask  you  in  all  soberness,  if  all  these  things, 
if  indulged  in,  if  ratified,  if  confirmed  and  indorsed,  if  taught 
to  our  children  and  repeated  to  them,  do  not  tend  to  rub  out 
the  sentiment  of  liberty  in  the -country,  and  to  transform  this 
Government  into  a  government  of  some  other  form.  These ' 
arguments  that  are  made,  that  the  inferior  race  are  to  be 
treated  with  as  much  allowance  as  they  are  capable  of  enjoy 
ing  ;  that  as  much  is  to  be  done  for  them  as  their  condition 
will  allow — what  are  these  arguments?  They  are  the  argu 
ments  that  Kings  have  made  for  enslaving  the  people  in  all 
ages  of  the  world.  You  will  find  that  all  the  arguments  in 
favor  of  King- craft  were  of  this  class  ;  they  always  bestrode 
the  necks  of  the  people,  not  that  they  wanted  to  do  it,  but 
because  the  people  were  better  off  for  being  ridden.  That  is 
their  argument,  and  this  argument  of  the  Judge  is  the  same 
old  serpent  that  says  :  You  work  and  I  eat,  you  toil  and  I  will 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  it.  Turn  it  whatever  way  you  will — 
whether  it  come  from  the  -mouth  of  a  King,  an  excuse  for 


.  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  167 

enslaving  the  people  of  tlie  country,  or  from  the  mouth  of 
men  of  one  race  as  a  reason  for  enslaving  the  men  of  another 
race,  it  is  all  the  same  old  serpent,  and  I  hold  if  that  course 
of  argumentation  that  is  made  for  the  purpose  of  convincing 
the  public  mind  that  we  should  not  care  about  this,  should  be 
granted,  it  does  not  stop  with  the  negro.  I  should  like  to 
know  if,  taking  this  old  Declaration  of  Independence,  which 
declares  that  all  men  are  equal  upon  principle,  you  begin 
making  exceptions  to  it,  where  you  will  stop  ?  If  one  man 
says  it  does  not  mean  a  negro,  why  not  another  say  it  does  not 
mean  some  other  man?  If  that  declaration  is  not  the  truth, 
let  us  get  the  statute  book,  in  which  we  find  it,  and  tear  it  out ! 
Who  is  so  bold  as  to  do  it?  If  it  is  not  true,  let  us  tear  it 
out!  [cries  of  "  no,  no  "];  let  us  stick  to  it  then  ;  let  us  stand 
firmly  by  it  then.  [Applause.] 

It  may  be  argued  that  there  are  certain  conditions  that 
make  necessities  and  impose  them  upon  us,  and  to  the  extent 
that  a  necessity  is  imposed  upon  a  man,  he  must  submit  to  it. 
I  think  that  was  the  condition  in  which  we  found  ourselves 
when  we  established  this  Government.  We  had  slaves  among 
us  ;  we  could  not  get  our  Constitution  unless  we  permitted 
them  to  remain  in  slavery ;  we  could  not  secure  the  good  we 
did  secure  if  we  grasped  for  more  ;  and  having,  by  necessity, 
submitted  to  that  much,  it  does  not  destroy  the  principle  that 
is  the  charter  of  our  liberties.  Let  that  charter  stand  as  our 
standard. 

My  friend  has  said  to  me  that  I  am  a  poor  hand  to  quote 
Scripture.  I  will  try  it  again,  however.  It  is  said  in  one  of 
the  admonitions  of  our  Lord :  "As  your  Father  in  Heaven  is 
perfect,  be  ye  also  perfect."  The  Saviour,  I  suppose,  did  not 
expect  that  any  human  creature  could  be  perfect  as  the  Father 
in  Heaven ;  but  He  said  :  "As  your  Father  in  Heaven  is  per 
fect,  be  ye  also  perfect."  He  set  that  up  as  a  standard,  and 
he  who  did  most  toward  reaching  that  standard,  attained  the 
highest  degree  of  moral  perfection.  So  I  say  in  relation  to 
the  principle  that  all  men  are  created  equal,  let  it  be  as  nearly 
reached  as  we  can.  If  we  can  not  give  freedom  to  every  crea 
ture,  let  us  do  nothing  that  will  impose  slavery  upon  any 
other  creature.  [Applause.]  Let  us  then  turn  this  Govern 
ment  back  into  the  channel  in  which  the  framers  of  the  Con 
stitution  originally  placed  it.  Let  us  stand  firmly  by  each 
other.  If  we  do  not  do  so  we  are  turning  in  the  contrary 
direction,  that  our  friend  Judge  Douglas  proposes — not  inten 
tionally — as  working  in  the  traces  tends  to  make  this  one  uni 
versal  slave  nation.  He  is  one  that  runs  in  that  direction,  and 
as  such  I  resist  him. 


168  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

My  friends,  I  have  detained  you  about  as  long  as  I  desired 
to  do,  and  I  have  only  to  say,  let  us  discard  all  this  quibbling 
about  this  man  and  the  other  man — this  race  and  that  race 
and  the  other  race  being  inferior,  and  therefore  they  must  be 
placed  in  an  inferior  position — discarding  our  standard  that  we 
have  left  us.  Let  us  discard  all  these  things,  and  unite  as  one 
people  throughout  this  land,  until  we  shall  once  more  stand 
up  declaring  that  all  men  are  created  equal. 

My  friends,  I  could  not,  without  launching  off  upon  some 
new  topic,  which  would  detain  you  too  long,  continue  to-night. 
I  thank  you  for  this  most  extensive  audience  that  you  have 
furnished  me  to-night.  I  leave  you,  hoping  that  the  lamp  of 
liberty  will  burn  in  your  bosoms  until  there  shall  no  longer  be 
a  doubt  that  all  men  are  created  free  and  equal. 

Mr.  Lincoln  retired  amid  long-continued  applause. 

A  week  later  than  his  Chicago  speech,  Mr.  Douglas  spoke 
at  Bloomington,  in  continuation  of  his  canvass.  Here  again, 
he  laid  great  stress  upon  his  "  popular  sovereignty  "  device, 
and  upon  his  Anti-Lecompton  rebellion.  He  also  repeated 
substantially  his  two  issues  against  Mr.  Lincoln,  based  upon 
the  Springfield  speech  of  June  16th.  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
present  and  heard  him.  The  next  day  Mr.  Douglas  made  a 
speech  of  similar  character  at  Springfield,  at  which  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  not  present.  The  latter,  however,  spoke  on  the 
same  evening  at  that  place.  The  following  are  some  of  the 
chief  points  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  speech  on  this  occasion  (July 
17,  1858)  : 

INEQUALITIES  OF  THE  CONTEST THE  APPORTIONMENT,  ETC. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  :  Another  election,  which  is  deemed  an 
important  one,  is  approaching,  and,  as  I  suppose,  the  Republi 
can  party  will,  without  much  difficulty,  elect  their  State  ticket. 
But,  in  regard  to  the  Legislature,  we,  the  Republicans,  labor 
under  some  disadvantages.  In  the  first  place,  we  have  a  Legis 
lature  to  elect  upon  an  apportionment  of  the  representation 
made  several  years  ago,  when  the  proportion  of  the  population 
was  far  greater  in  the  South  (as  compared  with  the  North)  than 
it  now  is ;  and  inasmuch  as  our  opponents  hold  almost  entire 
sway  in  the  South,  and  we  a  correspondingly  large  majority  in 
the  North,  the  fact  that  we  are  now  to  be  represented  as  we 
were  years  ago,  when  the  population  was  different,  is,  to  us,  a 
very  great  disadvantage.  We  had  in  the  year  1855,  according 
to  law,  a  census,  or  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants,  taken  for 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  169 

the  purpose  of  a  new  apportionment  of  representation.  We 
know  what  a  fair  apportionment  of  representation  upon  that 
census  would  give  us.  We  know  that  it  could  not,  if  fairly 
made,  fail  to  give  the  Republican  party  from  six  to  ten  more 
members  of  the  Legislature  than  they  can  probably  get  as  the 
law  now  stands.  It  so  happened  at  the  last  session  of  the 
Legislature,  that  our  opponents,  holding  the  control  of  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature,  steadily  refused  to  give  us  such  an 
apportionment  as  we  were  rightly  entitled  to  have  upon  the  cen 
sus  already  taken.  The  Legislature  would  pass  no  bill  upon 
that  subject,  except  such  as  was  at  least  as  unfair  to  us  as  the  old 
one.  and  in  which,  in  some  instances,  two  men  from  the  Demo 
cratic  regions  were  allowed  to  go  as  far  toward  sending  a 
member  to  the  Legislature  as  three  were  in  the  Republican 
regions.  Comparison  was  made  at  the  time  as  to  representa 
tive  and  senatorial  districts,  which  completely  demonstrated 
that  such  was  the  fact.  Such  a  bill  was  passed,  and  tendered 
to  the  Republican  Governor  for  his  signature  ;  but,  principally 
for  the  reasons  I  have  stated,  he  withheld  his  approval,  and  the 
bill  fell  without  becoming  a  law. 

Another  disadvantage  under  which  we  labor  is,  that  there 
are  one  or  two  Democratic  Senators  who  will  be  members  of 
the  next  Legislature,  and  will  vote  for  the  election  of  Senator, 
who  are  holding  over  in  districts  in  which  we  could,  on  all  rea 
sonable  calculation,  elect  men  of  our  own,  if  we  only  had  the 
chance  of  an  election.  When  we  consider  that  there  are  but 
twenty-five  Senators  in  the  Senate,  taking  two  from  the  side 
where  they  rightfully  belong,  and  adding  them  to  the  other, 
is  to  us  a  disadvantage  not  to  be  lightly  regarded.  Still,  so  it 
is  ;  we  have  this  to  contend  with.  Perhaps  there  is  no  ground 
of  complaint  on  our  part.  In  attending  to  the  many  things 
involved  in  the  last  general  election  for  President,  Governor, 
Auditor,  Treasurer,  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction, 
members  of  Congress  and  of  the  Legislature,  County  Officers, 
and  so  on,  we  allowed  these  things  to  happen  for  want  of  suffi 
cient  attention,  and  we  have  no  cause  to  complain  of  our 
adversaries,  so  far  as  this  matter  is  concerned.  But  we  have 
some  cause  to  complain  of  the  refusal  to  give  us  a  fair 
apportionment. 

There  is  still  another  disadvantage  under  which  we  labor, 
and  to  which  I  will  ask  your  attention.  It  arises  out  of  the 
relative  position  of  the  two  persons  who  stand  before  the  State 
as  candidates  for  the  Senate.  Senator  Douglas  is  of  world-wide 
renown.  All  the  anxious  politicians  of  his  party,  or  who 
have  been  of  his  party  for  years  past,  have  been  looking  upon 
him  as  certainly,  at  no  distant  day,  to  be  the  President  of  the 


170  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

United  States.  They  have  seen  in  his  round,  jolly,  fruitful 
face,  post-offices,  land  offices,  marshalships,  and  cabinet 
appointments,  chargeships  and  foreign  missions,  bursting  and 
sprouting  out  in  wonderful  luxuriance,  ready  to  be  laid  hold 
of  by  their  greedy  hands.  [Great  laughter.]  And  as  they 
have  been  gazing  upon  this  attractive  picture  so  long,  they 
can  not,  in  the  little  distraction  that  has  taken  place  in  the 
party,  bring  themselves  to  give  up  the  charming  hope  ;  but 
with  greedier  anxiety  they  rush  about  him,  sustain  him,  and 
give  him  marches,  triumphal  entries,  and  receptions,  beyond 
what  even  in  the  days  of  his  highest  prosperity  they  could 
have  brought  about  in  his  favor.  On  the  contrary,  nobody 
has  ever  expected  me  to  be  President.  In  my  poor,  lean,  lank 
face,  nobody  has  ever  seen  that  any  cabbages  were  sprouting 
out.  [Cheering  and  laughter.]  These  are  disadvantages  all, 
that  the  Republicans  labor  under.  We  have  to  fight  this  bat 
tle  upon  principle,  and  upon  principle  alone.  I  am,  in  a  cer 
tain  sense,  made  the  standard-bearer  in  behalf  of  the  Repub 
licans.  I  was  made  so  merely  because  there  had  to  be  some 
one  so  placed — I  being  in  no  wise  preferable  to  any  other  one 
of  the  twenty-five — perhaps  a  hundred — we  have  in  the  Repub 
lican  ranks.  Then  I  say  I  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood 
arid  borne  in  mind,  that  we  have  to  fight  this  battle  without 
many — perhaps  without  any — of  the  external  aids  which  are 
brought  to  bear  against  us.  So  I  hope  those  with  whom  I  am 
surrounded  have  principle  enough  to  nerve  themselves  for  the 
task,  and  leave  nothing  undone,  that  can  be  fairly  done,  to 
bring  about  the  right  result. 

THE    DOUGLAS    PROGRAMME. 

After  Senator  Douglas  left  Washington,  as  his  movements 
were  made  known  by  the  public  prints,  he  tarried  a  considera 
ble  time  in  the  city  of  New  York  ;  and  it  was  heralded  that, 
like  another  Napoleon,  he  was  lying  by  and  framing  the  plan 
of  his  campaign.  It  was  telegraphed  to  Washington  city,  and 
published  in  the  Union,  that  he  was  framing  his  plan  for  the 
purpose  of  going  to  Illinois  to  pounce  upon  and  annihilate  the 
treasonable  and  disunion  speech  which  Lincoln  had  made  here 
on  the  1C tli  of  June.  Now,  I  do  suppose  the  Judge  really 
spent  some  time  in  New  York  maturing  the  plan  of  the  cam 
paign,  as  his  friends  heralded  for  him.  I  have  been  able,  by 
noting  his  movements  since  his  arrival  in  Illinois,  to  discover 
evidences  confirmatory  of  thpfc  allegation.  I  think  I  have 
been  able  to  see  what  are  the  material  points  of  that  plan.  I 
will,  for  a  little  while,  ask  your  attention  to  some  of  them. 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  171 

What  I  shall   point  out,  though  not  showing  the  whole  plan, 
are,  nevertheless,  the  main  points,  as  I  suppose. 

They  are  not  very  numerous.  The  first  is  Popular  Sover 
eignty.  The  second  and  third  are  attacks  upon  my  speech 
made  on  the  16th  of  June.  Out  of  these  three  points — draw 
ing  within  the  range  of  Popular  Sovereignty  the  question  of 
the  Lecompton  Constitution — he  makes  his  principal  assault. 
Upon  these  his  successive  speeches  are  substantially  one  and 
the  same.  On  this  matter  of  Popular  Sovereignty,  I  wish  to  be 
a  little  careful.  Auxiliary  to  these  main  points,  to  be  sure,  are 
their  thunderings  of  cannon,  their  marching  and  music,  their 
fizzle-gigs  and  fire-works  ;  but  I  will  not  waste  time  with  them. 
They  are  but  the  little  trappings  of  the  campaign 

POPULAR  SOVEREIGNTY. 

Coming  to  the  substance — the  first  point — "Popular  Sover 
eignty."  It  is  to  be  labeled  upon  the  cars  in  which  he  travels ; 
put  upon  the  hacks  he  rides  in ;  to  be  flaunted  upon  the 
arches  he  passes  under,  and  the  banners  which  wave  over  him. 
It  is  to  be  dished  up  in  as  many  varieties  as  a  French  cook 
can  produce  soups  from  potatoes.  Now,  as  this  is  so  great  a 
staple  of  the  plan  of  the  campaign,  it  is  worth  while  to  exam 
ine  it  carefully ;  and  if  we  examine  only  a  very  little,  and  do 
not  allow  ourselves  to  be  misled,  we  shall  be  able  to  see  that 
the  whole  thing  is  the  most  arrant  Quixotism  that  was  ever 
enacted  before  a  community.  What  is  this  matter  of  Popular 
Sovereignty  ?  The  first  thing,  in  order  to  understand  it,  is  to 
get  a  good  definition  of  what  it  is,  and  after  that  to  see  how  it 
is  applied. 

I  suppose  almost  every  one  knows,  that  in  this  controversy, 
whatever  has  been  said  has  had  reference  to  the  question  of 
negro  slavery.  We  have  not  been  in  a  controversy  about  the 
right  of  the  people  to  govern  themselves  in  the  ordinary  mat 
ters  of  domestic  concern  in  the  States  and  Territories.  Mr. 
Buchanan,  in  one  of  his  late  messages  (I  think  when  he  sent 
up  the  Lecompton  Constitution),  urged  that  the  main  point 
to  which  the  public  attention  had  been  directed,  was  not  in 
regard  to  the  great  variety  of  small  domestic  matters,  but  it 
was  directed  to  the  question  of  negro  slavery ;  and  he  asserts 
that  if  the  people  had  had  a  fair  chance  to  vote  on  that  question, 
there ^was  no  reasonable  ground  of  objection  in  regard  to  minor 
questions.  Now,  while  I  think  that  the  people'had  not  had 
given,  or  offered  them,  a  fair  chance  upon  that  slavery  ques 
tion  ;  still,  if  there  had  been  a  fair  submission  to  a  vote  upon 
that  main  question,  the  President's  proposition  would  have 
been  true  to  the  uttermost.  Hence,  when  hereafter  I  speak 


172  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  Popular  Sovereignty.  I  wish  to  be  understood  as  applying 
•what  I  say  to  the  question  of  slavery  only,  not  to  other  minor 
domestic  matters  of  a  Territory  or  a  State. 

Does  Judge  Douglas,  when  he  says  that  several  of  the  past 
years  of  his  life  have  been  devoted  to  the  question  of  "  Popular 
Sovereignty,"  and  that  all  the  remainder  of  his  life  shall  be 
devoted  to  it.  does  he  mean  to  say  that  he  has  been  devoting 
his  life  to  securing  to  the  people  of  the  Territories  the  right 
to^exclude  slavery  from  the  Territories?  If  he  means  so  to 
say,  he  means  to  deceive;  because  he — and  every  one  knows 
that  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  which  he  approves  and 
makes  an  especial  ground  of  attack  upon  me  for  disapproving — 
forbids  the  people  of  a  Territor}*-  to  exclude  slavery.  This 
covers  the  whole  ground,  from  the  settlement  of  a  Territory 
till  it  reaches  the  degree  of  maturity  entitling  it  to  form  a  State 
Constitution,  So  far  as  all  that  ground  is  concerned,  the  Judge 
is  not  sustaining  Popular  Sovereignty,  but  absolutely  opposing 
it.  He  sustains  the  decision  which  declares  that  the  popular 
will  of  the  Territories  has  no  constitutional  power  to  exclude 
slavery  during  their  Territorial  existence.  [Cheers.]  This 
being  so,  the  period  of  time,  from  the  first  settlement  of  a 
Territory  till  it  reaches  the  point  of  forming  a  State  Constitu 
tion,  is  not  the  thing  that  the  Judge  has  fought  for,  or  is  fight 
ing  for,  but,  on  the  contrary,  he  has  fought  for,  and  is  fighting 
for,  the  thing  that  annihilates  and  crushes  out  that  same  Popu 
lar  Sovereignty. 

Well,  so  much  being  disposed  of,  what  is  left?  Why,  he  is 
contending  for  the  right  of  the  people,  when  they  come  to 
make  a  State  Constitution,  to  make  it  for  themselves,  and  pre 
cisely  as  best  suits  themselves.  I  say  again,  that  is  Quixotic. 
I  defy  contradiction,  when  I  declare  that  the  Judge  can  find 
no  one  to  oppose  him  on  that  proposition.  I  repeat,  there  is 
nobody  opposing  that  proposition  on  principle.  Let  me  not  be 
misunderstood.  I  know  that,  with  reference  to  the  Lecomp- 
ton  Constitution,  I  may  be  misunderstood  ;  but  when  you 
understand  me  correctly,  my  proposition  will  be  true  and  accu 
rate.  Nobody  is  opposing,  or  has  opposed,  the  right  of  the 
people,  when  they  form  a  Constitution,  to  form  it  for  them 
selves.  Mr.  Buchanan  and  his  friends  have  not  done  it;  they, 
too,  as  well  as  the  Republicans  and  the  Anti-Lecoinpton  Demo 
crats,  have  not  done  it ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  they  together 
have  insisted  on  the  right  of  the  people  to  form  a  Constitution 
for  themselves.  The  difference  between  the  Buchanan  men,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  Douglas  men  and  the  Republicans  on 
the  other,  has  not  been  on  a  question  of  principle,  but  on  a 
question  of  fact. 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  173 

The  dispute  was  upon  the  question  of  fact,  whether  the  Le- 
compton  Constitution  had  been  fairly  formed  by  the  people, 
or  not.  Mr.  Buchanan  and  his  friends  have  not  contended  for 
the  contrary  principle,  any  more  than  the  Douglas  men  or  the 
Republicans.  They  have  insisted,  that  whatever  of  small 
irregularities  existed  in  getting  up  the  Lecompton  Constitution, 
were  such  as  happen  in  the  settlement  of  all  new  Territories. 
The  question  was,  was  it  a  fair  emanation  of  the  people  ?  It 
was  a  question  of  fact,  and  not  of  principle.  As  to  the  princi 
ple,  all  were  agreed.  Judge  Douglas  voted  with  the  Republi- 
cans  upon  that  matter  of  fact. 

He  and  they,  by  their  voices  and  votes,  denied  that  it  was  a 
fair  emanation  of  the  people.  The  Administration  affirmed 
that  it  was.  With  respect  to  the  evidence  bearing  upon  that 
question  of  fact,  I  readily  agree  that  Judge  Douglas  and  the 
Republicans  had  the  right  on  their  side,  and  that  the  Adminis 
tration  was  wrong.  But  I  state  again  that,  as  a  matter  of 
principle,  there  is  no  dispute  upon  the  right  of  a  people  in  a 
Territory,  merging  into  a  State,  to  form  a  Constitution  for 
themselves,  without  outside  interference  from  any  quarter. 
This  being  so,  what  is  Judge  Douglas  going  to  spend  his  life 
for?  Is  he  going  to  spend  his  life  in  maintaining  a  principle 
that  nobody  on  earth  opposes  ?  [Cheers.]  Does  he  expect  to 
stand  up  in  majestic  dignity,  and  go  through  his  apotlwosis, 
and  become  a  god,  in  the  maintaining  of  a  principle  which 
neither  man  nor  mouse,  in  all  God's  creation,  is  opposing? 
[Great  applause.] 

THE    LECOMPTON    ISSUE. 

How  will  he  prove  that  we  have  ever  occupied  a  different 
position  in  regard  to  the  Lecompton  Constitution,  or  any 
principle  in  it?  He  says  he  did  not  make  his  opposition  on 
the  ground  as  to  whether  it  was  a  free  or  a  slave  Constitution, 
and  he  would  have  you  understand  that  the  Republicans  made 
their  opposition  because  it  ultimately  became  a  slave  Consti 
tution.  To  make  proof  in  favor  of  himself  on  this  point,  he 
reminds  us  that  he  opposed  Lecompton  before  the  vote  was 
taken  declaring  whether  the  State  was  to  be  free  or  slave.  But 
he  forgets  to  say,  that  our  Republican  Senator,  Trumbull, 
made  a  speech  against  Lecompton  even  before  he  did. 

Why  did  he  oppose  it?  Partly,  as  he  declares,  because  the 
members  of  the  Convention  who  framed  it  were  not  fairly 
elected  by  the  people ;  that  the  people  were  not  allowed  to  vote 
unless  they  had  been  registered  ;  and  that  the  people  of  whole 
counties,  in  some  instances,  were  not  registered.  For  these 
reasons  he  declares  the  Constitution  was  not  an  emanation,  in 


174  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

any  true  sense,  from  the  people.  He  also  has  an  additional 
objection  as  to  the  mode  of  submitting  the  Constitution  back  to 
the  people.  But  bearing  on  the  question  of  whether  the  dele 
gates  were  fairly  elected,  a  speech  of  his  made  something  more 
than  twelve  months  ago,  from  this  stand,  becomes  important. 
It  was  made  a  little  while  before  the  election  of  the  delegates 
who  made  Lecompton.  In  that  speech  he  declared  there  was 
every  reason  to  hope  and  believe  the  election  would  be  fair; 
and  if  any  one  failed  to  vote  it  would  be  his  own  fault. 

I,  a  few  days  after,  made  a  sort  of  answer  to  that  speech. 
In  that  answer,  I  made,  substantially,  the  very  argument  with 
which  he  combated  his  Lecompton  adversaries  in  the  Senate 
last  winter.  I  pointed  to  the  fact  that  the  people  could  not 
vote  without  being  registered,  and  that  the  time  for  registering 
had  gone  by.  I  commented  on  it  as  wonderful  that  Judge 
Douglas  could  be  ignorant  of  these  facts,  which  every  one  else 
in  the  nation  so  well  knew. 

[Mr.  Lincoln  then  proceeded  to  notice  the  attacks  made  by 
Douglas  on  the  6th  of  June  speech  of  the  former.  In  sub 
stance,  it  is  like  his  reply  at  Chicago.  Some  of  its  more 
striking  passages  are  here  subjoined.] 

He  charges,  in  substance,  that  I  invite  a  war  of  sections  ; 
that  I  propose  that  all  the  local  institutions  of  the  different 
States  shall  become  consolidated  and  uniform.  What  is  there 
in  the  language  of  that  speech  which  expresses  such  purpose, 
or  bears  such  construction  ?  I  have  again  and  again  said  that 
I  would  not  enter  into  any  of  the  States  to  disturb  the  institu 
tion  of  slavery.  Judge  Douglas  said,  at  Bloomington,  that  I 
used  language  most  able  and  ingenious  for  concealing  what  I 
really  meant ;  and  that,  while  I  had  protested  against  entering 
into  the  slave  States,  I  nevertheless  did  mean  to  go  on  the  banks 
of  the  Ohio  and  throw  missiles  into  Kentucky,  to  disturb  the 
people  there  in  their  domestic  institutions. 

I  said  in  that  speech,  and  I  meant  no  more,  that  the  institu 
tion  of  slavery  ought  to  be  placed  in  the  very  attitude  where 
the  f Valuers  of  this  Government  placed  it,  and  left  it.  I  do 
not  understand  that  the  framers  of  our  Constitution  left  the 
people  of  the  free  States  in  the  attitude  of  firing  bombs  or 
shells  into  the  slave  States.  I  was  not  using  that  passage  for 
the  purpose  for  which  he  infers  I  did  use  it.  *  *  *  Now 
you  all  see,  from  that  quotation,  I  did  not  express  my  wish  on 
anything.  In  that  passage  I  indicated  no  wish  or  purpose  of 
my  own  ;  I  simply  expressed  my  expectation. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  175 

[Further  on,  Mr.  Lincoln  said  :] 

Mr.  Brooks,  of  South  Carolina,  in  one  of  his  speeches,  when 
they  wore  presenting  him  cnnes,  silver  plate,  gold  pitchers  and 
the  like,  for  assaulting  Senator  Sumner,  distinctly  affirmed  his 
opinion  that  when  this  Constitution  was  formed,  it  WHS  the 
belief  of  no  man  that  slavery  would  last  to  the  present  day. 

He  said,  what  I  think,  that  the  framers  of  our  Constitution 
placed  the  institution  of  slavery  where  the  public  mind  rested 
in  the  hope  that  it  was  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction. 
But  he  went  on  to  say  that  the  men  of  the  present  age,  by 
their  experience,  have  become  wiser  than  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution  ;  and  the  invention  of  the  cotton-gin  had  made 
the  perpetuity  of  slavery  a  necessity  in  this  country. 

[Recurring  to  the  Dred  Scott  case,  after  citing  Jefferson's 
views  on  judicial  decisions,  and  alluding  to  the  course  of  the 
Democracy,  Douglas  included,  in  regard  to  the  National  Bank 
decision,  Mr.  Lincoln  said  :] 

Now,  I  wish  to  know  what  the  Judge  can  charge  upon  me 
with  respect  to  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  which  does  not 
lie  in  all  its  length,  breadth  and  proportions  at  his  own  door. 
The  plain  truth  is  simply  this:  Judge  Douglas  is  for  Supreme 
Court  decisions  when  he  likes,  and  against  them  when  he  does 
not  like  them.  He  is  for  the  Dred  Scott  decision  because  it 
tends  to  nationalize  slavery — because  it  is  part  of  the  original 
combination  for  that  object.  It  so  happened,  singularly  enough, 
that  I  never  stood  opposed  to  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
till  this.  On  the  contrary.  I  have  no  recollection  tha,'t  he  was 
ever  particularly  in  favor  of  one  till  this.  He  never  was  in 
favor  of  any,  nor  I  opposed  to  any,  till  the  present  one,  which 
helps  to  nationalize  slavery. 

Free  men  of  San  gam  on — free  men  of  Illinois — free  men 
everywhere— judge  ye  between  him  and  me,  upon  this  issue. 

Near  the  close  of  July,  various  speeches  having  been  made 
by  each  at  different  points,  an  arrangement  for  one  joint  dis 
cussion  in  each  of  the  seven  Congressional  districts,  in  which 
they  had  not  already  both  spoken,  was  agreed  upon.  At  this 
stage  of  the  canvass,  the  people  of  the  whole  country  were 
beginning  to  take  a  lively  interest  in  this  contest,  and  the 
reports  of  the  first  debate  at  Ottawa  were  eagerly  sought  for 
and  read,  at  the  East  and  at  the  West.  The  friends  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  and  the  Republicans  in  general,  were  well  pleased 


176  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

with  the  manner  in  which  he  acquitted  himself  in  this  joint 
discussion.  At  each  succeeding  encounter  of  this  sort,  the 
impression  was  strengthened,  throughout  the  country,  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  obtaining  decided  advantages  over  his  opponent. 
At  Freeport,  he  forced  Douglas  into  an  attempted  reconcilia 
tion  of  the  hitherto  unexplained  inconsistencies  between  his 
squatter  sovereignty  theory,  and  his  support  of  the  Dred  Scott 
decision,  which  utterly  excludes  squatter  sovereignty  in  prac 
tice.  His  "  unfriendly  legislation  "  device,  on  that  occasion, 
cost  Douglas  the  loss  of  the  last  possibility  of  any  reconcilia 
tion  with  the  Southern  Democracy.  While  this  answer,  most 
unwillingly  given,  perhaps,  yet  announced  with  apparent  alac 
rity,  contributed  something  toward  effecting  his  immediate 
temporary  purpose,  it  undoubtedly  destroyed  all  his  remoter 
chances  as  the  Presidential  candidate  of  a  united  Democ 
racy. 

In  the  Ottawa  debate,  Mr.  Douglas  produced  a  series  of 
"  ultra  "  resolutions  adopted  at  a  small  local  convention  held 
long  before  the  Republican  party  was  organized  in  that  State, 
representing  them  as  the  platform  adopted  by  "  the  first  mass 
State  Convention  ever  held  in  Illinois  by  the  Republican 
party."  On  these  resolutions,  to  which  he  assumed  to  believe 
that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  committed,  Douglas  based  a  series  of 
interrogatories,  which  the  former,  after  duly  exposing  the  mis 
representation,  frankly  and  very  explicitly  answered  at  Free- 
port,  the  scene  of  the  second  debate,  as  follows  : 

OPENING    PASSAGES    OF    MR.    LINCOLN'S    FREEPORT    SPEECH. 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN: — On  Saturday  last,  Judge  Doug 
las  and  myself  first  met  in  public  discussion.  He  spoke  one 
hour,  I  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  he  replied  for  half  an  hour. 
The  order  is  now  reversed.  I  am  to  speak  an  hour,  he  an 
hour  and  a  half,  and  then  I  am  to  reply  for  half  an  hour.  I 
propose  to  devote  myself  during  the  first  hour  to  the  scope 
of  what  was  brought  within  the  range  of  his  half-hour  speech 
at  Ottawa.  Of  course  there  was  brought  within  the  scope  of 
that  half-hour's  speech  something  of  his  own  opening  speech. 
In  the  course  of  that  opening  argument,  Judge  Douglas  pro 
posed  to  me  seven  distinct  interrogatories.  In  my  speech  of 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  177 

an  hour  and  a  half,  I  attended  to  some  other  parts  of  his 
speech,  and  incidentally,  as  I  thought,  answered  one  of  the 
interrogatories  then.  I  then  distinctly  intimated  to  him  that 
I  would  answer  the  rest  of  his  interrogatories  on  condition  only 
that  he  should  agree  to  answer  as  many  for  me.  He  made  no 
intimation  at  the  time  of  the  proposition,  nor  did  he  in  his 
reply  allude  at  all  to  that  suggestion  of  mine.  I  do  him  no 
injustice  in  saying  that  he  occupied  at  least  half  of  his  reply 
in  dealing  with  me  as  though  I  had  refused  to  answer  his 
interrogatories.  I  now  propose  that  I  will  answer  any  of  the 
interrogatories,  upon  condition  that  he  will  answer  questions 
from  me  not  exceeding  the  same  number.  I  give  him  an 
opportunity  to  respond.  The  Judge  remains  silent.  I  now 
say  that  I  will  answer  his  interrogatories,  whether  he  answers 
mine  or  not  [applause]  ;  and  that  after  I  have  done  so,  I  shall 
propound  mine  to  him.  [Applause.] 

I  have  supposed  myself,  since  the  organization  of  the  Repub 
lican  party  at  Bloomington,  in  May,  1856,  bound  as  a  party 
man  by  the  platforms  of  the  party,  then  and  since.  If  in  any 
interrogatories  which  I  shall  answer  I  go  beyond  the  scope  of 
what  is  within  these  platforms,  it  will  be  perceived  that-no  one 
is  responsible  but  myself. 

Having  said  thus  much,  I  will  take  up  the  Judge's  inter 
rogatories  as  I  find  them  printed  in  the  Chicago  Times,  and 
answer  them  seriatim.  In  order  that  there  may  be  no  mistake 
about  it,  I  have  copied  the  interrogatories  in  writing,  and  also 
my  answers  to  them.  The  first  one  of  these  interrogatories  ia 
in  these  words : 

Question  1.  "I  desire  to  know  whether  Lincoln  to-day 
stands,  as  he  did  in  1854,  in  favor  of  the  unconditional  repeal 
of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law?" 

Answer.  I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did,  stand  in  favor  of  the 
unconditional  repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law. 

Q.  2.  "I  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  stands  pledged 
to-day,  as  he  did  in  1854,  against  the  admission  of  any  more 
slave  States  into  the  Union,  even  if  the  people  want  them  ?" 

A.  I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did,  stand  pledged  against  the 
admission  of  any  more  slave  States  into  the  Union. 

Q.  3.  "  I  want  to  know  whether  he  stands  pledged  against 
the  admission  of  a  new  State  in  the  Union,  with  such  a  Con 
stitution  as  the  people  of  that  State  may  see  fit  to  make." 

A.  I  do  not  stand  pledged  against  the  admission  of  a  new- 
State  into  the  Union,  with  such  a:  Constitution  as  the  people  of 
that  State  may  see  fit  to  make. 

Q.  4.  "  I  want  to  know  whether  he  stands  to-day  pledged  to 
the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia?" 
12 


178  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

A.  I  do  not  stand  to-day  pledged  to  the  abolition  of  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Q.  5.  "  I  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  stands  pledged  to 
the  prohibition  of  the  slave-trade  between  the  different  States?" 

A.  I  do  not  stand  pledged  to  the  prohibition  of  the  slave- 
trade  between  the  different  States. 

Q.  6.  "  I  desire  to  know  whether  he  stands  pledged  to  pro 
hibit  slavery  in  all  the  Territories  of  the  United  States,  North 
as  well  as  South  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  line  ?" 

1.  I  am  impliedly,  if  not  expressly,  pledged  to  a  belief  in 
the  right  and  duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit  slavery  in  all  the 
United  States  Territories.  (Great  applause.) 

Q.  7.  "  I  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  is  opposed  to  the 
acquisition  of  any  new  territory,  unless  slavery  is  first  prohib 
ited  therein  ?" 

A.  I  am  not  generally  opposed  to  honest  acquisition  of  ter 
ritory  ;  and,  in  any  given  case,  I  would  or  would  not  oppose 
such  acquisition,  accordingly  as  I  might  think  such  acquisi 
tion  would  or  would  not  agitate  the  slavery  question  among 
ourselves. 

Now,  my  friends,  it  will  be  perceived,  upon  an  examination 
of  these  questions  and  answers,  that  so  far  I  have  only 
answered  that  I  was  not  pledged  to  this,  that  or  the  other. 
The  Judge  has  not  framed  his  interrogatories  to  ask  me  any 
thing  more  than  this,  and  I  have  answered  in  strict  accord 
ance  with  the  interrogatories,  and  have  answered  truly  that 
I  am  not  pledged  at  all  upon  any  of  the  points  to  which  I 
have  answered.  But  I  am  not  disposed  to  hang  upon  the 
exact  form  of  his  interrogatory.  I  am  rather  disposed  to  take 
up  at  least  some  of  these  questions,  and  state  what  I  really 
think  upon  them. 

As  to  the  first  one,  in  regard  to  the  Fugitive  Slave  law,  I 
have  never  hesitated  to  say,  and  I  do  not  now  hesitate  to  say, 
that  I  think,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
the  people  of  the  Southern  States  are  entitled  to  a  Congress 
ional  Slave  law.  Having  said  that,  I  have  had  nothing  to  say 
in  regard  to  the  existing  Fugitive  Slave  law,  further  than 
that  I  think  it  should  have  been  framed  so  as  be  free  from 
some  of  the  objections  that  pertain  to  it,  without  lessening  its 
efficiency.  And  inasmuch  as  we  are  not  now  in  an  agitation  in 
regard  to  an  alteration  or  modification  of  that  law,  I  would 
not  be  the  man  to  introduce  it  as  a  new  subject  of  agitation 
upon  the  general  question  of  ^slavery. 

In  regard  to  the  other  qu-estion,  of  whether  I  am  pledged 
to  the  admission  of  any  more  slave  States  into  the  Union,  I 
state  to  you  very  frankly  that  I  would  be  exceedingly  sorry 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  179 

ever  to  be  put  in  a  position  of  having  to  pass  upon  that  ques 
tion.  I  should  be  exceedingly  glad  to  know  that  there  would 
never  be  another  slave  State  admitted  into  the  Union ;  but 
I  must  add,  that  if  slavery  shall  be  kept  out  of  the  Terri 
tories  during  the  Territorial  existence  of  any  one  given  Terri 
tory,  and  then  the  people  shall,  having  a  fair  chance  and  a 
clear  field,  when  they  come  to  adopt  the  Constitution,  do  such 
an  extraordinary  thing  as  to  adopt  a  slave  Constitution,  unin 
fluenced  by  the  actual  presence  of  the  institution  among  them, 
I  see  no  alternative  if  we  own  the  country,  but  to  admit  them 
into  the  Union.  [Applause.] 

The  third  interrogatory  is  answered  by  the  answer  to  the 
second,  it  being,  as  I  conceive,  the  same  as  the  second. 

The  fourth  one  is  in  regard  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia.  In  relation  to  that,  I  have  my  mind 
very  distinctly  made  up.  I  should  be  exceedingly  glad  to  see 
slavery  abolished  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  I  believe  that 
Congress  possesses  the  constitutional  power  to  abolish  it.  Yet 
as  a  member  of  Congress,  I  should  not,  with  my  present  views, 
be  in  favor  of  endeavoring  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  unless  it  would  be  upon  these  conditions :  First, 
that  the  abolition  should  be  gradual  ;  second,  that  it  should  be 
on  a  vote  of  the  majority  of  qualified  voters  in  the  District; 
and  third,  that  compensation  should  be  made  to  unwilling 
owners.  With  these  three  conditions,  I  confess  I  would  be 
exceedingly  glad  to  see  Congress  abolish  slavery  in  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia,  and,  in  the  language  of  Henry  Clay,  "  sweep 
from  our  Capital  that  foul  blot  upon  our  nation." 

In  regard  to  the  fifth  interrogatory,  I  must  say  here,  that  as 
to  the  question  of  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade  between  the 
different  States,  I  can  truly  answer,  as  I  have,  that  I  am 
pledged  to  nothing  about  it.  It  is  a  subject  to  which  I  have 
not  given  that  mature  consideration  that  would  make  me  feel 
authorized  to  state  a  position  so  as  to  hold  myself  entirely 
bound  by  it.  In  other  words,  that  question  has  never  been 
prominently  enough  before  me  to  induce  me  to  investigate 
whether  we  really  have  the  constitutional  power  to  do  it.  I 
could  investigate  it  if  I  had  sufficient  time  to  bring  myself  to 
a  conclusion  upon  that  subject ;  but  I  have  not  done  so,  and 
I  say  so  frankly  to  you  here,  and  to  Judge  Douglas.  I  must 
say,  however,  that  if  I  should  be  of  opinion  that  Congress 
does  possess  the  constitutional  power  to  abolish  slave- 
trading  among  the  different  States,  I  should  still  not  be  in 
favor  of  the  exercise  of  that  power,  unless  upon  some  con 
servative  principle  as  I  conceive  it,  akin  to  what  I  have  said 


180  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

in  relation  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia. 

My  answer  as  to  whether  I  desire  that  slavery  should  be 
prohibited  in  all  Territories  of  the  United  States,  is  full  and 
explicit  within  itself,  and  can  not  be  made  clearer  by  any 
comments  of  mine.  So  I  suppose  in  regard  to  the  question 
whether  I  am  opposed  to  the  acquisition  of  any  more  territory 
unless  slavery  is  first  prohibited  therein,  my  answer  is  such  that 
I  could  add  nothing  by  way  of  illustration,  or  making  myself 
better  understood,  than  the  answer  which  I  have  placed  in 
writing. 

Now  in  all  this,  the  Judge  has  me,  and  he  has  me  on  the 
record.  I  suppose  he  had  nattered  himself  that  I  was  really 
entertaining  one  set  of  opinions  for  one  place,  and  another  set 
for  another  place — that  I  was  afraid  to  say  at  one  place  what 
I  uttered  at  another.  What  I  am  saying  here,  I  suppose  I  say 
to  a  vast  audience  as  strongly  tending  to  Abolitionism  as  any 
audience  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  I  believe  I  am  saying 
that  which,  if  it  would  be  offensive  to  any  persons  and  render 
them  enemies  to  myself,  would  be  offensive  to  persons  in  this 
audience. 

At  Jonesboro,  in  the  lower  part  of  "  Egypt,"  where  their 
third  debate  was  held,  Douglas  reiterated  his  often-refuted 
charges  of  ultraism  against  Lincoln,  which  the  latter  just  as 
coolly  and  convincingly  disposed  of,  as  if  there  had  been  no 
unreasonable  pertinacity  in  making  unjust  accusations  against 
him.  After  bringing  home  the  sin  of  re-opening  agitation,  to 
the  door  of  Douglas,  he  proceeded  to  show  as  extravagant 
radicalism  in  the  recorded  professions  of  the  Democracy  as  of 
any  persons  acting  with  the  Republican  party.  He  then 
completely  riddled  the  "unfriendly  legislation"  theory  of 
Douglas,  exhibiting  its  utter  inconsistency  with  fidelity  to  his 
constitutional  oaths,  so  long  as  he  indorsed  the  validity  of  the 
political  dogmas  of  Judge  Taney,  in  his  Dred  Scott  opinion. 

In  the  fourth  debate,  at  Charleston,  the  attempts  of  Doug 
las  to  make  capital  out  of  the  Mexican  War  question  were 
appropriately  disposed  of.  Here,  also,  Douglas  was  convicted, 
on  conclusive  testimony,  of  having  stricken  out,  of  the  Toombs' 
Kansas  Bill  a  clause  requiring  the  Constitution  that  should 
be  formed  under  its  provisions,  to  be  submitted  "to  the  people. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  181 

This  had  an  important  bearing  on  one  objection  upon  which 
Douglas  based  his  Anti-Lecompton  rebellion. 

The  fifth  joint  discussion  was  held  at  Galesburg,  the  sixth  at 
Quincy,  and  the  last  at  Alton.  The  main  topics  and  methods 
of  these  debates,  as  of  the  rest,  did  not  substantially  differ 
from  those  of  the  speeches  at  Chicago  and  Springfield. 

The  Alton  debate  occurred  on  the  15th  of  October.  As  the 
day  of  the  election  (November  2d)  approached,  it  became  more 
and  more  evident  that  strong  efforts  were  making,  aided  by  the 
advice  of  Senator  Crittenden  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  Vice- 
President  Breckinridge  on  the  other,  to  secure  a  diversion  of 
"  Conservative  "  votes — American,  Democratic,  and  Whig — in 
the  central  and  southern  parts  of  the  State,  in  favor  of  Doug 
las.  These  endeavors  succeeded  to  such  an  extent  that,  with 
the  immense  advantages  the  Douglas  party  had  in  their  unequal 
and  utterly  unfair  apportionment  of  Legislative  Districts,  and 
in  the  lucky  proportion  of  Democratic  Senators  holding  over, 
they  secured  a  small  majority  in  each  branch  of  the  new  Leg 
islature.  The  Senate  had  14  Democrats  and  11  Republicans — 
the  House  40  Democrats  and  35  Republicans.  The  popular 
voice  was  for  Lincoln,  by  more  than  four  thousand  majority, 
over  Douglas. 

Admiration  of  the  manly  bearing  and  gallant  conduct  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  throughout  this  campaign,  which  had  early  assumed  a 
national  importance,  led  to  the  spontaneous  suggestion  of  his 
name,  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  as  a  candidate  for  the 
Presidency.  From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  contest,  he 
had  proved  himself  an  able  statesman,  an  effective  orator,  a  true 
gentleman,  and  an  honest  man.  While,  therefore,  Douglas  was 
returned  to  the  Senate,  there  was  a  general  presentiment  that 
a  juster  verdict  was  yet  to  be  had,  and  that  Mr.  Lincoln  and 
his  cause  would  be  ultimately  vindicated  before  the  people. 
That  time  was  to  come,  even  sooner,  perhaps,  than  his  friends, 
in  their  momentary  despondency,  expected.  From  that  hour 
to  the  present,  the  fame  of  Abraham  Lincoln  has  been  enlarg 
ing  and  ripening,  and  the  love  of  his  noble  character  has  become 
more  and  more  deeply  fixed  in  the  popular  heart. 


382  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SPEECHES  OF  1859-'60. 

Mr.  Lincoln  in  Ohio. — His  Speech  at  Columbus. — Denial  of  the  Negro 
Suffrage  Charge. — Troubles  of  Douglas  with  His  "Great  Princi 
ple." — Territories  Not  States. — Doctrines  of  the  Fathers. — His  Cin 
cinnati  Speech. — "Shooting  Over  the  Line." — What  the  Republicans 
Mean  to  Do. — Plain  Questions  to  the  Democracy. — The  People  Above 
Courts  and  Congress. — Uniting  the  Opposition. — Eastern  Tour. — 
The  Cooper  Institute  Speech. — Mr.  Bryant's  Introduction. — What 
the  Fathers  Held. — What  will  Satisfy  the  Southern  Democracy  ? — 
Counsels  to  the  Republicans. — Mr.  Lincoln  Among  the  Children. 

DURING  the  year  following  his  great  contest  with  Douglas, 
which  had  resulted  in  a  barren  triumph  through  the  injustice 
of  the  previous  Democratic  Legislature  in  refusing  a  fair  and 
equal  apportionment,  Mr.  Lincoln  again  gave  himself  almost 
exclusively  to  professional  labors.  During  the  autumn  cam 
paign  of  1859,  however,  when  Douglas  visited  Ohio,  and 
endeavored  to  turn  the  tide  of  battle  in  favor  of  the  Democ 
racy  in  that  State,  so  as  to  Secure  the  re-election  of  Mr.  Pugh, 
and  to  gain  other  partisan  benefits,  an  earnest  invitation  was 
sent  to  Lincoln  to  assist  the  .Republicans  in  their  canvass.  He 
complied,  and  delivered  two  most  effective  speeches  in  Ohio,  one 
at  Columbus,  and  the  other  at  Cincinnati. 

In  his  speech  at  the  former  place  (September  16,  1859),  he 
began  by  noticing  a  statement  which  he  read  from  the  central 
Democratic  organ,  averring  that  in  the  canvass  of  the  previous 
year  with  Douglas,  "  Mr.  Lincoln  declared  in  favor  of  negro 
suffrage.  This  charge  he  quickly  disposed  of,  showing  by 
quotations  from  his  printed  speeches  of  that  canvass,  that  he 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  183 

distinctly  and    repeatedly  declared    himself   opposed    to    the 
policy  thus  attributed  to  him. 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  noticed  the  recent  Columbus  speech  of 
Mr.  Douglas,  in  which  he  "  dealt  exclusively"  in  the  "  negro 
topics"  of  discussion.  Mr.  L.  spoke  at  some  length  on 
these  issues,  and  thoroughly  exposed  the  distinctions  between 
genuine  popular  sovereignty,  and  the  spurious  sort  which 
Douglas  and  his  friends  passed  off  for  the  reality.  He  then  went 
on  to  notice  the  great  amount  of  trouble  which  Mr.  Douglas 
had  had  with  his  spurious  popular  sovereignty,  and  to  illustrate 
how  "  his  explanations  explanatory  of  explanations  explained 
are  interminable."  The  Harper's  Magazine  essay  of  Douglas 
on  this  subject  was  dissected,  and  left  without  any  logical 
vitality  or  cohesion.  Two  or  three  brief  points  in  the  remain 
der  of  this  speech  are  subjoined  : 

STATES   AND   TERRITORIES. 

There  is  another  little  difficulty  about  this  matter  of  treat 
ing  the  Territories  and  States  alike  in  all  things,  to  which  I 
ask  your  attention,  and  I  shall  leave  this  branch  of  the  case. 
If  there  is  no  difference  between  them,  why  not  make  the 
Territories  States  at  once  ?  What  is  the  reason  that  Kansas 
was  not  fit  to  come  into  the  Union  when  it  was  organized  into 
a  Territory,  in  Judge  Douglas'  view  ?  Can  any  of  you  tell 
any  reason  why  it  should  not  have  come  into  the  Union  at 
once?  They  are  fit,  as  he  thinks,  to  decide  upon  the  slavery 
question — the  largest  and  most  important  with  which  they 
could  possibly  deal — what  could  they  do  by  coming  into  the 
Union  that  they  are  not  fit  to  do,  according  to  his  view,  by 
staying  out  of  it?  Oh,  they  are  Qot  fit  to  sit  in  Congress  and 
decide  upon  the  rates  of  postage,  or  questions  of  ad  valorem 
or  specific  duties  on  foreign  goods,  or  live  oak  timber  con 
tracts.  [Laughter.]  They  are  not  fit  to  decide  these  vastly 
important  matters,  which  are  national  in  their  import,  but  they 
are  fit,  "  from  the  jump,"  to  decide  this  little  negro  question. 
But,  gentlemen,  the  case  is  too  plain ;  I  occupy  too  much  time 
on  this  head,  and  I  pass  on. 

STAND   BY   THE   DOCTRINES   OF   THE    FATHERS. 

I  see  in  the  Judge's  speech  here  a  short  sentence  in  these 
word :  "  Our  fathers,  when  they  formed  this  Government 
under  which  we  live,  understood  this  question  just  as  well,  and 


184  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

even  better  than  we  do  now."  That  is  true.  I  stick  to  that. 
[Great  cheers  and  laughter.]  I  will  stand  by  Judge  Douglas 
in  that  to  the  bitter  end.  [Renewed  laughter.]  And  now, 
Judge  Douglas,  come  and  stand  by  me,  and  faithfully  show 
how  they  acted,  understanding  it  better  than  we  do.  All  I 
ask  of  you,  Judge  Douglas,  is  to  stick  to  the  proposition  that 
the  men  of  the  Revolution  understood  this  subject  better  than 
we  do  now,  and  with  that  better  understanding  they  acted  Letter 
than  you  are  trying  to  act  now.  *  [Applause.] 

At  Cincinnati,  on  the  17th  of  September,  Mr.  Lincoln 
addressed  an  immense  audience  on  the  same  general  political 
topics,  and  in  his  ablest  manner.  He  did  not  repeat  or 
merely  play  variations  upon  his  Columbus  speech,  but  adopted 
new  modes  of  illustrating  and  enforcing  his  views.  He  was 
listened  to  with  an  interest  rarely  excited  by  any  orator  who 
ever  spoke  in  this  city,  even  in  the  most  exciting  campaign. 
No  extracts  can  give  a  true  idea  of  its  ability  and  power  as  a 
whole.  Alluding  to  Douglas'  perversions  of  his  views,  and  to 
the  charge  of  wishing  to  disturb  slavery  in  the  States  by 
"  shooting  over"  the  line,  Mr.  Lincoln  said : 

SHOOTING   OVER   THE    LINE. 

It  has  occurred  to  me  here  to-night,  that  if  I  ever  do  shoot 
over  at  the  people  on  the  other  side  of  the  line  in  a  slave 
State,  and  purpose  to  do  so,  keeping  my  skin  safe,  that  I  have 
now  about  the  best  chance  I  shall  ever  have.  [Laughter  and 
applause.]  I  should  not  wonder  if  there  are  some  Kentuek- 
ians  about  this  audience  ;  we  are  close  to  Kentucky ,  and 
whether  that  be  so  or  not,  we  are  on  elevated  ground,  and  by 
speaking  distinctly,  1  should  not  wonder  if  some  of  the  Ken 
tuckians  should  hear  me  on  the  other  side  of  the  river. 
[Laughter.]  For  that  reason  I  propose  to  address  a  portion 
of  what  I  have  to  say  to  the  Kentuckians. 

I  say,  then,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  Kentuckians,  that  I 
am  what  they  call,  as  I  understand  it,  a  "  Black  Republican." 
[Applause  and  Laughter.]  I  think  that  slavery  is  wrong, 
morally,  socially  and  politically.  I  desire  that  it  should  be  no 
further  spread  in  these  United  States,  and  I  should  not  object 
if  it  should  gradually  terminate  in  the  whole  Union.  [Ap 
plause.]  While  I  say  this  for  myself,  I  say  to  you,  Ken 
tuckians,  that  I  understand  that  you  differ  radically  with  me 
upon  this  proposition ;  that  you  believe  slavery  is  a  good 
thing ;  that  slavery  is  right ;  that  it  ought  to  be  extended  and 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  185 

perpetuated  in  this  Union.  Now,  there  being  this  broad  dif 
ference  between  us,  I  do  not  pretend  in  addressing  myself  to 
you,  Keutuckians,  to  attempt  proselyting  you  at  all ;  that 
would  be  a  vain  effort.  I  do  not  enter  upon  it.  I  only  pro 
pose  to  try  to  show  you  that  you  ought  to  nominate  for  the 
next  Presidency,  at  Charleston,  my  distinguished  friend, 
Judge  Douglas.  [Applause.]  In  whatever  there  is  a  differ 
ence  between  you  and  him,  I  understand  he  is  as  sincerely  for 
you,  and  more  wisely  for  you,  than  you  are  for  yourselves. 

t Applause.]       I    will    try    to    demonstrate    that    proposition. 
Understand,  now,  I  say  that  I  believe  he  is  as  sincerely  for 
you,  and  more  wisely  for  you,  than  you  are  for  yourselves. 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  went  on  to  show-  that  Douglas  was  con 
stantly  endeavoring  to  "  mold  the  public  opinion  of  the 
North  to  the  ends  "  desired  by  the  South  ;  that  he  only  differed 
from  the  South  in  so  far  as  was  necessary  to  retain  any  hold 
upon  his  own  section ;  that  not  daring  to  maintain  that 
slavery  is  right,  he  professed  an  indifference  whether  it  was 
"voted  up  or  voted  down" — thus  indirectly  advancing  the 
opinion  that  it  is  not  wrong  ;  and  that  he  had  taken  a  step  in 
advance,  by  doing  what  would  not  have  been  thought  of  by 
any  man  five  years  ago,  to-wit : — denying  that  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  asserts  any  principle  intended  to  be  applica 
ble  to  black  men,  or  that  properly  includes  them.  The  tend 
ency  of  this  doctrine  "is  to  bring  the  public  mind  to  the 
conclusion  that  when  men  are  spoken  of,  the  negro  is  not 
meant ;  that  when  negroes  are  spoken  of,  brutes  alone  are  con 
templated. 

Of  the  certainty  of  a  speedy  Republican  triumph  in  the 
nation,  and  of  its  results,  Mr.  Lincoln  said  : 

WHAT    THE    OPPOSITION   MEAX    TO    DO. 

I  will  tell  you,  so  far  as  I  am  authorized  to  speak  for  the 
Opposition,  what  we  mean  to  do  with  you.  We  mean  to  treat 
you,  as  nearly  as  we  possibly  can,  as  Washington,  Jefferson, 
and  Madison  treated  you.  [Cheers.]  We  mean  to  leave  you 
alone,  and  in  no  way  to  interfere  with  your  institution  ;  to 
abide  by  all  and  every  compromise  of  the  Constitution,  and, 
in  a  word,  coming  back  to  the  original  proposition,  to  'treat 
you,  so  far  as  degenerated  men  (if  we  have  degenerated) 
may,  imitating  the  examples  of  those  noble  fathers — Wash- 


186  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

ington,  Jefferson  and  Madison.  [Applause.]  "We  mean  to 
remember  that  you  are  as  good  as  we ;  that  there  is  no  differ 
ence  between  us,  other  than  the  difference  of  circumstances. 
We  mean  to  recognize  and  bear  in  mind  always  that  you  have 
as  good  hearts  in  your  bosoms  as  other  people,  or  as  we  claim 
to  have,  and  treat  you  accordingly.  We  mean  to  marry  your 
girls  when  we  have  a  chance — the  white  ones  I  mean — [laugh 
ter]  and  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  I  once  did  get  a 
chance  in  that  way.  [A  voice,  "Good  for  you,"  and  applause.] 

PLAIN    QUESTIONS    TO    THE    DISUNION    DEMOCRACY. 

I  have  told  you  what  we  mean  to  do.  I  want  to  know,  now, 
when  that  thing  takes  place,  what  you  mean  to  do.  I  often 
hear  it  intimated  that  yqu  mean  to  divide  the  Union  whenever 
a  Republican,  or  anything  like  it,  is  elected  President  of  the 
United  States.  [A  voice,  "  That  is  so."]  "  That  is  so,"  one 
of  them  says.  I  wonder  if  he  is  a  Kentuckian.  [A  voice, 
"  He  is  a  Douglas  man."]  Well,  then,  I  want  to  know  what 
you  are  going  to  do  with  your  half  of  it?  [Applause  and 
laughter.]  Are  you  going  to  split  the  Ohio  down  through, 
and  push  your  half  off  a  piece  ?  Or  are  you  going  to  keep 
it  right  alongside  of  us  outrageous  fellows  ?  Or  are  you 
going  to  build  up  a  wall  someway  between  your  country  and 
ours,  by  which  that  movable  property  of  yours  can't  come 
over  here  any  more,  and  you  lose  it  ?  Do  you  think  you  can 
better  yourselves  on  that  subject,  by  leaving  us  here  under  no 
obligation  whatever  to  return  those  specimens  of  your  mov 
able  property  that  come  hither  ?  You  have  divided  the  Union 
because  we  would  not  do  right  with  you,  as  you  think,  upon 
that  subject;  when  we  cease  to  be  under  obligations  to  do 
anything  for  you,  how  much  better  off  do  you  think  you  will 
be  ?  Will  you  make  war  upon  us  and  kill  us  all  ?  Why, 
gentlemen,  I  think  you  are  as  gallant  and  as  brave  men  as 
live ;  that  you  can  fight  as  bravely  in  a  good  cause,  man  for 
man,  as  any  other  people  living  :  that  you  have  shown  your 
selves  capable  of  this  upon  various  occasions  ;  but,  man  for 
man.  you  are  not  better  than  we  are,  and  there  are  not  so 
many  of  you  as  there  are  of  us.  [Loud  cheering.]  You 
will  never  make  much  of  a  hand  at  whipping  us.  If  we  were 
fewer  in  numbers  than  you,  I  think  that  you  could  whip  us  ; 
if  we  were  equal,  it  would  likely  be  a  drawn  battle  ;  but  being 
inferior  in  numbers,  you  will  make  nothing  by  attempting  to 
master  us. 

WHAT    REPUBLICANS   MUST    DO. 

I  say  that  we   must    not  interfere  with  the  institution   of 
slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists,  because  the  Constitution 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  187 

forbids  it,  and  the  general  welfare  does  not  require  us  to  do  so. 
We  must  not  withhold  an  efficient  fugitive  slave  law,  because 
the  Constitution  requires  us,  as  I  understand  it,  not  to  with 
hold  such  a  law,  but  we  must  prevent  the  outspreading  of  the 
institution,  because  neither  the  Constitution  nor  the  general 
welfare  requires  us  to  extend  it.  We  must  prevent  the  revival 
of  the  African  slave-trade  and  the  enacting  by  Congress  of  a 
Territorial  slave-code.  We  must  prevent  each  of  these  things 
being  done  by  either  Congresses  or  Courts.  THE  PEOPLE  OF 
THESE  UNITED  STATES  ARE  THE  RIGHTFUL  MASTERS  OF 
BOTH  CONGRESSES  AND  COURTS  [applause],  not  to  overthrow 
the  Constitution,  but  to  overthrow  the  men  who  pervert  that 
Constitution.  [Applause.] 

After  expressing  an  earnest  desire  "that  all  the  elements  of 
the  Opposition  should  unite  in  the  next  Presidential  election 
and  in  all  future  time,"  on  a  right  and  just  basis ;  and  after 
saying,  "  There  are  plenty  of  men  in  the  slave  States  that  are 
altogether  good  enough  for  me  to  be  either  President  or  Vice- 
President,  provided  they  will  profess  sympathy  with  our  pur 
pose  in  the  election,  and  will  place  themselves  upon  such 
ground  that  our  men,  upon  principle,  can  vote  for  them,"  Mr. 
Lincoln  brought  his  remarks  to  a  close. 

In  the  spring  of  1860,  Mr.  Lincoln  yielded  to  the  calls  which 
came  to  him  from  the  East  for  his  presence  and  aid  in  the 
exciting  political  canvasses  there  going  on.  He  spoke  at 
various  places  in  Connecticut,  New  Hampshire,  and  Rhode 
Island,  and  also  in  New  York  city,  to  very  large  audiences, 
and  was  everywhere  warmly  welcomed.  Perhaps  one  of  the 
greatest  speeches  of  his  life,  was  that  delivered  by  him  at  the 
Cooper  Institute,  in  New  York,  on  the  27th  of  February,  1860. 
A  crowded  audience  was  present,  which  received  Mr.  Lincoln 
with  enthusiastic  demonstrations.  William  Cullen  Bryant 
presided,  and  introduced  the  speaker  in  terms  of  high  compli 
ment  to  the  West,  and  to  the  "  eminent  citizen  "  o'f  that  sec 
tion,  whose  political  labors  in  1856  and  '58  were  appropriately 
eulogized. 

THE    COOPER   INSTITUTE    SPEECH. 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  proceeded  to  address  his  auditors  in  an 
extended  and  closely-reasoned  argument,  proving  in  the  most 
convincing  manner  that  the  Republican  party  stands  where 


188  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

"the  Fathers"  stood  on  the  slavery  question,  and  eloquently 
enforcing  the  sentiment  expressed  by  Mr.  Douglas  in  his  Colum 
bus  speech  of  the  previous  autumn,  namely :  "  Our  fathers, 
when  they  framed  the  Government  under  which  we  live,  under 
stood  this  question  just  as  well,  and  even  better,  than  we  do 
now."  The  argument  and  its  illustrations  were  masterly ;  the 
logic  unanswerable.  A  few  pararaphs  of  his  concluding  remarks 
are  all  that  can  be  given  here : 

WHAT  WILL  SATISFY  THE  SOUTHERN  DEMOCRACY  ? 

A  few  words  now  to  Republicans.  It  is  exceedingly  desira 
ble  that  all  parts  of  this  great  Confederacy  shall  be  at  peace, 
and  in  harmony  one  with  another.  Let  us  Republicans  do  our 
part  to  have  it  so.  Even  though  much  provoked,  let  us  do 
nothing  through  passion  and  ill  temper.  Even  though  the 
Southern  people  will  not  so  much  as  listen  to  us,  let  us  calmly 
consider  their  demands,  and  yield  to  them,  if,  in  our  deliberate 
view  of  our  duty,  we  possibly  can.  Judging  by  all  they  say 
and  do,  and  by  the  subject  and  nature  of  their  controversy  with 
us,  let  us  determine,  if  we  can,  what  will  satisfy  them. 

Will  they  be  satisfied  if  the  Territories  be  unconditionally 
surrendered  to  them  ?  We  know  they  will  not.  In  all  their 
present  complaints  against  us,  the  Territories  are  scarcely  men 
tioned.  Invasions  and  insurrections  are  the  rage  now.  Will 
it  satisfy  them  if,  in  the  future,  we  have  nothing  to  do  with 
invasions  and  insurrections?  We  know  it  will  not.  We  so 
know,  because  we  know  we  never  had  anything  to  do  with 
invasions  and  insurrections ;  and  yet  this  total  abstaining  does 
not  exempt  us  from  the  charge  and  the  denunciation. 

The  question  recurs,  What  will  satisfy  them  ?  Simply  this  : 
We  must  not  only  let  them  alone,  but  we  must,  somehow,  con 
vince  them  that  we  do  let  them  alone.  This,  we  know  by 
experience,  is  no  easy  task.  We  have  been  so  trying  to  con 
vince  them,  from  the  very  beginning  of  our  organization,  but 
with  no  success.  In  all  our  platforms  and  speeches,  we  have 
constantly  protested  our  purpose  to  let  them  alone ;  but  this 
has  had  HO  tendency  to  convince  them.  Alike  unavailing  to 
convince  them  is  the  fact,  that  they  have  never  detected  a  man 
of  us  in  any  attempt  to  disturb  them. 

These  natural  and  apparently  adequate  means  all  failing, 
what  will  convince  them  ?  This,  and  this  only  :  cease  to  call 
slavery  icrong,  and  join  them  in  calling  it  rigid.  All  this  must 
be  done  thoroughly — done  in  acts  as  well  as  in  words.  *  * 

If  our  sense  of  duty  forbids  this,  then  let  us  stand  by  our 
duty,  fearlessly  and  effectively.  Let  us  be  diverted  by  none  of 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  1SU 

those  sophistical  contrivances  wherewith  we  are  so  industri 
ously  plied  and  belabored — contrivances  such  as  groping  for 
some  middle  ground  between  the  right  and  the  wrong,  vain  as 
the  search  for  a  man  who  should  be  neither  a  living  man  nor 
a  dead  man — such  as  a  policy  of  "  don't  care"  on  a  question 
about  which  all  true  men  do  care — such  as  Union  appeals, 
beseeching  true  Union  men  to  yield  to  Disunionists,  reversing 
the  Divine  rule,  and  calling,  not  the  sinners,  but  the  righteous 
to  repentance — such  as  invocations  of  Washington,  imploring 
men  to  unsay  what  Washington  said,  and  undo  what  Washing 
ton  did.  Neither  let  us  be  slandered  from  our  duty  by  false 
accusations  against  us,  nor  frightened  from  it  by  menaces  of 
destruction  to  the  Government,  nor  of  dungeons  to  ourselves. 
Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes  might ;  and  in  that  faith, 
let  us,  to  the  end,  dare  to  do  our  duty,  as  we  understand  it. 

This  is  the  last  of  the  great  speeches  of  Mr.  Lincoln, 
prior  to  the  election  of  1860,  of  which  there  is  any  complete 
report.  It  forms  a  brilliant  close  to  this  period  of  his  life,  and 
a  fitting  prelude  to  that  on  which  he  was  about  to  enter. 

It  was  during  this  visit  to  New  York  that  the  following  inci 
dent  occurred,  as  related  by  a  teacher  in  the  Five  Points  House 
of  Industry,  in  that  city : 

Our  Sunday-school  in  the  Five  Points  was  assembled,  one 
Sabbath  morning,  a  few  months  since,  when  I  noticed  a  tall 
and  remarkable-looking  man  enter  the  room  and  take  a  seat 
among  us.  He  listened  with  fixed  attention  to  our  exercises, 
and  his  countenance  manifested  such  genuine  interest,  that  I 
approached  him  and  suggested  that  he  might  be  willing  to  say 
something  to  the  children.  He  accepted  the  invitation  with 
evident  pleasure,  and  coining  forward  began  a  simple  address, 
which  at  once  facinated  every  little  hearer,  and  hushed  the 
room  into  silence.  His  language  was  strikingly  beautiful,  and 
his  tones  musical  with  intensest  feeling.  The  little  faces 
around  would  droop  into  sad  conviction  as  he  uttered  sentences 
of  warning,  and  would  brighten  into  sunshine  as  he  spoke 
cheerful  words  of  promise.  Once  or  twice  he  attempted  to 
close  his  remarks,  but  the  imperative  shout  of  "  Go  on  !"  "  Oh, 
do  go  on  !"  would  compel  him  to  resume.  As  1  looked  upon 
the  gaunt  and  sinewy  frame  of  the  stranger,  and  marked  his 
powerful  head  and  determined  features,  now  touched  into  soft 
ness  by  the  impressions  of  the  moment,  I  felt  an  irrepressible 
curiosity  to  learn  something  more  about  him,  and  when  he  was 
quietly  leaving  the  room,  I  begged  to  know  his  name.  He 
courteously  replied,  "  It  is  Abra'm  Lincoln,  from  Illinois  1" 


190  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


HAPTER  XIII. 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  NOMINATION  FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY. 

The  Republican  National  Convention  at  Chicago. — The  Charleston 
Explosion. — "  Constitutional  Union"  Nominations. — Distinguished 
Candidates  among  the  Republicans. — The  Platform. — The  Ballot- 
ings. — Mr.  Lincoln  Nominated. — Unparalleled  Enthusiasm. — The 
Ticket  Completed  with  the  name  of  Senator  Hamlin. — Its  Reception 
by  the  Country  .—Mr.  Lincoln's  Letter  of  Acceptance. 

THE  Republican  National  Convention  met  at  Chicago  on  the 
16th  of  May,  I860,  to  nominate  candidates  for  President  and 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  At  the  date  of  its  assem 
bling,  the  great  quadrennial  convention  of  the  Democratic 
party  had  been  held  at  Charleston,  and,  after  nearly  two  weeks' 
session,  had  adjourned  without  any  agreement  upon  either 
platform  or  candidates.  Douglas,  with  his  Freeport  record, 
which  had  become  necessary  in  order  to  accomplish  his  tem 
porary  purpose,  had  proved  an  irreconcilably  disturbing  element 
in  that  convention.  The  nomination  of  Douglas  by  a  united 
Democracy  had  been  demonstrated  to  be  impossible,  and  the 
only  alternative  of  his  withdrawal  or  an  incurable  disruption 
was  presented.  Subsequently,  a  "  Constitutional  Union"  Con 
vention  had  assembled  at  Baltimore,  and  nominated  a  Presi 
dential  ticket,  with  no  other  definitely  avowed  object  than  that 
professed  in  common  by  all  citizens,  everywhere,  of  support 
ing  the  Constitution  and  the  Union.  All  eyes  were  now  turned 
toward  Chicago,  as  the  point  at  which  the  problem  of  the  next 
Presidency  was  to  be  definitely  solved. 

Before  the  Republican  National  Convention  met,  the  names 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  191 

of  many  distinguished  statesmen  had  been  proposed  for  the 
first  place  on  the  Presidential  ticket,  and  their  merits  and 
availability  had  been  extensively  discussed.  In  this  prelimi 
nary  canvassing  there  had  beeu  no  bitterness  or  unseemly  per 
sonalities.  There  was  a  general  indication  of  harmony  in 
ultimate  action,  and  of  unbroken  union  upon  whatever  ticket 
should  be  selected. 

The  first  day  of  the  convention  was  spent  in  organizing,  and 
on  the  second  day  the  committee,  selected  for  that  purpose, 
reported  a  platform  of  principles  which  was  unanimously 
adopted,  and  has  been  strongly  approved  by  the  people. 

On  the  morning  of  the  18th,  amid  the  most  intense  though 
subdued  excitement  of  the  twelve  thousand  people  inside  of 
the  "  Wigwam  "  in  which  the  convention  was  held,  and  amid 
the  anxious  solicitude  and  suspense  of  the  still  greater  num 
bers  outside  who  could  not  gain  admission,  it  was  voted  to 
proceed  at  once  to  ballot  for  a  candidate  for  President  of  the 
United  States.  Seven  names  were  formally  presented  in  the 
following  order : 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  of  New  York ;  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 
of  Illinois ;  WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  of  New  Jersey  ;  SIMON 
CAMERON,  of  Pennsylvania  ;  SALMON  P.  CHASE,  of  Ohio  ; 
EDWARD  BATES,  of  Missouri  ;>  and  JOHN  McLEAN,  of  Ohio. 

Loud  and  long-continued  applause  greeted  the  first  two  of 
these  names,  in  particular,  between  which  it  was  soon  apparent 
that  the  chief  contest  was  to  be. 

On  the  first  ballot  Mr.  Seward  received  173  votes,  Mr.  Lin 
coln  102,  Mr.  Cameron  50,  Mr.  Chase  49,  Mr.  Bates  48,  Mr.' 
Dayton  14,  Mr.  McLean  12,  and  there  were  16  votes  scattered 
among  candidates  not  put  in  nomination.     For  a  choice,  233 
votes  were  required. 

on  the  second  ballot  (Mr.  Cameron's  name  having  been 
withdrawn)  the  vote  for  the  several  candidates  was  as  follows : 
Mr.  Seward  184,  Mr.  Lincoln  181,  Mr.  Chase  42,  Mr.  Bates 
35,  Mr.  Dayton  10,  Mr.  McLean  8,  scattering  4. 

The  third  ballot  was  immediatety  taken,  and,  when  the  call 
of  the  roll  was  ended,  the  footings  were  as  follows  :  For  Mr. 


LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Lincoln  231,  Mr.  Seward  180,  Mr.  Chase  24,  Mr.  Bates  22, 
all  others  7.  Immediately,  before  the  result  was  announced, 
four  Ohio  delegates  changed  their  votes  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  giving 
him  a  majority. 

The  scene  which  followed — the  wild  manifestations  of 
approval  and  delight,  within  and  without  the  hall,  prolonged 
uninterruptedly  for  twenty  minutes,  and  renewed  again  and 
again  for  a  half-hour  longer — no  words  can  describe.  Never 
before  was  there  a  popular  assembly  of  any  sort,  probably,  so 
stirred  with  a  contagious  and  all-pervading  enthusiasm.  The 
nomination  was  made  unanimous,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Everts,  of 
New  York,  who  had  presented  the  name  of  Mr.  Seward,  and 
speedily,  on  the  wings  of  lightning,  the  news  of  the  great 
event  was  spread  to  all  parts  of  the  land.  Subsequently,  with 
like  heartiness  and  unanimity,  the  ticket  was  completed  by  the 
nomination,  on  the  second  ballot,  of  Senator  HANNIBAL  HAM- 
LIN,  of  Maine,  for  Vice-President 

These  demonstrations  at  Chicago  were  but  a  representation 
of  the  common  sentiments  of  the  masses  of  the  Republican 
Darty,  arid  of  thousands  among  the  people,  not  before  included 
n  its  ranks  in  the  country  at  large.  From  that  day  to  the 
present,  the  wisdom  of  the  nomination  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
for  the  highest  place  in  the  American  Government  has  been 
more  and  more  confirmed.  As  a  man  of  the  people,  in  cordial 
sympathy  with  the  masses,  he  had  the  undoubting  confidence 
of  the  sincere  friends  of  free  labor,  regardless  of  party  distinc 
tions.  As  a  man  of  sterling  integrity  and  incorruptible  hon 
esty,  he  was  to  become  the  fitting  agent  for  upholding  the 
Federal  Government  in  the  days  of  its  greatest  trial.  As  a 
man  of  eminent  ability,  and  of  sound  principles,  after  the  ear 
liest  and  best  standard  in  our  political  history,  his  election 
was  to  give  to  the  country  an  administration  creditable  to  our 
republican  polity,  and  to  result  in  the  complete  removal  of 
the  great  disquieting  element  which  at  length  convulsed  the 
nation  with  a  gigantic  civil  war. 

The  brief  letter  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  acceptance  of  the  Presi 
dential  nomination,  is  subjoined. 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  193 

SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  May  23,  18GO. 

HON'.    GrEO.    ASHMUN, 

President  of  the  Republican  National  Convention  : 

SIR  : — I  accept  the  nomination  tendered  me  by  the  conven 
tion  over  which  you  presided,  and  of  which  I  am  formally 
apprised  in  the  letter  of  yourself  and  others,  acting  as  a  com 
mittee  of  the  convention  for  that  purpose. 

The  declaration  of  principles  and  sentiments,  which  accom 
panies  your  letter,  meets  my  approval;  and  it  shall  be  my  care 
not  to  violate  nor  disregard  it,  in  any  part. 

Imploring  the  assistance  of  Divine  Providence,  and  with 
due  regard  to  the  views  and  feeling  of  all  who  were  repre 
sented  in  the  convention  ;  to  the  rights  of  all  the  States,  and 
Territories,  and  the  people  of  the  nation ;  to  the  inviolability 
of  the  Constitution,  and  to  the  perpetual  union,  harmony  and 
prosperity  of  all,  1  am  most  happy  to  co-operate  for  the  prac 
tical  success  of  the  principles  declared  by  the  convention. 
Your  obliged  friend  and  fellow-citizen, 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

The  popular  favor  with  which  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  first  received  was  strengthened  by  the  spirited  canvass 
which  followed.  The  electoral  votes  of  the  States  of  Maine, 
New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Con 
necticut,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Michigan,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  California,  and  Oregon, 
seventeen  States,  were  cast  for  Lincoln  and  Hamlin.  The 
votes  of  Maryland,  Delaware,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Arkansas 
and  Texas,  eleven  States,  were  cast  for  Breckinridge  and 
Lane.  The  votes  of  Virginia,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 
were  cast  for  Bell  and  Everett.  The  electoral  vote  of  Mis 
souri  was  given  for  Douglas  and  Johnson.  The  vote  of  New 
Jersey  was  divided,  four  being  given  for  Lincoln  and  three 
for  Douglas. 

The  aggregate  electoral  vote  for  each  Presidential  candidate, 
as  found  by  the  official  canvass  in  joint  session  of  the  two 
Houses  of  Congress,  on  the  13th  day  of  February,  1861,  was 
as  follows  :  For  Abraham  Lincoln,  180 ;  for  John  C.  Breck 
inridge,  72 ,  for  John  Bell,  39 ;  and  for  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
13 


194  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

12.  The  Vice-President,  Mr.  Breckinridge,  then  officially 
declared  Mr.  Lincoln  elected  President  of  the  United  States 
for  four  years,  commencing  on  the  4th  of  March,  1861. 

The  aggregate  popular  vote  for  each  of  the  Presidential  can 
didates,  at  this  election,  was  as  follows :  For  Mr.  Lincoln, 
1,866,452;  for  Mr.  Douglas,  1,375,157;  for  Mr.  Breckinridge, 
847,953;  and  for  Mr.  Bell,  590,631.  The  last  speech  of  Mr. 
Douglas,  in  the  ensuing  spring,  urged  upon  his  friends  an 
earnest  support  of  the  Administration  in  putting  down  the 
rebellion,  as  in  his  speach  at  Norfolk,  Va.,  during  the  preced 
ing  canvass,  he  had  declared  in  favor  of  coercion,  as  the  remedy 
for  secession.  Mr.  Bell  went  over  to  the  secession  cause, 
co-operating  with  Mr.  Breckinridge,  afterward  a  General  in  the 
Rebel  army.  The  total  vote  for  the  two  loyal  candidates  was 
3,241,609. 

On  the  morning  of  February  llth,  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  his 
family,  left  Springfield  for  Washington.  A  large  concourse 
of  citizens  had  assembled  at  the  depot,  on  the  occasion  of  .his 
departure,  whom,  with  deep  emotion,  he  addressed  as  follows  : 

MY  FRIENDS  :  No  one,  not  in  my  position,  can  appreciate 
the  sadness  I  feel  at  this  parting.  To  this  people  I  owe  all  that 
I  am.  Here  I  have  lived  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century ; 
here  my  children  were  born,  and  here  one  of  them  lies  buried. 
I  know  not  how  soon  I  shall  see  you  again.  A  duty  devolves 
upon  me  which  is,  perhaps  greater  than  that  which  has 
devolved  upon  any  other  man  since  the  days  of  Washington. 
He  never  could  have  succeeded  except  for  the  aid  of  Divine 
Providence,  upon  which  he  at  all  times  relied.  I  feel  that  I 
can  not  succeed  without  the  same  Divine  aid  which  sustained 
him  ;  and  in  the  same  Almighty  being  I  place  my  reliance  for 
support,  and  I  hope  you,  my  friends  will  all  pray  that  I  may 
receive  that  Divine  assistance,  without  which  I  can  not  succeed, 
but  with  which  success  is  certain.  Again,  I  bid  you  all  an 
affectionate  farewell. 

The  first  speech  of  Mr.  Lincoln  on  his  journey  was  that 
delivered  at  Indianapolis,  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day, 
addressed  to  a  multitude  of  people  assembled  to  welcome  him. 
As  containing  the  earliest  direct  intimation  of  his  views  on  the 
all-engrossing  topic  of  the  time,  it  is  appropriately  given  here: 


LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  195 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  STATE  OF  INDIANA  :  I  am  here 
to  thank  you  for  this  magnificent  welcome,  and  still  more  for 
the  very  generous  support  given  by  your  State  to  that  political 
cause,  which,  I  think,  is  the  true  and  just  cause  "of  the  whole 
country,  and  the  whole  world.  Solomon  says,  "  there  is  a  time 
to  keep  silence;"  and  when  men  wrangle  by  the  mouth,  with 
no  certainty  that  they  mean  the  same  thing  while  using  the 
same  words,  it  perhaps  were  as  well  if  they  would  keep  silence. 

The  words  "  coercion  "  and  "  invasion  "  are  much  used  in 
these  days,  and  often  with  some  temper  and  hot  blood.  Let  us 
make  sure,  if  we  can,  that  we  do  not  misunderstand  the  mean 
ing  of  those  who  use  them.  Let  us  get  the  exact  definitions 
of  these  words — not  from  dictionaries,  but  from  the  men  them 
selves,  who  certainly  deprecate  the  things  they  would  repre 
sent  by  the  use  of  the  words. 

What,  then,  is  coercion?  What  is  invasion?  Would  the 
marching  of  an  army  into  South  Carolina,  without  the  consent 
of  her  people,  and  with  hostile  intent  toward  them,  be  inva 
sion  ?  I  certainly  think  it  would,  and  it  would  be  coercion  also, 
if  the  South  Carolinians  were  forced  to  submit.  But  if  the 
United  States  should  merely  hold  and  retake  its  own  forts  and 
other  property,  and  collect  the  duties  on  foreign  importations, 
or  even  withhold  the  mails  from  places  where  they  were  habit 
ually  violated,  would  any  or  all  of  these  things  be  invasion  or 
coercion?  Do  our  professed  lovers  of  the  Union,  who  spite 
fully  resolve  that  they  will  resist  coercion  and  invasion,  under 
stand  that  such  things  as  these,  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  would  be  coercion  or  invasion  of  a  State  ?  If  so,  their 
idea  of  means  to  preserve  the  object  of  their  great  affection 
would  seem  to  be  exceedingly  thin  and  airy.  If  sick,  the  little 
pills  of  the  homeopathist  would  be  much  too  large  for  it  to 
swallow.  In  their  view,  the  Union,  as  a  family  relation,  would 
seem  to  be  no  regular  marriage,  but  rather  a  sort  of  "  free-love  " 
arrangement,  to  be  maintained  on  passional  attraction. 

By  the  way,  in  what  consists  the  special  sacredness  of  a 
State?  I  speak  not  of  the  position  assigned  to  a  State  in  the 
Union  by  the  Constitution,  for  that  is  a  bond  we  all  recognize. 
That  position,  however,  a  State  can  not  carry  out  of  the  Union 
with  it.  I  speak  of  that  assumed  primary  right  of  a  State  to 
rule  all  which  is  less  than  itself,  and  to  ruin  all  which  is  Jarger 
than  itself.  If  a  State  and  a  County,  in  a  given  case,  should  be 
equal  in  number  of  inhabitants,  in  what,  as  a  matter  of  princi 
ple,  is  the  State  better  than  the  County  ?  Would  an  exchange 
of  name  be  an  exchange  of  rights?  LTpon  what  principle, 
upon  what  rightful  principle,  may  a  State,  being  no  more  than 


196  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

one-fiftieth  part  of  the  nation  in  soil  and  population,  break  up 
the  nation,  and  then  coerce  a  proportionally  large  subdivision 
of  itself  in  the  most  arbitrary  way?  What  mysterious  right 
to  play  tyrant  is  conferred  on  a  district  of  country  with  its 
people,  by  merely  calling  it  a  State?  Fellow-citizens,  I  am  not 
asserting  anything.  I  am  merely  asking  questions  for  you  to 
consider.  And  now  allow  me  to  bid  you  farewell. 

Enthusiastic  greetings  awaited  the  President  elect  all  along 
his  route,  the  people  hailing  the  approach  of  the  day  which 
was  to  witness,  under  his  auspices,  the  beginning  of  a  new  regime 
for  the  nation. 

At  Philadelphia,  on  the  22d  of  February,  he  visited  Inde 
pendence  Hall,  where  throngs  of  people  gathered  to  see  him, 
and  where  he  raised  a  national  flag  to  its  place  on  the  staff 
above,  as  requested,  amid  the  cheers  of  the  thousands  present. 
In  a  brief  speech,  he  referred  with  much  emotion  to  the  men 
who  had  assembled  in  this  Hall  in  1776,  and  to  the  principles 
there  proclaimed  on  the  4th  of  July — principles  which  he 
declared  it  to  be  his  purpose  never  to  yield,  even  if  he  must 
seal  his  devotion  to  them  by  a  violent  death.  On  the  next 
day  he  reached  Harrisburg. 

Positive  information  had  now  been  received  at  Washington, 
of  a  plot  to  assassinate  Mr.  Lincoln  at  Baltimore.  When  this 
was  communicated  to  him,  he  was  averse  to  any  change  of  the 
time  fixed  upon  for  his  transit  through  that  city.  On  the 
earnest  representations  of  Mr.  Seward,  however,  who  sent  a 
special  messenger  to  the  President  elect  at  Harrisburg,  to  urge 
this  course,  he  left  the  latter  place  on  the  night  train,  a  few 
hours  in  advance  of  that  which  he  was  expected  to  take,  and 
passing  through  Baltimore  without  recognition,  arrived,  on 
the  following  morning  in  Washington. 


PA.RT    II. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Commencement  of  President  Lincoln's   Administration. — Retrospect 
and  Summary  of  Public  Events. — Fort  Sumter. 

ON  the  4th.  day  of  March,  1861,  Mr. 'Lincoln  took  the  oath 
of  office,  as  President  of  the  United  States.  The  administra 
tion  of  James  Buchanan,  and  eight  years  of  intensely  southern 
sway  in  all  branches  of  the  National  Government,  were  now  at 
an  end.  During  the  four  months  that  had  intervened  since  the 
people  decreed  this  change  not  a  moment  had  been  lost  by  the 
leaders  in  the  now  clearly  developed  scheme  of  revolt,  in 
making  energetic  preparation  for  its  consummation.  So  well 
had  they  succeeded,  by  the  aid  of  bold  treason  or  of  inert 
complicity  at  the  national  capital,  that  they  imagined  they  had 
assured  the  full  attainment  of  their  object,  almost  without  the 
hazard  of  a  single  campaign.  "While  professing,  however,  to 
believe  in  a  fancied  right  of  peaceable  secession,  and  proclaim 
ing  their  desire  to  be  left  unmolested  in  the  execution  of  their 
revolutionary  purposes,  the  chief  conspirators  well  knew  that 
this  immunity  could  only  be  gained  by  such  use  of  the  remain 
ing  days  of  the  outgoing  administration  that  the  crisis  should 
already  be  over,  or  resistance  to  their  treason  be  rendered  inef 
fectual,  when  the  new  administration  should  begin.  They 
industriously  collected  the  materials  of  war,  yet  spared  no 
efforts  to  bring  about  a  state  of  things  which  should  insure 
either  peaceful  submission  to  their  will  or  a  sure  vantage  ground 
for  an  appeal  to  arms. 

While  yet  the  question  of  passing  a  secession  ordinance  was 
pending  in  South  Carolina,  President  Buchanan,  in  his  annual 
message,  after  having  urged  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  pro- 
197 


198  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

posed  action,  distinctly  notified  the  complotters  that  he  was 
equally  without  constitutional  power  to  oppose  their  carrying 
out  that  purpose.  When  appealed  to  by  the  veteran  head  of 
the  army,  at  a  still  earlier  day,  to  take  firm  military  possession 
of  the  United  States  forts  on  the  southern  coast,  the  same  pub 
lic  functionary  could  find  no  means  of  adopting  this  prudent 
precaution.  Consequently,  the  rebellious  South  Carolina  lead 
ers  carried  through  their  ordinance  of  secession  on  the  20th 
of  December,  18GO.  Fort  Moultrie,  by  an  overt  act  of  treason, 
was  seized  on  the  28th,  and  the  Palmetto  flag  was  raised  over  Gov 
ernment  property  in  Charleston.  On  the  3d  of  January,  1861, 
without  even  the  pretext  of  a  secession  ordinance,  or  any  form 
of  authority  from  his  own  State,  Gov.  Brown,  of  Georgia, 
seized  Forts  Pulaski  and  Jackson,  at  Savannah  ;  and  this  exam 
ple  was  followed  next  day,  in  Alabama,  by  the  occupation  of 
Fort  Morgan,  at  Mobile. 

The  patient  submission  with  which  all  these  acts  were  wit 
nessed  by  the  Executive,  nay,  the  meekness  with  which  he  had 
himself  invited  them,  and  the  ready  assistance  rendered  to 
these  efforts  of  treason  by  some  of  the  highest  ofiicers  imme 
diately  about  him,  were  followed  by  the  natural  results.  On 
the  9th  of  January,  the  steamer  Star  of  the  West,  tardily  dis 
patched  with  a  small  re-enforcement  for  Fort  Sumter,  now  held 
by  a  totally  inadequate  garrison,  was  fired  into  from  rebel  bat 
teries  erected  on  Morris'  Island,  and  from  Fort  Moultrie.  On 
the  same  day,  the  conspirators  in  Mississippi,  now,  as  in  the 
times  of  repudiation,  under  the  lead  of  Jefferson  Davis,  fol 
lowed  their  co-laborers  in  South  Carolina,  in  the  pretense  of 
secession.  Alabama,  Florida  and  Georgia  were  speedily  sub 
jected  to  a  similar  process  of  rebel  manipulation.  Louisiana, 
on  the  28th  of  January,  and  Texas  on  the  1st  of  February, 
were  proclaimed  as  having  dissolved  their  connection  with  the 
Union.  Meanwhile,  the  delegates  of  these  States  successively 
withdrew  from  Congress. 

On  the  10th  of  December,  Howell  Cobb,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  had  resigned  the  position  he  had  so  zealously  per 
verted  to  the  aid  of  the  great  conspiracy,  and  departed  to  the 
more  immediate  scene  of  action,  that  he  might  hasten  the  con 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  199 

summation,  for  a  time  delayed, -and  so  earnestly  resisted  in 
Georgia  as  seemingly  to  involve  the  result  in  doubt.  The  ven 
erable  Secretary  of  State,  Lewis  Cass,  surrendered  his  place 
four  days  later,  in  disgust  at  the  hopelessness  of  his  efforts  to 
rouse  President  Buchanan  to  some  effective  resistance  to  the 
destructive  blows  aimed  at  the  national  life.  John  B.  Floyd 
soon  after  (Dec.  29)  retired  from  the  office  of  Secretary  of 
War,  which  he  had  used  to  disarm  the  loyal  portion  of  the 
country,  and  to  fill  the  rebellious  States  with  cannon  and  mus 
kets,  which  they  were  not  slow  to  appropriate  to  the  uses  of 
rebellion.  Jacob  Thompson,  without  resigning,  absented  him 
self  on  a  tour  in  the  South,  throwing  all  the  weight  of  his 
influence  as  a  cabinet  officer  in  favor  of  rebellion  in  his  native 
State  of  North  Carolina.  Bold  peculation  was  meanwhile  left 
to  do  its  work  in  his  department,  in  aid  of  the  treasonable 
labors  of  high  officials  in  crippling  the  Government,  and  in  ren 
dering  the  new  administration  as  powerless  as  possible  to  meet 
the  approaching  crisis.  The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  had  noto 
riously  dispersed  our  war  vessels  to  distant  seas,  so  that  months 
must  pass  before  the  incoming  administration  could  bring  an 
•effective  naval  force  to  bear  on  the  rebellion. 

Delegates  from  the  seven  States  in  which  this  spreading 
insurrection  had  become  predominant  assembled  at  Montgom 
ery,  in  Alabama,  on  the  6th  of  February,  organized  their 
"Confederacy"  under  a  temporary  constitution,  and,  on  the 
9th,  selected  Jefferson  Davis  to  be  their  President,  with  Alex 
ander  H.  Stephens  as  Vice  President.  The  latter  had  been 
chosen  as  a  representative  of  the  more  conservative  sentiment, 
having  strenuously  resisted  secession,  as  an  utterly  needless 
rebellion  against  "  the  best  government  upon  earth,"  and  his 
acceptance  was  a  token  of  the  general  acquiescence  of  all 
political  leaders  of  the  States  concerned  in  the  rebellion  now 
organized.  Around  this  nucleus  of  seven  States,  thus  com 
pletely  in  revolt,  it  was  expected  by  the  conspirators  that 
every  State  in  which  slavery  existed  would  soon  be  gathered, 
by  a  common  interest,  in  the  bonds  of  a  common  crime.  The 
leaven  of  rebellion  was  industriously  diffused  thrpugh  every 
other  slaveholding  State,  and  in  several,  movements  were 


200  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

already  in  progress,  which  afterward  culminated  in  secession 
ordinances. 

While  this  confederacy  of  seven  States  was  forming,  a  con 
vention,  composed  of  delegates  from  most  of  the  free  States, 
and  from  all  the  border  slave  States,  was  in  session  at  Wash 
ington,  aiming  to  bring  about,  by  compromise,  a  peaceable  solu 
tion  of  the  pending  struggle.  On  the  part  of  leading  loyal 
men  this  conference  was  conducted  in  good  faith,  in  a  concilia 
tory  spirit,  and  with  an  earnest  desire  to  avert  any  more  seri 
ous  collision  than  had  already  occurred.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  was  manifest  that  at  least  the  delegates  from  Virginia,  with 
John  Tyler  at  their  head,  were  aiming  only  to  use  this  means 
to  widen  the  gulf  already  existing,  and  to  overcome  the  decided 
Union  majority  still  existing  in  all  the  border  slave  States. 
While  a  series  of  propositions,  therefore,  looking  to  peace  on 
the  basis  of  a  preserved  Union,  were  agreed  to  by  a  majority 
of  the  Convention  (which  adjourned  on  the  1st  of  March),  no 
practical  result  appeared  in  the  rebellious  districts,  unless  of 
an  adverse  character.  This  action  did  serve,  however,  to  pro 
claim  to  all  the  world  the  anxiety  of  the  people  of  the  free 
States  to  avert,  by  any  possible  concessions,  the  full  initiation 
of  civil  war.  On  the  llth  of  February,  likewise,  the  Federal 
House  of  Representatives  unanimously  passed  a  resolution, 
introduced  by  Mr.  Corwin,  of  Ohio  (soon  after  concurred  in  by 
the  Senate),  providing  for  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  forever  prohibiting  any  legislation  by 
Congress  interfering  with  slavery  in  any  State  of  the  Union — 
a  measure  that  fully  set  aside  one  of  the  chief  pretended  occa 
sions  for  revolt.  Going  still  further,  in  the  way  of  concession, 
and  in  fact  surrendering  the  long  controversy  about  slavery 
in  the  Territories,  were  the  resolutions  known  as  the  Crittenden 
Compromise,  and  which  certain  Southern  Senators  deliberately 
defeated,  in  their  own  house,  by  withholding  their  votes. 

The  temper  and  purpose  of  the  secession  leaders  were  thus 
distinctly  manifested.  They  would  have  no  compromise.  On 
their  own  terms,  of  final  separation  alone,  would  they  listen  to 
terms  of  peace.  Many  of  them  manifestly  desired  war,  and 
exulted  in  the  hope  of  such  revenge  upon  their  Northern  oppo- 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  201 

nents  as  war  only  could  bring ;  while  all  insisted  on  yielding 
nothing,  except  on  the  condition  of  substantially  gaining  every 
thing  they  aimed  at,  by  a  full  recognition  of  a-  separate  and 
independent  Confederacy  comprising  all  the  slaveholding  States. 
For  to  this  end,  though  less  than  half  the  number  of  those 
States  had  already  been  carried  by  the  revolutionists,  they  were 
zealously  laboring,  and  of  the  final  issue  no  doubt  was  enter 
tained,  when  once  the  Montgomery  organization  was  counte 
nanced  as  a  legitimate  government. 

It  is  unpleasant  to  mention,  yet  impartial  history  can  not 
omit  the  fact,  that  hopes  of  peaceable  submission  to  secession 
were  seemingly  encouraged  in  Southern  minds  by  newspapers 
and  orators  in  the  North,  at  this  period,  and  that  a  number  of 
political  leaders,  with  scarcely  any  apparent  popular  support,  it 
is  true,  earnestly  advocated  what  they  termed  the  policy  of 
peaceable  separation.  To  this  day,  perhaps,  it  may  be  doubt 
ful  to  many  minds  whether,  had  not  a  spirit  of  unbounded 
insolence  and  a  haughty  defiance,  that  spurned  even  the  slight 
est  concession,  been  manifested  by  the  secession  leaders,  this 
complacent  policy — more  fatal  than  any  former  compromise — 
might  not  have  gained  the  ascendency  in  the  popular  mind. 

So  much  had  been  brought  to  final  accomplishment  by  the 
conspirators  during  the  closing  months  of  Mr.  Buchanan's 
administration.  Such  was  the  spirit  manifested  by  them  to 
repel  conciliation  in  every  form,  to  maintain  peace  solely  on 
condition  of  the  complete  submission  of  the  loyal  States  to 
every  essential  demand  of  secessionism.  And  such,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  the  amicable  disposition  of  loyal  men  every 
where,  and  their  earnest  wish  to  avoid  a  collision  of  arms,  if 
any  other  solution  were  possible  short  of  absolute  degradation 
and  ruin  to  the  nation.  Jefferson  Davis,  in  -assuming  power  as 
head  of  the  "  Confederacy,"  at  Montgomery,  February  18, 
stated  the  sole  conditions  of  peace  in  the  following  unmistake- 
able  language : 

If  a  just  perception  of  mutual  interest  shall  permit  us 
peaceably  to  pursue  our  separate,  political  career,  my  most  earn 
est  desire  will  have  been  fulfilled.  But  if  this  be  denied  ?/s, 
and  the  integrity  of  our  territory  and  jurisdiction  be  assailed, 


202 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


it  will  but  remain  for  us  with  firm  resolve  to  appeal  to  arms,  and 
invoke  the  blessing  of  Providence  on  a  just  cause. 

This  was  immediately  followed  by  the  recommendation  that 
a  Confederate  army  be  organized  and  put  in  training  for  the 
emergency  ;  "  a  well  instructed,  disciplined  army,  more  numer 
ous  than  would  usually  be  required,  on  a  peace  establishment," 
being  distinctly  indicated  as  essential  to  his  plans. 

While  it  is  thus  clear  that  he  and  all  his  coadjutors  were  de 
termined  on  war  from  the  outset,  and  at  all  hazards,  unless  dis 
union  were  recognized  as  an  accomplished  fact,  and  the  juris 
diction  of  the  Government  over  the  rebellious  districts  were 
abandoned  without  a  struggle,  it  is  equally  manifest  that  not  a 
single  grievance  complained  of  could  have  failed  of  redress, 
under  our  popular  institutions,  by  peaceable  methods.  While 
deluding  their  adherents  with  smooth  words,  they  deliberately 
chose  an  appeal  to  arms,  and  scorned  a  peaceable  solution,  which 
was  equally  at  their  disposal,  under  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws. 

Some  acts  of  vigor  and  patriotic  fidelity,  during  the  closing 
days  of  Mr.  Buchanan's  administration,  deserve  to  be  remem 
bered,  to  the  honor  of  those  cabinet  ministers,  to  whom  alone 
the  country  was  indebted  for  these  redeeming  deeds.  Dix, 
Stanton  and  Holt  had  preserved  a  remainder  of  popular  respect 
for  a  Government  that  all  the  loyalty  of  the  nation  rejoiced  to 
see  transferred  to  the  hands  of  a  new  executive,  untried  though 
he  was,  and  terrible  as  was  the  task  devolving  upon  him. 

Despite  all  the  threats,  constantly  repeated  for  months  past, 
that  Mr.  Lincoln  should  never  be  permitted  to  occupy  the 
Presidential  chair,  and  desperate  as  had  been  the  plot-tings  for 
his  assassination,  he  appeared  at  the  3ast  front  of  the  capitol 
and  received,  at  the  appointed  time,  the  oath  from  Chief  Justice 
Taney.  During  the  period  that  had  elapsed  since  the  election, 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  carefully  studied  the  situation,  closely  watch 
ing  the  course  of  events.  His  inaugural  address  shows  the 
results  of  his  observation,  and  of  the  application  of  his  sterling 
good  sense  and  comprehensive  practical  judgment  to  the  mastery 
of  the  problem  to  be  solved  by  him  as  head  of  the  nation.  He 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  203 

clearly  understood  how  everything  depended,  so  far  as  his 
administration  was  concerned,  on  a  true  insight  into  the  very 
heart  of  the  question,  and  on  the  initiation,  at  the  very  outset, 
of  an  appropriate  policy  in  dealing  with  the  rebellion.  The 
c;reat  insurrection  is  the  uppermost  thought — almost  the  exclu 
sive  theme — of  his  inaugural  address.  That  this  was  the 
wisest  utterance  of  the  time,  manifesting  a  rare  foresight,  as 
well  as  a  remarkable  skill  in  briefly  presenting  the  true  ques 
tions  at  issue,  in  their  proper  bearings,  with  a  calm,  candid 
appeal  to  the  nation,  in  all  its  parts,  in  behalf  of  law,  order 
and  peace,  will  more  and  more  clearly  appear  in  the  light  of 
after  events.  Whoever  would  acquaint  himself  with  the 
inmost  traits  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  character,  as  a  public  man, 
and  at  the  same  time  discover,  in  honest  and  plain  words,  a 
statement  in  advance  of  the  fundamental  principles  by  which 
his  administration  has  been  guided,  let  him  carefully  study 
this  paper,  every  sentence  of  which  is  full  of  meaning : 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  :  In  compliance 
with  a  custom  as  old  as  the  Government  itself,  I  appear  before 
you  to  address  you  briefly,  and  to  take,  in  your  presence,  the 
oath  prescribed  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  to  be 
taken  by  the  President  before  he  enters  on  £he  execution  of 
his  office. 

I  do  not  consider  it  necessary,  at  present,  for  me  to  discuss 
those  matters  of  administration  about  which  there  is  no  special 
anxiety  or  excitement.  Apprehension  seems  to  exist  among 
the  people  of  the  Southern  States,  that,  by  the  accession  of  a 
Republican  Administration,  their  property  and  their  peace  and 
personal  security  are  to  be  endangered.  There  has  never  been 
any  reasonable  cause  for  such  apprehension.  Indeed,  the  most 
ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while  existed,  and 
been  open  to  their  inspection.  It  is  found  in  nearly  all  the 
published  speeches  of  him  who  now  addresses  you.  I  do  but 
quote  from  one  of  those  speeches,  when  I  declare  that  "  I  have 
no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere  with  the  institu 
tion  of  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists."  I  believe  I  have 
no  lawful  right  to  do  so ;  and  I  have  no  inclination  to  do  so. 
Those  who  nominated  and  elected  me,  did  so  with  the  full 
knowledge  that  I  had  made  this,  and  made  many  similar  decla- 


204  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

rations,  and  had  never  recanted  them.  And,  more  than  this, 
they  placed  in  the  platform,  for  my  acceptance,  and  as  a  law  to 
themselves  and  to  me,  the  clear  and  emphatic  resolution  which 
I  now  read  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the  rights  of 
the  States,  and  especially  the  right  of  each  State  to  order  and 
control  its  own  domestic  institutions  according  to  its  own  judg 
ment  exclusively,  is  essential  to  that  balance  of  power  on  which 
the  perfection  and  endurance  of  our  political  fabric  depend ; 
and  we  denounce  the  lawless  invasion,  by  armed  force,  of  the 
soil  of  any  State  or  Territory,  no  matter  under  what  pretext,  as 
among  the  gravest  of  crimes." 

I  now  reiterate  these  sentiments  ;  and  in  doing  so  I  only 
press  upon  the  public  attention  the  most  conclusive  evidence  of 
which  the  case  is  susceptible,  that  the  property,  peace,  and 
security  of  no  section  are  to  be  in  anywise  endangered  by  the 
now  incoming  administration. 

I  add,  too,  that  all  the  protection  which,  consistently  with  the 
Constitution  and  the  laws,  can  be  given,  will  be  cheerfully  given 
to  all  the  States  when  lawfully  demanded,  for  whatever  cause, 
as  cheerfully  to  one  section  as  to  another. 

There  is  much  controversy  about  the  delivering  up  of  fugi 
lives  from  service  or  labor.     The  clause  I  now  read  is  as  plainly 
written  in  the  Constitution  as  any  other  of  its  provisions : 

"  No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State  under  the 
laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of  any 
law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service  or 
labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom 
such  service  or  labor  may  be  due." 

It  is  scarcely  questioned  that  this  provision  was  intended  by 
those  who  made  it  for  the  reclaiming  of  what  we  call  fugitive 
slaves  ;  and  the  intention  of  the  lawgiver  is  the  law. 

All  members  of  Congress  swear  their  support  to  the  whole 
Constitution — to  this  provision  as  well  as  any  other.  To  the 
proposition,  then,  that  slaves  whose  cases  come  within  the  terms 
of  this  clause  "  shall  be  delivered  up,"  their  oaths  are  unani 
mous.  Now,  if  they  would  make  the  effort  in  good  temper, 
could  they  not,  with  nearly  equal  unanimity,  frame  and  pass  a 
law  by  means  of  which  to  keep  good  that  unanimous  oath  ? 

There  is  some  difference  of  opinion  whether  this  clause 
should  be  enforced  by  National  or  by.  State  authority  ;  bub 
surely  that  difference  is  not  a  very  material  one.  If  the  slave 
is  to  be  surrendered,  it  can  be  of  but  little  consequence  to  him 
or  to  others  by  which  authority  it  is  done  ;  and  should  any  one, 
in  any  case,  be  content  that  this  oath  shall  go  uukept  on  a 
merely  unsubstantial  controversy  as  to  how  it  shall  be  kept  ? 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  205 

Again,  in  any  law  upon  this  subject,  ought  not  all  the  safe 
guards  of  liberty  known  in  the  civilized  and  humane  jurispru 
dence  to  be  introduced,  so  that  a  free  man  be  not,  in  any  case, 
surrendered  as  a  slave  ?  And  might  it  not  be  well  at  the  same 
time  to  provide  by  law  for  the  enforcement  of  that  clause  in  the 
Constitution  which  guarantees  that  "  the  citizens  of  each  State 
shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens 
in  the  several  States?" 

I  take  the  official  oath  to-day  with  no  mental  reservations,  and 
with  no  purpose  to  construe  the  Constitution  or  laws  by  any 
hypercritical  rules ;  and  while  I  do  not  choose  now  to  specify 
particular  acts  of  Congress  as  proper  to  be  enforced,  I  do  sug 
gest  that  it  will  be  much  safer  for  all,  both  in  official  and 
private  stations,  to  conform  to  and  abide  by  all  those  acts  which 
stand  unrepealed,  than  to  violate  any  of  them,  trusting  to  find 
impunity  in  having  them  held  to  be  unconstitutional. 

It  is  seventy- two  years  since  the  first  inauguration  of  a 
President  under  our  National  Constitution.  During  that  period, 
fifteen  different  and  very  distinguished  citizens  have  in  succes 
sion  administered  the  executive  branch  of  the  Government. 
They  have  conducted  it  through  many  perils,  and  generally  with 
great  success.  Yet,  with  all  this  scope  for  precedent,  I  now 
enter  upon  the  same  task,  for  the  brief  constitutional  term  of 
four  years,  under  great  and  peculiar  difficulties. 

A  disruption  of  the  Federal  Union,  heretofore  only  menaced, 
is  now  formidably  attempted.  I  hold  that  in  the  contemplation 
of  universal  law  and  of  the  Constitution,  the  Union  of  these 
States  is  perpetual.  Perpetuity  is  implied,  if  not  expressed,  in 
the  fundamental  law  of  all  national  governments.  It  is  safe  to 
assert  that  no  government  proper  ever  had  a  provision  in  its 
organic  law  for  its  own  termination.  Continue  to  execute  all 
tlie  express  provisions  of  our  National  Constitution,  and  the 
Union  will  endure  forever,  it  being  impossible  to  destroy  it, 
except  by  some  action  not  provided  for  in  the  instrument  itself. 

Again,  if  the  United  States  be  not  a  government  proper,  but 
an  association  of  States  in  the  nature  of  a  contract  merely,  can 
it,  as  a  contract,  be  peaceably  unmade  by  less  than  all  the 
parties  who  made  it  ?  One  party  to  a  contract  may  violate  it — 
break  it,  so  to  speak  ;  but  docs  it  not  require  all  to  lawfully 
rescind  it?  Descending  from  these  general  principles,  we  find 
the  proposition  that  in  legal  contemplation  the  Union  is  per 
petual,  confirmed  by  the  history  of  the  Union  itself. 

The  Union  is  much  older  than  the  Constitution.  It  was 
formed,  in  fact,  by  the  Articles  of  Association  in  1774.  It  was 
matured  and  continued  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in 
177G.  It  was  further  matured,  and  the  faith  of  all  the  then 


206  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

thirteen  States  expressly  plighted  and  engaged  that  it  should 
be  perpetual,  by  the  Articles  of  the  Confederation,  in  1778  ; 
and,  finally,  in  1787,  one  of  the  declared  objects  for  ordaining 
and  establishing  the  Constitution  was  to  form  a  more  perfect 
Union.  But  if  the  destruction  of  the  Union  by  one  or  by  a 
part  only  of  the  States  be  lawfully  possible,  the  Union  is  less 
than  before,  the  Constitution  having  lost  the  vital  element  of 
perpetuity. 

It  follows  from  these  views  that  no  State,  upon  its  own  mere 
motion,  can  lawfully  get  out  of  the  Union  ;  that  resolves  and 
ordinances  to  that  effect,  are  legally  void  ;  and  that  acts  of 
violence  within  any  State  or  States  against  the  authority  of  the 
United  States,  are  insurrectionary  or  revolutionary,  according 
to  circumstances. 

I  therefore  consider  that,  in  view  of  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws,  the  Union  is  unbroken,  and,  to  the  extent  of  my  ability,  I 
shall  take  care,  as  the  Constitution  itself  expressly  enjoins  upon 
me,  that  the  laws  of  the  Union  shall  be  faithfully  executed  in 
all  the  States.  Doing  this,  which  I  deem  to  be  only  a  simple 
duty  on  my  part,  I  shall  perfectly  perform  it,  so  far  as  is  prac 
ticable,  unless  my  rightful  masters,  the  American  people,  shall 
withhold  the  requisition,  or  in  some  authoritative  manner  direct 
the  contrary. 

I  trust  this  will  not.be  regarded  as  a  menace,  but  only  as  the 
declared  purpose  of  the  Union  that  it  will  constitutionally 
defend  and  maintain  itself. 

In  doing  this  there  need  be  no  bloodshed  or  violence,  and 
there  shall  be  none  unless  it  is  forced  upon  the  National 
authority. 

The  power  confided  to  me  will  be  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and 
possess  the  property  and  places  belonging  to  the  Government,  and 
collect  the  duties  and  imposts  ;  but  beyond  what  may  be  neces 
sary  for  these  objects  there  will  be  no  invasion,  no  using  of 
force  against  or  among  the  people  anywhere. 

Where  hostility  to  the  United  States  shall  be  so  great  and  so 
universal  as  to  prevent  competent  resident  citizens  from  holding 
the  Federal  offices,  there  will  be  no  attempt  to  force  obnoxious 
strangers  among  the  people  that  object.  While  the  strict  legal 
right  may  exist  of  the  Government  to  enforce  the  exercise  of 
these  offices,  the  attempt  to  do  so  would  be  so  -irritating,  and  so 
nearly  impracticable  withal,  that  I  deem  it  better  to  forego,  for 
the  time,  the  uses  of  such  offices. 

The  mails,  unless  repelled,  will  continue  to  be  furnished  in 
all  parts  of  the  Union. 

So  far  as  possible,   the  people  everywhere  shall  have  that 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  207 

sense  of  perfect  security  which  is  most  favorable  to  calm  thought 
and  reflection. 

The  course  here  indicated  will  be  followed,  unless  current 
events  and  experience  shall  show  a  modification  or  change  to  be 
proper;  uud  in  every  ease  and  exigency  my  best  discretion  will 
be  exercised  according  to  the  circumstances  actually  existing. 
and  with  a  view  and  hope  of  a  peaceful  solution  of  the  National 
troubles,  and  the  restoration  of  fraternal  sympathies  and 
affections. 

That  there  are  persons,  in  one  section  or  another,  who  seek 
to  destroy  the  Union  at  all  events,  and  are  glad  of  any  pretext 
to  do  it,  I  will  neither  affirm  nor  deny.  But  if  there  be  such, 
I  need  address  no  word  to  them. 

To  those,  however,  who  really  love  the  Union,  may  I  not 
speak,  before  entering  upon  so  grave  a  matter  as  the  destruction 
of  our  National  fabric,  with  all  its  benefits,  its  memories,  and 
its  hopes?  Would  it  not  be  well  to  ascertain  why  we  do  it? 
Will  you  hazard  so  desperate  a  step,  while  any  portion  of  the 
ills  you  fly  from  have  no  real  existence  ?  Will  you,  while  the 
certain  ills  you  fly  to  are  greater  than  all  the  real  ones  you  fly 
from  ?  Will  you  risk  the  commission  of  so  fearful  a  mistake  ? 
All  profess  to  be  content  in  the  Union  if  all  constitutional 
rights  can  be  maintained.  Is  it  true,  then,  that  any  right, 
plainly  written  in  the  Constitution,  has  been  denied  ?  I  think 
not.  Happily  the  human  mind  is  so  constituted,  that  no  party 
can  reach  to  the  audacity  of  doing  this. 

Think,  if  you  can,  of  a  single  instance  in  which  a  plainly- 
written  provision  of  the  Constitution  has  ever  been  denied.  If, 
by  the  mere  force  of  numbers,  a  majority  should  deprive  a 
minority  of  any  clearly-written  constitutional  right,  it  might,  in 
a  moral  point  of  view,  justify  revolution  ;  it  certainly  would,  if 
such  right  were  a  vital  one.  But  such  is  not  our  case. 

All  the  vital  rights  of  minorities  and  of  individuals  are  so 
plainly  assured  to  them  by  affirmations  and  negations,  guar 
antees  and  prohibitions  in  the  Constitution,  that  controversies 
never  arise  concerning  them.  But  no  organic  law  can  ever  be 
framed  with  a  provision  specifically  applicable  to  every  question 
which  m;|^  occur  in  practical  administration.  No  foresight  can 
anticipate,  nor  any  document  of  reasonable  length  contain, 
express  provisions  for  all  possible  questions.  Shall  fugitives 
from  labor  be  surrendered  by  National  or  by  State  authorities  ? 
The  Constitution  does  not  expressly  say.  Must  Congress  pro 
tect  slavery  in  the  Territories?  The  Constitution  does  not 
expressly  say.  From  questions  of  this  class,  spring  all  our 
constitutional  controversies,  and  we  divide  upon  them  into 
majorities  and  minorities. 


208  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

If  the  minority  will  not  acquiesce,  the  majority  must,  or  the 
Government  must  cease.  There  is  no  alternative  for  continuing 
the  Government  but  acquiescence  on  the  one  side  or  the  other. 
If  a  minority  in  such  a  case,  will  secede  rather  than  acquiesce, 
they  make  a  precedent  which,  in  turn,  will  ruin  and  divide  them, 
for  a  minority  of  their  own  will  secede  from  them  whenever  a 
majority  refuses  to  be  controlled  by  such  a  minority.  For 
instance,  why  not  any  portion  of  a  new  Confederacy,  a  year  or 
two  hence,  arbitrarily  secede  again,  precisely  as  portions  of  the 
present  Union  now  claim  to  secede  from  it?  All  who  cherish 
disunion  sentiments  are  now  being  educated  to  the  exact  temper 
of  doing  this.  Is  there  such  perfect  identity  of  interests 
among  the  States  to  compose  a  new  Union  as  to  produce  har 
mony  only,  and  prevent  renewed  secession  ?  Plainly,  the  central 
idea  of  secession  is  the  essence  of  anarchy. 

A  majority  held  in  restraint  by  constitutional  check  and 
limitation,  and  always  changing  easily  with  deliberate  changes 
of  popular  opinions  and  sentiments,  is  the  only  true  sovereign 
of  a  free  people.  Whoever  rejects  it,  does,  of  necessity,  fly  to 
anarchy  or  to  despotism.  Unanimity  is  impossible  ;  the  rule  of 
a  majority,  as  a  permanent  arrangement-,  is  wholly  inadmissible. 
So  that,  rejecting  the  majority  principle,  anarchy  or  despotism, 
in  some  form,  is  all  that  is  left. 

I  do  not  forget  the  position  assumed  by  some  that  constitu 
tional  questions  are  to  be  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court,  nor 
do  I  deny  that  such  decisions  must  be  binding  in  any  case  upon 
the  parties  to  a  suit,  as  to  the  object  of  that  suit,  while  they  are 
also  entitled  to  a  very  high  respect  and  consideration  in  all 
parallel  cases  by  all  other  departments  of  the  Government;  and 
while  it  is  obviously  possible  that  such  decision  may  be  erro 
neous  in  any  given  case,  still  the  evil  effect  following  it,  being 
limited  to  that  particular  case,  with  the  chance  that  it  may  be 
overruled  and  never  become  a  precedent  for  other  cases,  can 
better  be  borne  than  could  the  evils  of  a  different  practice. 

At  the  same  time  the  candid  citizen  must  confess  that  if 
the  policy  of  the  Government  upon  the  vital  questions  affecting 
the  whole  people  is  to  be  irrevocably  fixed  by  the  decisions  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  the  instant  they  are  made,  as  in  ordinary 
litigation  between  parties  in  personal  actions,  the  people  will 
have  ceased  to  be  their  own  masters,  unless  having  to  that 
extent  practically  resigned  their  Government  into  the  hands  of 
that  eminent  tribunal. 

Nor  is  there  in  this  view  any  assault  upon  the  Court  or  the 
Judges.  It  is  a  duty  from  which  they  may  not  shrink,  to 
decide  cases  properly  brought  before  them  ;  and  it  is  no  fault 
of  theirs  if  others  seek  to  turn  their  -decisions  to  political  pur- 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  209 

poses.  One  section  of  our  country  believes  slavery  is  right  and 
ought  to  be  extended,  while  the  other  believes  it  is  wrong  and 
ought  not  to  be  extended  ;  and  this  is  the  only  substantial  dis 
pute  ;  and  the  fugitive  slave  clause  of  the  Constitution,  and  the 
law  for  the  suppression  of  the  foreign  slave-trade,  are  each  as 
well  enforced,  perhaps,  as  any  law  can  ever  be  in  a  community 
where  the  moral  sense  of  the  people  imperfectly  supports  the 
1-tw  itself.  The  great  body  of  the  people  abide  by  the  dry 
legal  obligation  in  both  cases,  and  a  few  break  over  in  each. 
This,  I  think,  can  not  be  perfectly  cured,  and  it  would 
be  worse  in  both  cases  after  the  separation  of  the  sec 
tions  than  before.  The  foreign  slave-trade,  now  imperfectly 
suppressed,  would  be  ultimately  revived,  without  restriction,  in 
one  section ;  while  fugitive  slaves,  now  only  partially  surren 
dered,  would  not  be  surrendered  at  all  by  the  other. 

Physically  speaking,  we  can  not  separate  ;  we  can  not  remove 
our  respective  sections  from  each  other,  nor  build  an  impassable 
wall  between  them.  A  husband  and  wife  may  be  divorced,  and 
go  out  of  the  presence  and  beyond  the  reach  of  each  other,  but 
the  different  parts  of  our  country  can  not  do  this.  They  can 
not  but  remain  face  to  face  ;  and  intercourse,  either  amicable  or 
hostile,  must  continue  between  them.  Is  it  possible,  then,  to 
make  that  intercourse  more  advantageous  or  more  satisfactory 
after  separation  than  before  ?  Can  aliens  make  treaties  easier 
than  friends  can  make  laws  ?  Can  treaties  be  more  faithfully 
enforced  between  aliens  than  laws  can  among  friends  ?  Sup 
pose  you  go  to  war,  you  can  not  fight  always',  and  when,  after 
much  loss  on  both  sides,  and  no  gain  on  either,  you  cease  fight 
ing,  the  identical  questions  as  to  terms  of  intercourse  are  again 
upon  you. 

This  country,  with  its  institutions,  belongs  to  the  people  who 
inhabit  it.  Whenever  they  shall  grow  weary  of  the  existing 
Government,  they  can  exercise  their  constitutional  right  of 
amending,  or  their  revolutionary  right  to  dismember  or  over 
throw  it.  I  can  not  be  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  many  worthy 
and  patriotic  citizens  are  desirous  of  having  the  National  Con 
stitution  amended.  While  I  make  no  recommendation  of 
amendment,  I  fully  recognize  the  full  authority  of  the  people 
over  the  whole  subject,  to  be  exercised  in  either  of  the  modes 
prescribed  in  the  instrument  itself,  and  I  should,  under  exist 
ing  circumstances,  favor,  rather  than  oppose,  a  fair  opportunity 
being  aiforded  the  people  to  act  upon  it. 

I  will  venture  to  add,  that  to  me  the  convention  mode  seems 
preferable,  in  that  it  allows  amendments  to  originate  with  the 
people  themselves,  instead  of  only  permitting  them  to  take  or 
reject  propositions  originated  by  others  not  especially  chosen 


210  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

for  the  purpose,  and  which  might  not  be  precisely  such  as  they 
would  wish  either  to  accept  or  refuse.  I  understand  that  a  pro 
posed  amendment  to  the  Constitution  (which  amendment,  how 
ever,  I  have  not  seen)  has  passed  Congress,  to  the  effect  that 
the  Federal  Government  shall  never  interfere  with  the  domestic 
institutions  of  States,  including  that  of  persons  held  to  service. 
To  avoid  misconstruction  of  what  I  have  said,  I  depart  from 
my  purpose  not  to  speak  of  particular  amendments,  so  far  as  to 
say  that,  holding  such  a  provision  to  now  be  implied  constitu 
tional  law,  I  have  no  objection  to  its  being  made  express  and 
irrevocable. 

The  Chief  Magistrate  derives  all  his  authority  from  the  people, 
and  they  have  conferred  none  upon  him  to  fix  the  terms  for  the 
separation  of  the  States.  The  people  themselves,  also,  can  do  this 
if  they  choose,  but  the  Executive,  as  such,  has  nothing  to  do 
with  it.  His  duty  is  to  administer  the  present  government  as 
it  came  to  his  hands,  and  to  transmit  it  unimpaired  by  him  to 
his  successor.  Why  should  there  not  be  a  patient  confidence 
in  the  ultimate  justice  of  the  people  ?  Is  there  any  better  or 
equal  hope  in  the  world  ?  In  our  present  differences  is  either 
party  without  faith  of  being  in  the  right?  If  the  Almighty 
Ruler  of  nations,  with  his  eternal  truth  and  justice,  be  on  your 
side  of  the  North,  or  on  yours  of  the  South,  that  truth  and 
that  justice  will  surely  prevail  by  the  judgment  of  this  great 
tribunal,  the  American  people.  By  the  frame  of  the  Govern 
ment  under  which  we  live,  this  same  people  have  wisely  given 
their  public  servants  but  little  power  for  mischief,  and  have 
with,  equal  wisdom  provided  for  the  return  of  that  little  to  their 
own  hands  at  very  short  intervals.  While  the  people  retain 
their  virtue  and  vigilance,  no  administration,  by  any  extreme 
wickedness  or  folly,  can  very  seriously  injure  the  Government 
in  the  short  space  of  four  years. 

My  countrymen,  one  and  all.  think  calmly  and  well  upon 
this  whole  subject.  Nothing  valuable  can  be  lost  by  taking 
time. 

If  there  be  an  object  to  hurry  any  of  you,  in  hot  haste,  to 
a  step  which  you  would  never  take  deliberately,  that  object  will 
be  frustrated  by  taking  time ;  but  no  good  object  can  be  frus 
trated  by  it. 

Such  of  you  as  are  now  dissatisfied  still  have  the  old  Consti 
tution  unimpaired,  and  on  the  sensitive  point,  the  laws  of  your 
own  framing  under  it ;  while  the  new  administration  will  have 
no  immediate  power,  if  it  would,  to  change  either. 

If  it  were  admitted  that  you  who  are  dissatisfied  hold  the 
right  side  in  the  dispute,  there  is  still  no  single  reason  for  pre 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  211 

cipitate  action.  Intelligence,  patriotism,  Christianity,  and  a 
firm  reliance  on  Him  who  has  never  yet  forsaken  this  favored 
land,  are  still  competent  to  adjust,  in  the  best  way,  all  our  pres 
ent  difficulties. 

In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen,  and  not  in 
mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war.  The  Government 
will  not  assail  you. 

You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the 
aggressors.  You  have  no  oath  registered  in  Heaven  to  destroy 
the  Government;  while  I  shall  have  the  most  solemn  one  to 
"preserve,  protect,  and  defend"  it. 

I  am  loath  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends.  We 
must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained,  it 
must  not  break  our  bonds  of  affection. 

The  mystic  cords  of  memory,  stretching  from  every  battle 
field  and  patriot  grave  to  every  living  heart  and  hearthstone  all 
over  this  broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union, 
when  again  touched,  as  surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels 
of  our  nature. 

Both  to  the  large  assemblage  that  listened  to  the  distinct  recital 
of  this  address,  in  tones  which  made  every  word  audible  to  the 
throng,  and  to  loyal  men  everywhere,  as  it  was  brought  to  them  a 
few  minutes  or  hours  later,  by  the  aid  of  telegraph  and  printing 
press,  it  was  a  welcome  message.  The  people  saw  in  it  an  as 
surance  that  imbecility,  double-dealing,  or  treachery,  no  longer 
had  sway  in  the  nation  ;  that  the  new  President  was  determined  to 
carry  out  the  behests  of  the  people  in  maintaining  the  National 
integrity ;  and  that,  while  thus  faithfully  observing  his  official 
oath,  he  would  use  every  lawful  and  rational  means  to  avert  the 
convulsions  of  domestic  war.  He  distinctly  suggested  the 
holding  of  a  National  Constitutional  Convention,  which  would 
have  power  to  adjust  all  the  questions  properly  at  issue,  even 
including  peaceable  separation  in  a  lawful  manner,  by  a  change 
of  the  organic  law.  He  demonstrated  unanswerably  the  utter 
causelessness  of  war,  and  distinctly  assured  the  conspirators 
that  if  hostilities  were  commenced,  it  must  be  by  them,  and  not 
by  the  Government.  He  laid  down  a  line  of  policy  which,  had 
it  been  met  in  a  corresponding  spirit  on  the  other  side,  would 
inevitably  have  averted  disastrous  years  of  bloodshed  and  all 
their  consequences.  While  thus  announcing  his  views,  and 


212  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

reaffirming  sentiments  formerly  uttered  by  himself,  as  well  as 
those  of  the  political  convention  which  nominated  him  for  the 
Presidency,  he  also  plainly  indicated  that  the  benefits  secured 
by  the  Constitution  to  any  portion  of  the  people  could  not  be 
claimed  by  them  while  trampling  that  instrument  under  foot. 
He  told  them  plainly  that  the  course  he  thus  marked  out  was 
not  one  to  be  pursued  toward  rebels  who  should  plunge  the 
nation  in  war.  He  gave  them  seasonable  notice  that  no  immu 
nities  could  be  claimed  under  the  assurances  given  on  this  or 
any  other  occasion,  inconsistent  with  the  changed  condition  of 
affairs,  should  they  madly  appeal  to  arms. 

The  whole  address  breathes  an  earnest  yearning  for  an  hon 
orable  peace.  It  does  not,  however,  like  the  unfortunate  mes 
sage  of  his  predecessor,  of  the  previous  December,  base  the 
desire  for  peace  on  a  confessed  helplessness  of  the  Government 
or  an  indisposition  to  exert  its  power  of  self-preservation;  A 
new  political  era  had  begun,  and  true  patriots  breathed  more 
freely. 

One  of  the  first  duties  of  the  President  was  to  purge  the 
Government  of  disloyal  or  doubtful  men  in  responsible  places. 
Long-continued  Democratic  precedent  justified  a  general  change 
of  civil  officers,  from  highest  to  lowest,  on  the  ground  of  politi 
cal  differences  alone.  But  after  the  treasonable  developments 
of  the  previous  months  and  years,  a  thorough  sifting  of  all 
the  Departments  became  indispensable,  from  high  considera 
tions  of  duty,  on  the  basis  of  loyalty  and  disloyalty,  rather  than 
of  mere  partisanship.  No  practical  measures  could  be  adopted 
before  this  change  was  at  least  partially  accomplished.  The 
magnitude  of  such  a  work,  to  which  the  President  gave  the 
most  earnest  and  unwearying  attention  for  weeks,  need  not  be 
indicated.  The  patience  with  which  the  "claims  "  of  different 
candidates  for  place  were  weighed,  and  the  kindness  (tempered 
often  with  a  wholesome  firmness)  which  characterized  his 
deportment  toward  all,  usually  retained  the  confidence  and 
esteem  of  those  whom  he  felt  compelled  to  disappoint. 

It  was  during  the  days  between  his  arrival  in  Washington 
and  his  inauguration,  that  the  construction  of  his  Cabinet,  per 
haps  substantially  settled  in  his  own  mind  before  he  left  UK- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  213 

nois,  was  definitely  determined.  The  position  occupied  by  Mr. 
Seward  before  the  country,  was  such  as  to  leave  no  hesitation 
as  to  the  propriety  of  offering  him  the  highest  place  of 
honor  under  the  Executive,  as  Secretary  of  State.  This  posi 
tion  was,  at  an  early  day,  placed  at  Mr.  Seward's  disposal.  The 
office  of  Attorney  General  was,  with  like  promptitude,  tendered 
to  Judge  Bates,  of  Missouri,  whose  leading  position  as  a 
Southern  statesman,  with  anti-slavery  tendencies,  of  the  Clay 
school,  had  caused  his  name  to  be  prominently  and  widely  used 
in  connection  with  the  Presidency  before  the  nomination  for 
that  office,  made  at  Chicago.  Governor  Chase,  of  Ohio,  who 
had  recently  been  elected  to  a  second  term  in  the  Senate,  after 
four  years  of  useful  and  popular  service  in  the  executive  chair 
of  his  State,  perhaps  quite  as  early  occurred  to  the  mind  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  as  a  man  specially  fitted  to  manage  the  finances  of 
the  nation  through  the  troublous  times  that  were  felt  to  be 
approaching.  This  difficult  post  Mr.  Chase  surrendered  his 
seat  in  the  Senate  to  accept.  Mr.  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania, 
selected  as  Secretary  of  War ;  Mr.  Welles,  of  Connecticut,  as 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  Mr.  Montgomery  Blair,  of  Mary 
land,  as  Postmaster  General,  were  all  leading  representatives  of 
the  Democratic  element  of  the  party  which  had  triumphed  in 
the  late  election.  Mr.  Caleb  B.  Smith,  of  Indiana,  a  contempo 
rary  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  Congress,  and  for  years  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  Whig  politicians  of  the  West,  was  tendered  the 
place  of  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  which  he  accepted. 

It  deserves*  remark  here,  that  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  who 
had  received-  a  large  popular  vote  at  the  Presidential  election, 
and  whose  strength  in  the  electoral  college  made  him  the  tl  ird 
of  four  Presidential  nominees,  was  at  this  time  in  Washington, 
and  his  appointment  to  a  place  in  the  Cabinet,  as  a  loyal  Border 
State  man,  was  desired  by  many,  especially  in  the  West.  But 
Mr.  Blair,  an  avowed  Anti-Slavery  man,  and  viewed  as  one  of 
the  most  radical  of  Republicans,  was  preferred  to  Mr.  Bell, 
zealous  partisan  opponent,  and  one  whose  unreliable  character 
as  developed  by  his  sudden  defection  to  the  Rebel  cause,  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  was  not  slow  to  perceive. 

Next  to  the  indispensable  and  primary  duty  of  securing,  in 


214  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  places  under  him,  trustworthy  men,  in  sympathy  with  him 
self  as  to  the  great  questions  uppermost  in  the  public  mind, 
was  that  of  more  directly  preparing,  at  home  and  abroad,  to 
grapple  with  the  rebellion,  now  fully  organized  at  Montgomery, 
and  manifestly  emerging,  with  mad  haste,  into  open  hostilities. 
This  work  involved  nice  problems  of  foreign  diplomacy,  as  well 
as  prudent  care,  at  once  to  avert  divisions  in  the  loyal  States 
when  the  sharp  crisis  should  come,  and  to  place  the  onus  of 
commencing  civil  war  unequivocally  upon  the  secession  leaders, 
if  it  were  to  begin.  The  utmost  energy  was  also  needed  in  so 
prearranging  affairs  that  means  might  not  be  wanting  when 
battle  should  be  forced  upon  the  nation. 

In  this  view,  much  of  the  seeming  mystery  which  enveloped 
the  six  weeks  preceding  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  disappears 
without  inquiring  into  State  secrets,  if,  at  this  period,  there 
were  such,  over  wrhich  the  curtain  should  still  rest. 

For  several  days  the  inaugural  address  was  quietly  working 
its  way  among  the  people,  giving  heart  to  the  supporters  of 
.  the  Government  and  startling  the  conspirators  by  its  calm  and 
telling  appeal  to  thinking  men  every-where.  With  the  Rebel 
leaders  it  became  a  study  to  prevent  the  natural  effect  of  this 
State  paper  upon  those  whom  they  wished  to  follow  them,  not 
only  in  the  eight  Slave  States  which  had,  as  yet,  held  back 
from  the  fatal  step,  but  even  in  those  States  already  in  insur 
rection.  They  scrupled  at  nothing  in  their  attempts  to  ward 
off  its  influence  and  to  pervert  the  attitude  of  the  Government. 
At  the  same  time  they  were  zealous  and  active  in  completing 
the  direct  preparations  for  war  which  had  been  commenced 
many  months  before. 

Equally  busy,  and  for  a  much  longer  period,  had  they  been 
in  poisoning  the  public  mind  of  Europe.  The  diplomatic 
agents  employed  by  Mr.  Buchanan  had  been,  in  large  propor 
tion,  from  the  Slave  States,  and  of  those  from  the  North  some 
were  far  from  manifesting  a  genuine  fidelity  to  the  Government 
that  had  accredited  them.  To  change  these  Foreign  Ministers 
and  Consuls,  and  to  instruct  their  successors,  was  not  the  work 
of  a  day,  nor  did  a  removal  of  these  men  from  office  by  any 
means  necessarily  involve  their  retirement  from  the  vantage- 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  215 

ground  they  had  gained.  They  had  rather  been  largely  rein 
forced  by  numerous  emissaries  sent  abroad  during  the  preceding 
autumn  and  winter. 

It  was  the  early  care  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Administration, 
through  the  polished  pen  of  Mr.  Seward,  and  through  the  new 
diplomats  sent  abroad,  to  counteract  these  influences.  From 
this  period  commenced  the  gradual  formation  and  concentration 
of  a  public  sentiment  abroad  favorable  to  the  Government. 
Yet  the  change  was  not  immediately  apparent,  and  the  work 
was  a  slow  and  toilsome  one.  The  aim  to  convince  Foreign 
Nations  that  the  malcontents  were  clearly  and  wholly  in  the 
wrong,  that  the  intentions  of  the  Government  were  pacific,  and 
that  there  was  no  revolutionary  purpose  of  overturning  South 
ern  society  while  the  dissentients  yielded  obedience  to  the 
Constitution  and  the  laws,  can  not  have  failed  of  speedy  success 
with  candid  and  thoughtful  men  abroad  as  well  as  at  home. 
On  whom  the  whole  responsibility  of  war  would  rest,  should 
war  come,  no  longer  admitted  of  doubt. 

The  Montgomery  "  Congress,"  on  the  9th  of  March,  passed 
an  act,  pursuant  to  the  recommendation  of  Mr.  Davis,  for  the 
organization  of  a  Confederate  army.  Three  days  later  Mr. 
Forsyth,  of  Alabama,  and  Mr.  Crawford,  of  Georgia,  presented 
themselves  at  the  State  Department  in  Washington,  in  the  atti 
tude  of  "Confederate  -Commissioners,"  with  the  pretended 
purpose  of  seeking  to  negotiate  a  treaty,  on  the  assumption  of 
representing  "  an  independent  nation  de  facto  and  de  jure" 
While  well  knowing,  both  from  the  nature  of  the  controversy, 
and  from  the  distinct  avowals  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  inaugural 
address,  that  this  preliminary  claim,  if  noticed  at  all,  would  be 
promptly  rejected,  and  passing  over  altogether  the  President's 
frank  and  honorable  suggestion  of  a  National  Convention,  in 
which  all  the  States  should  be  represented  and  'all  grievances 
listened  to  and  constitutionally  adjusted,  they  presumed  to 
assert  that  the  persons  represented  by  them  "  earnestly  desire 
a  peaceful  solution  "  of  the  "great  questions  "  "  growing  out  of 
this  political  separation."  The  President  declined  all  recogni 
tion  of  these  negotiating  parties,  and,  with  a  simple  "  memo 
randum  "  of  Mr.  Seward,  apprising  them  of  this  fact,  was 


216  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

inclosed  a  copy  of  the  inaugural  address,  to  which  they  were 
referred  for  the  views  controlling  the  Government,  and  which, 
in  fact,  had  undoubtedly  been  carefully  perused  by  them  before 
undertaking  this  false  mission,  intended  solely  for  diplomatic 
effect,  both  in  the  loyal  States  and  in  Europe. 

To  the  Government  this  dilatory  episode  gave  a  few  days  of 
much  needed  time  for  the  work  now  in  hand.  These  "  Com 
missioners  "  at  length  retired  from  Washington,  discharging 
their  Parthian  arrow,  in  the  shape  of  a  final  communication  to 
the  Secretary  of  State,  on  the  9th  of  April.  It  was  an  evidence 
of  that  forbearance  manifested  by  Mr.  Lincoln  through  all  the 
earliest  stages  of  this  conflict,  a  forbearance  the  value  of  which 
all  the  world  can  now  appreciate,  however  distasteful  to  more 
excitable  minds  at  the  time,  that  these  defiant  rebels  were  per 
mitted  to  return  to  their  homes,  instead  of  taking  their  well- 
earned  place  within  prison  walls. 

Five  weeks  and  more  had  now  passed  since  the  inauguration, 
and  the  situation  of  affairs  in  Fort  Sumter,  to  which  the  gallant 
Anderson  had  transferred  his  little  garrison  of  seventy  men 
from  Fort  Moultrie,  near  the  close  of  the  year,  portended  an 
approaching  crisis.  The  overt  act  of  war  had  long  since  been 
committed  by  the  Charleston  rebels,  in  firing  on  the  Star  of 
the  West  as  she  went  to  carry  relief  to  that  Fort,  on  which 
beleaguering  batteries,  not  before  unmasked,  were  already  pre 
paring  to  open.  The  supply  vessel  turned  back,  and  though 
nearly  two  months  had  passed  before  Mr.  Buchanan  vacated 
the  Presidential  chair,  his  Administration  was  permitted  to 
expire  without  an  attempt  to  retrieve  that  humiliation. 

As  time  wore  on,  no  military  preparations,  as  yet,  being 
visible,  Messrs.  Forsyth  and  Crawford  being  known  to  be  still 
in  Washington,  without  any  thing  being  positively  disclosed  as 
to  the  character  of  their  intercourse  with  the  State  Department, 
and  those  persons  having  been  finally  permitted  to  depart,  with 
only  the  public  certainty  that  they  had  been  denied  official 
recognition,  a  general  uneasiness  began  to  pervade  the  popular 
mind.  This  growing  discontent  was  fanned  by  the  positive 
assertions  of  busy  quidnuncs  that  Fort  Sumter  was  to  be 
evacuated  in  obedience  to  the  demand  of  the  Charleston  traitors. 


' 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  217 

The  visit  of  Mr.  Fox  to  Major  Anderson  on  the  22d  day  of 
March,  afforded  little  relief  to  the  current  anxiety,  so  conflict 
ing  were  the  reports  as  to  the  purpose  of  his  mission.  The 
visit  of  still  another  supposed  agent  of  the  Government  to 
Charleston,  three  days  later,  was  generally  construed  unfa 
vorably.  Sanguine  and  nervous  people  were  beginning  to 
despond,  or  to  speak  openly  of  "  weakness  and  vacillation  "  on 
the  part  of  the  President.  It  was  only  those  who  did  not 
thoroughly  know  Mr.  Lincoln  who  could  seriously  have  doubted 
him  for  a  moment.  And  yet,  the  stranger  lingering  in  the 
capital  during  those  calm  yet  dubious  days  which  preceded  the 
outburst  of  a  storm,  every  moment's  delay  of  which  was  an 
incalculable  gain  to  the  Government,  would  almost  have  pro 
nounced  the  Administration  doomed  to  ignominious  failure,  to 
popular  repudiation,  such  as  a  counter-revolution  of  loyal  men 
in  the  North  must  inevitably  follow,  at  the  very  outset  of  its 
career. 

To  omit  to  record  this  state  of  things,  vividly  impressed  as 
it  must  be  on  the  mind  of  every  man  in  Washington,  who 
observed  events  from  the  outside,  would  be  to  lea\e  out  the 
most  striking  view  in  the  foreground  of  the  picture.  When 
taken  in  connection  with  subsequent  events,  it  would  also  be  as 
unjust  to  the  fame  of  President  Lincoln,  as  false  to  the  facts  of 
history. 

It  was  during  this  period  that  Mr.  Alexander  H.  Stephens, 
(who,  recreant  to  the  sterling  words  in  which,  a  few  short 
months  earlier,  he  had  denounced  this  insane  attempt  to  destroy 
the  best  Government  on  earth,  for  no  real  grievance  whatever, 
but  solely  to  gratify  and  revenge  the  thwarted  ambition  of 
defeated  politicians,  was  now  enjoying  the  mimic  honors  of  the 
"  Confederate"  Vice  Presidency,)  delivered  a  remarkable  speech 
in  the  city  of  Savannah,  (March  21,)  which  must  also  have  its 
permanent  place  in  the  annals  of  the  time.  The  over-crowded 
audience,  the  enthusiastic  applause,  the  solemnities  of  the  occa 
sion,  and  the  known,  frank,  and  positive  character  of  the  man, 
all  combine  to  mark  this  utterance  as  a  genuine  reproduction  of 
the  thought  and  purpose  of  the  chief  conspirators,  and  their 
ready  followers,  at  this  hour.  Only  some  of  its  chief  points 


218  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

can  be  recalled  here,  as  showing  both  the  estimate  placed  upon 
Mr.  Lincoln's  official  action  hitherto,  and  the  real  animus  of  the 
rebellion,  when  relieved  of  the  disguises  which  Stephens  had 
already  stripped  off  in  his  anti-secession  speech  on  the  19th  of 
January,  in  the  Georgia  Convention. 

After  proceeding  at  some  length  to  point  out  the  "  Improve 
ments  "  he  discerned  in  the  Montgomery  Constitution  over  that 
which  the  seven    "Confederate   States"  had   repudiated.  Mr. 
Stephens  said : 

But  not  to  be  tedious  in  enumerating  the  numerous  chant  es 

for  the  better,  allow  me  to  allude  to   one  other though  layt, 

not  least :  The  new  Constitution  has  put  at  rest  foreverall  the 
agitating  questions  relating  to  our  peculiar  institutions— African 
slavery  as  it  exists  among  us — the  proper  status  of  the  negro  in 
our  form  of  civilization.  This  was  the  immediate  cause  of  the 
late  rupture  and  present  revolution.  Jeiferson,  in  his  forecast, 
had  anticipated  this,  as  the  rock  upon  which  the  old  ILiion 
would  split.  He  was  right.  What  was  conjecture  with  him, 
is  now  a  realized  fact.  But  whether  he  fully  comprehended 
the  great  truth  upon  which  that  rock  stood  and  stands,  may  be 
doubted.  The  prevailing  ideas,  entertained  ly  him  and  most  of 
the  leading  statesmen,  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  old 
Constitution,  were,  that  the  enslavement  of  the  African  was  in 
violation  of  the  laws  of  nature ;  that  it  was  WRONG  IN  PRINCI 
PLE,  SOCIALLY,  MORALLY  AND  POLITICALLY.  It  was  an  evil 

they  knew  not  well  how  to  deal  with  ;  but  the  general  opinion 
of  the  men  of  that  day  was,  that,  somehow  or  other,  in  the  order 
of  Providence,  the  institution  would  be  evanescent  and  pass  away. 

Let  us  pause  here,  for  a  moment,  to  consider  this  distinct 
concession — truthful  in  every  word — as  to  the  views  of  Jeffer 
son  "  and  most  of  the  leading  statesmen"  of  the  Constitutional 
era.  How  perfectly  this  agrees  with  the  admission,  two  months 
earlier,  that  under  an  eminently  Southern  administration  of  the 
Government  under  the  Constitution,  for  a  long  period  of  years, 
the  South  had  no  grievance  whatever  to  complain  of !  Still 
more  striking  is  the  suggestion  which  this  passage  makes  of 
that  portion  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  celebrated  Springfield  speech, 
quoted  by  the  author  of  the  elaborate  paper,  in  imitation  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  setting  forth  the  causes  of 
South  Carolina's  secession,  when  he  says  : 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  219 

Observing  the  forms  of  the  Constitution,  a  sectional  party 
has  found  within  that  article  establishing  the  Executive  Depart 
ment,  the  means  of  subverting  the  Constitution  itself.  A 
geographical* line  has  been  drawn  across  the  Union,  and  all  the 
States  north  of  that  line  have  united  in  the  election  of  a  man 
to  the  high  office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  whose 
opinions  and  purposes  are  hostile  to  slavery.  He  is  to  be 
intrusted  with  the  administration  of  the  common  government, 
because  he  has  declared  that  that  "  Government  can  not  endure 
permanently  half  slave,  half  free,"  and  that  the  public  mind 
must  rest  in  the  belief  that  slavery  is  in  the  course  of  ultimate 
extinction. 

Setting  aside  the  special  pleading  and  inaccurate  statement 
of  the  South  Carolinian,  how  completely  is  he  answered  at 
every  point  by  the  Georgian,  who  had  already,  beyond  a  doubt, 
carefully  perused  the  former's  argument!  In  a  word,  Stephens 
fairly  and  honorably  concedes  that  the  exact  position  held  by 
Jefferson,  and  most  of  his  contemporary  statesmen,  in  regard 
to  slavery,  is  precisely  that  which  Mr.  Rhett,  even  in  his  less 
candid  effusion,  attributes  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  both  practically 
unite  in  bearing  testimony  to  th£  following  clear  enunciation 
of  the  grand  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  rebellion,  as  stated  in 
his  Savannah  speech  by  Mr.  Stephens,  after  pronouncing  these 
ideas  of  Jefferson  and  his  contemporaries  to  be  "  fundamentally 
wrong,"  as  resting  "  upon  the  assumption  of  the  equality  of 
races :" 

Our  new  Government  is  founded  upon  exactly  the  opposite 
ideas.  Its  foundations  are  laid,  its  corner-stone  rests,  upon  the 
great  truth  that  the  negro  is  not  equal  to  the  white  man ;  that 
slavery,  subordination  to  the  superior  race,  is  his  natural  and 
normal  condition.  This,  our  new  Government,  is  the  first,  in 
the  history  of  the  world,  BASED  UPON  this  great  physical,  philo 
sophical,  and  moral  truth.  ^  ^  *  ^  *  ^  It  is  upon 
this,  as  I  have  stated,  our  social  fabric  is  firmly  planted ;  and  I 
can  not  permit  myself  to  doubt  the  ultimate  success  of  a  full 
recognition  of  this  principle  throughout  the  civilized  and  en 
lightened  world.  *  *  *  *  This  stone  which  was  rejected 
by  the  first  builders,  "  is  become  the  chief  stone  of  the  corner"  in 
our  new  edifice. 


220  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Mr.  Stephens,  after  discussing  the  ability  of  the  seven  States 
already  banded  together  to  go  on  in  their  undertaking  without 
the  "  Border  States,"  and  the  hopes  and  wishes  entertained  in 
regard  to  the  latter,  goes  on  to  discuss  the  prospect  in  regard 
to  hostilities  with  the  National  Government,  as  follows  : 

As  to  whether  we  shall  have  war  with  our  late  confederates, 
or  whether  all  matters  of  difference  between  us  shall  be  amica 
bly  settled,  I  can  only  say  th.it  the  prospect  for  a  peaceful 
adjustment  is  letter,  so  far  as  1  am  informed,  than  it  has  been. 
The  prospect  of  war  is,  at  least,  not  so  threatening  as  it  has 
been.  The  idea  of  coercion,  shadowed  forth  in  Mr.  Lincoln's 
inaugural,  seems  not  to  be  followed  iip,  thus  far,  so  vigorously  as 
was  expected.  Fort  Sumter,  it  is  believed,  will  soon  be  evacuated. 
What  course  will  be  pursued  toward  Fort  Pickens,  and  the 
other  forts  on  the  Gulf,  is  not  so  well  understood.  It  is  to  be 
greatly  desired  that  all  of  them  should  be  surrendered.  Our 
object  is  peace,  not  only  with  the  North,  but  with  the  world. 

*  *  *  The  idea  of  coercing  us,  or  subjugating  us,  is 
utterly  preposterous.  Whether  the  intention  of  evacuating 
Fort  Suniter  is  to  be  received  as  an  evidence  of  a  desire  for  a 
peaceful  solution  of  our  difficulties  with  the  United  States,  or 
the  result  of  necessity,  I  will  not  undertake  to  say.  I  would 
fain  hope  the  former.  Rumors  are  afloat,  however,  that  it  is 
the  result  of  necessity.  All  I  can  say  to  you,  therefore,  on  that 
point,  is,  keep  your  armor  bright,  and  your  powder  dry. 

That  Mr.  Stephens  well  understood  the  impossibility  of  peace 
on  the  only  terms  he  ventured  even  to  hint,  is  sufficiently  man 
ifest,  and  his  reporter  further  adds,  referring  to  a  later  part  of 
his  speech : 

He  alluded  to  the  difficulties  and  embarrassments  which 
seemed  to  surround  the  question  of  a  peaceful  solution  of  the 
controversy  with  the  old  Government.  How  can  it  be  done  ? 
is  perplexing  many  minds.  The  President  seems  to  think  that 
he  can  not  recognize  our  independence,  nor  can  he,  with  and  by 
the  advice,  of  the  Senate,  do  so.  The  Constitution  makes  no  such 
provision.  A  general  convention  of  all  the  States  has  been  sug 
gested  by  some. 

He  closed  without  recommending  this,  or  any  other  practi 
cable  method  of  peace — which,  perhaps,  for  himself  he  would 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  221 

have  consented  to — well  knowing  that  quite  another  policy  was 
predetermined  "by  conspirators  older  in  the  work  than  he,  and 
to  whose  scheme  he  had  already  undoubtedly  given  his  full 
consent. 

The  Rebels  saw  no  hope  but  in  war.  Any  thing  short  of 
that  would  amount  only  to  a  brief  ebullition,  in  the  States  in 
which  insurrection  was  already  dominant.  Something  was  yet 
needed  to  "  fire  the  Southern  heart."  All  the  initiated  knew 
that  the  match  was  soon  to  be  applied  to  the  industriously  pre 
pared  train.  They  may  have  dreamed  of  the  surrender  of 
Sumter  or  Pickensas  a  military  necessity  ;  but  they  little  under 
stood  the  purpose  of  the  President,  if  it  was  ever  thought  pos 
sible  on  any  other  ground.  They  certainly  greatly  mistook  his 
intentions,  in  either  event. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  close  of  the  last  Adminis 
tration  found,  still  in  the  office  of  the  Adjutant-General  of  the 
Army,  a  man  (General  Cooper)  who  now  holds  a  like  position 
in  the  Confederate  service.  The  Departments  and  the  city  were 
filled  with  men  of  like  sympathy,  whose  knowledge  of  affairs 
enabled  them  to  communicate  immediate  information  as  to  every 
movement  inaugurated,  and  even  of  the  avowed  purposes  or 
projects  of  every  high  officer  of  the  Government,  civil  or 
military.  Men  deemed  entirely  trustworthy  and  faithful,  even, 
were  afterward  found  to  have  been  in  complicity  with  the 
traitors,  and  not  a  few  holding  military  commissions — which 
could  not  be  revoked  without  positive  grounds — were  regarded 
as  doubtful.  For  a  time  it  was  uncertain  how  far  any  one — 
with  a  few  noble  exceptions — in  responsible  places,  in  Army  or 
Navy,  could  be  relied  on  for  a  cordial  support  of  any  efficient 
policy,  even  of  defense.  The  event  has  shown  how  well 
founded,  in  numerous  instances  beside  that  of  General  Cooper, 
was  this  distrust. 

Mr.  Lincoln  fully  appreciated  his  surroundings.  Disloyalty 
was  rampant  among  the  citizens  of  the  capital.  In  the  Depart 
ments,  or  just  relieved  therefrom,  were  men  who  watched  every 
move,  and  were  anxious  to  aid  the  rebellion.  The  sifting  pro 
cess  has  been  steadily  going  on,  yet  how  impossible  was  au 
immediate  purification,  is  manifest.  Under  all  the  circumstances 

• 


222  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  his  position,  the  President  had  no  resource  but  to  keep  his 
own  counsel.  Inexperienced  in  military  affairs,  he  had  the  ready 
advice  and  faithful  service  of  the  illustrious  head  of  the  Army, 
Lieutenant-General  Scott.  True  and  loyal  as  that  veteran 
General  was,  however,  his  political  sympathies  had  never  gone 
with  the  now  dominant  party,  while  his  Virginian  birth  and 
associations  led  him  to  shrink  from  every  appearance  of 
attempted  coercion.  It  is  no  secret  that  General  Scott  openly 
and  earnestly  advocated  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter — on 
military,  if  not  also  on  political,  grounds.  It  is  believed  that 
he  carried  over  nearly  every  Cabinet  Minister  to  his  views. 
The  President,  while  adjusting  his  new  agencies,  and  learning 
the  spirit  of  the  men  about  him,  in  the  Army  and  in  the  Navy, 
as  well  as  awaiting,  with  attentive  eye,  the  developments  of 
opinion  and  action,  in  both  sections,  allowed  the  consideration 
of  this  question  to  be  continued,  from  day  to  day,  without 
indicating  his  purpose.  The  emissaries  who  waited  here  on 
their  false  diplomatic  mission  kept  duly  apprised,  through 
channels  easily  imaginable  after  what  has  since  transpired,  of 
the  opinions  of  General  Scott  and  the  deliberations  thereon. 
They  had  constantly  communicated  with  the  leaders  at  home, 
it  being  deemed  expedient  to  allow,  during  all  this  period,  free 
intercourse  by  mail  and  telegraph.  The  result  was  a  general 
impression  at  the  South — for  which  no  word  of  the  Chief 
P^xecutive  ever  gave  any  warrant,  although  he  obviously  had  no 
occasion  to  correct  any  such  misconception — that  Fort  Sumter 
was  to  be  evacuated,  and  that  no  attempt  would  be  made  to 
reinforce  Fort  Pickens. 

The  parting  missive  of  these  pseudo-diplomats,  on  the  9th 
of  April,  makes  the  following  statement  on  this  point  (addressed 
to  Mr.  Seward): 

The  memorandum  [of  the  Secretary  of  State,  before  referred 
to,]  is  dated  March  15,  and  was  not  delivered  until  April  8. 
Why  was  it  withheld  during  the  intervening  twenty-three  days  ? 
In  the  postscript  to  your  memorandum  you  say  it  "  was  delayed, 
as  was  understood,  with  their  (Messrs.  Forsyth  and  Crawford's) 
consent."  This  is  true;  but  it  is  also  true  that,  OR  the  ~\.Dth  of 
March,  Messrs.  Forsyth  and  Crawford  were  assured  by  a  person  occu~ 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  223 

pying  a  high  official  position  in  the  Government,  and  icJio,  as  they 
believed ',  teas  speaking  by  authority ',  that  Fort  Sumtcr  would  be 
evacuated  within  a  very  few  days,  and  that  no  measure  changing 
the  existing  status,  prejudicially  to  the  Confederate  States,  as 
respects  Fort  Piekeus,  was  then  contemplated,  and  these  assur 
ances  were  subsequently  repeated,  with  the  addition  that*  any 
contemplated  change,  as  respects  Pickens,  icould  be  notified  to 
vs.  On  the  1st  of  April  we  were  again  informed  that  there 
might  be  an  attempt  to  supply  Fort  Sumter  with  provisions,  but 
that  Governor  Pickens  should  have  previous  notice  of  the 
attempt.  There  was  no  suggestion  of  reinforcements.  The 
undersigned  did  not  hesitate  to  believe  that  these  assurances 
expressed  the  intentions  of  the  Administration  at  the  time,  or,  at 
all  events,  of  prominent  members  of  that  Administration.  This 
delay  was  assented  to,  for  the  express  purpose  of  attaining  the 
great  end  of  the  mission  of  the  undersigned,  to-wit :  A  pacific 
solution  of  existing  complications.  *  *  *  The  intervening 
twenty-three  days  were  employed  in  active  unofficial  efforts,  the 
object  of  which  was  to  smooth  the  path  to  a  pacific  solution, 
the  distinguished  personage  alluded  to  cooperating  with  the  under 
signed  ;  and  every  step  of  that  effort  is  recorded  in  writing,  and 
now  in  possession  of  the  undersigned  and  of  their  Government. 
*  *  *  #  It  is  proper  to  add  that,  during  these  twenty- 
three  days,  two  gentlemen  of  official  distinction,  as  high  as  that 
of  the  personage  hitherto  alluded  to,  aided  the  undersigned  as 
intermediaries  in  these  unofficial  negotiations  for  peace. 

Without  stopping  to  inquire  how  far  the  veracity  of  a  docu 
ment,  conceived  in  such  a  spirit  and  designed  for  immediate 
effect,  North  and  South,  is  to  be  implicitly  relied  em,  it  is 
enough  to  say  that,  by  its  very  terms,  this  paper  shows  clearly 
that  neither  the  President,  nor  any  one  authorized  in  any  man 
ner  to  speak  for  him,  ever  gave  the  assurances  stated,  even  in 
unofficial  intercourse.  If  these  conspirators  were  deceived  by 
"  intermediaries,"  holding  responsible  places  in  the  Govern 
ment,  yet  so  abusing  the  confidence  of  their  superiors  as  to 
communicate  their  military  plans  to  the  emissaries  of  rebels 
who  had  already  levied  war  against  the  Government,  and  fired 
upon  its  flag,  it  is  manifest  that  neither  Mr.  Lincoln  nor  his 
Constitutional  advisers  need  regret  the  deception.  The  Presi 
dent,  however,  it  is  proper  distinctly  to  state3  never  had  the 


224  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

slightest  knowledge  of  the  communications  alleged,  if  they 
ever  took  place. 

It  should  also  be  definitely  stated  here,  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
(whatever  military  or  civil  advisers  may  have  imagined)  never 
seriously  entertained  the  purpose  of  peaceably  and  voluntarily 
abandoning  any  Government  fortifications  or  property.  Much 
less  was  he  prepared  to  leave  the  gallant  garrisons  of  Forts 
Sumter  and  Pickens  to  starvation  or  humiliating  surrender. 

As  early  as  the  18th  of  March,  General  Bragg,  then  in  com 
mand  of  the  Confederate  forces  at  Pensacola,  issued  his  order 
cutting  off  supplies  of  every  kind  from  Fort  Pickens  as  well  ag 
from  the  "  armed  vessels  of  the  United  States,"  then  in  tht 
harbor — a  military  step  toward  the  reduction  of  the  fort,  in 
marked  contrast  with  the  pacific  professions  and  affected  good 
faith  set  forth  in  the  Rebel  document  just  quoted  from.  An 
intention  of  precipitating  more  active  hostilities  there  was 
plainly  indicated  by  the  insurgents,  and  the  necessity  of  deci 
sive  action  on  the  part  of  the  Government  was  apparent.  A 
small  fleet,  of  eight  vessels,  was  got  in  readiness  with  all  pos 
sible  expedition,  (including  the  two  sloops-of-war,  Pawnee  and 
Powhatan,  with  transports  carrying  troops  and  supplies.)  the 
first  of  which  set  sail  from  the  Washington  Navy-Yard  on  the 
6th  of  April,  and  the  remainder  during  the  next  three  days. 
The  orders  were  sealed,  but  the  movement  could  not  be  alto 
gether  a  secret.  In  fact,  it  seems  to  have  been  almost  immedi 
ately  known  at  the  headquarters  of  secession  in  the  South. 
While  a  portion  of  this  fleet  paused  off  Charleston  harbor,  the 
remainder  saved  Fort  Pickens  by  a  timely  reinforcement. 

On  the  7th  of  April,  General  Beauregard,  at  Charleston, 
followed  his  co-laborer  at  Pensacola,  and  issued  an  order,  notice 
of  which  was  sent  to  Major  Anderson,  prohibiting  further 
intercourse  between  that  fort  and  the  city.  This  was  another 
military  step,  backed  by  the  rapid  concentration  of  Rebel  troops 
at  Charleston,  toward  compelling  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter. 
It  left  no  course  to  the  Government  short  of  furnishing  supplies 
to  the  garrison  of  that  sea-girt  fort.  And  how  careful  the  Presi 
dent  was,  from  the  outset,  to  avoid,  so  far  as  was  possible,  every 
act  that  might  even  unwarrantably  provoke  a  collision  of  arms, 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  225 

is  well  illustrated  in  this  instance.  On  the  8th  of  April — the 
day  after  Beauregard's  hostile  order — the  President  caused  the 
parties  interested  at  Charleston  to  be  officially  informed  that 
provisions  were  to  be  dispatched  to  Major  Anderson  by  an 
unarmed  vessel.  It  is  easy  to  see  on  which  side  the  true 
pacific  purpose  lay.  The  act  of  war,  commenced  by  firing  on 
the  Star  of  the  West,  in  January,  was  renewed  by  Beauregard 
in  the  attempt  to  starve  out  Major  Anderson.  This  renewal, 
again,  was  met  by  the  mere  effort  to  supply,  in  a  peaceable  way, 
the  rations  of  a  garrison  that  could  not  thus  be  abandoned. 

Beauregard  at  once  communicated  the  movement,  thus  offi 
cially  explained,  to  the  Rebel  Secretary  of  War,  and,  under 
special  instructions,  received  April  10th,  demanded,  on  the  fol 
lowing  day,  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter — the  indisputable 
property  of  the  Federal  Government,  the  right  of  domain  and 
jurisdiction  over  which  had  been  expressly  and  solemnly 
granted  to  that  Government  by  the  uncancelled  vote  of  South 
Carolina  herself.  The  demand  was  courteously  refused.  Major 
Anderson  was  again  called  on  to  name  a  time  at  which  he  would 
evacuate  the  fort,  meanwhile  committing  no  hostile  act.  That 
officer  replied,  on  the  12th,  that  he  would,  "  if  provided  with 
the  proper  and  necessary  means  of  transportation,  evacuate 
Fort  Surnter  by  noon  on  the  15th  instant,"  should  he  not 
"  receive,  prior  to  that  time,  controlling  instructions"  from  the 
Government,  "  or  additional  supplies."  To  this  eminently 
peaceful  and  reasonable  proposition,  the  reply  was  returned 
that  the  commandant  of  "  the  provisional  forces  of  the  Confed 
erate  States  "  would  open  the  fire  of  his  batteries  on  Fort 
Sumter  in  one  hour  from  the  date  of  this  "  pacific  "  message, 
"April  12,  1861,  2:30  A.  M."  This  "  Confederate"  assurance 
accorded  with  the  result.  After  enduring  the  long-continued 
fire  of  numerous  batteries,  Anderson  and  his  garrison  of 
seventy  men  were  compelled  to  surrender  the  fort  to  Beaure 
gard  and  his  seven  thousand  rebels  in  arms. 

Thus  began  in  dread  earnest,  by  a  clearly  unwarrantable  and 

unprovoked  act,  following  repeated  protestations  of  a  desire  for 

a  "  peaceable  solution"  of  troubles  resulting  solely  from  the 

constitutional  election  of  a  President,  confessedly  standing  on 

Id 


226  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  same  platform,  in  regard  to  special  Southern  interests,  as 
Jefferson,  and  most  of  the  founders  of  the  Government,  a  civil 
war,  designed  to  establish  a  new  Government  on  the  chief  cor 
ner-stone  of  slavery,  and  to  revolutionize  the  opinions  of  the 
civilized  world  in  regard  to  that  system.  Whatever  could  be 
done  to  avert  this  final  step,  was  patiently,  kindly,  sincerely 
done  by  Abraham  Lincoln.  All  truthful  history  will  record 
this  of  him,  through  all  ages,  to  his  lasting  praise.  No  rough 
passion,  no  fretful  impatience,  no  revengeful  impulse,  ever 
ruffled  his  spirit  during  all  these  days  of  suspense.  But  the 
gauntlet  was  at  length  thrown  down,  and  no  alternative  was 
left  but  to  meet  force  with  force. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  227 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Loyal  Uprising. — The  Border  Slave  States. — Summary  of  Events, 
Battle  of  Bull  Run. 

THE  first  effect  of  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter  was  to  silence,  for 
the  time,  all  opposition  to  the  President  in  the  Free  States. 
One  sentiment  was  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  all  loyal  people — 
that  of  indignation  at  the  authors  of  the  war,  now  inaugu 
rated  at  Charleston,  mingled  with  the  purpose  of  vindicating 
the  National  Flag,  and  of  restoring  the  legitimate  authority  of 
the  Government  in  all  the  States.  Wherever  a  contrary  feeling 
existed,  the  strong  manifestations  of  popular  enthusiasm  for 
che  Government  caused  such  treachery  to  be  carefully  dis 
guised.  For  once,  the  people  of  the  Free  States  were  a  unit  in 
action.  The  demand  for  vigorous  preparation  to  protect  the 
National  Capital,  and  to  suppress  the  insurrection,  was  univer 
sal.  Simultaneously  with  this  development  of  loyalty,  Mr. 
Lincoln  prepared  his  proclamation  of  April  15th,  calling  on 
the  States  for  their  several  proportions  of  an  army  of  seventy- 
five  thousand  men.  He  also,  in  the  same  paper,  called  an 
extra  session  of  Congress,  to  commence  on  the  4th  day  of  July 
following. 

A  like  unanimity  had  been  hoped  by  the  conspirators  in 
every  Slave  State.  It  was,  perhaps,  chiefly  in  order  to  produce 
this  effect,  that  the  responsibility  of  beginning  the  war  was 
assumed  by  the  Rebel  leaders.  As  yet  the  seven  States  which 
had  originally  entered  into  the  Confederacy  at  Montgomery  had 
received  no  accessions  from  the  eight  remaining  States,  sup 
posed  to  have  a  common  interest  with  them,  from  a  common 
peculiarity  of  institutions.  On  the  very  next  day  after  that 
combination  was  entered  into  (February  9),  the  people  of  Ten 
nessee  had  voted  against  secession,  by  a  large  majority.  On  the 


228  LIFE    OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

1st  day  of  March  a  similar  vote  had  been  taken  in  Missouri. 
On  the  4th  day  of  April,  a  secession  ordinance  had  been 
rejected  in  the  State  Convention  of  Virginia,  by  a  vote  of  45 
yeas  and  89  nays.  In  Maryland,  the  firmness  and  earnest  loy 
alty  of  Gov.  Hicks  had  defeated  all  the  schemes  for  assem 
bling  a  convention  in  that  State  to  consider  the  question  of  seces 
sion.  Delaware  had  manifested  a  decided  Union  spirit,  and  the 
canvass  on  this  question  in  Arkansas  had  thus  far  developed 
a  strong  disinclination  to  embark  in  the  disunion  scheme  of 
Davis  and  his  fellow-conspirators.  In  North  Carolina  and 
Kentucky,  all  the  efforts  to  seduce  the  people  into  rebellion 
appeared  to  have  been  of  little  avail.  Thus,  with  two  tiers  of 
Slave  States  extending  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi, 
two  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  two  north-east  of  Vir 
ginia,  a  majority  of  all,  having  many  interests  diverse  from 
those  of  the  Cotton  States,  now  nominally  confederated  in  the 
crimes  of  their  leaders,  the  rebellion  was  manifestly  doomed 
from  the  outset,  if  peace  and  the  opportunity  for  calm  deliber 
ation  were  allowed. 

The  rebels  undoubtedly  wished  to  avoid  the  lasting  odium 
of  bringing  on  a  desolating  and  destructive  civil  war.  They 
saw  clearly,  however,  whither  the  quiet  and  pacific  policy  of 
the  Administration  was  tending.  Not  another  State  would  join 
the  Secession  movement,  if  that  policy  were  permitted  to  con 
tinue.  From  the  1st  day  of  February  to  the  fall  of  Sumter— 
two  months  and  a  half — not  a  State  had  joined  the  movement, 
and  two,  on  the  immediate  border  of  the  Cotton  States,  had 
deliberately  rejected  the  proposition,  although  the  State  Gov 
ernments  of  both  were  in  the  hands  of  active  Secessionists. 
The  fatal  blow — a  necessity  to  the  mad  project  in  hand — was 
accordingly  struck.  The  immediate  object  was  to  gain  over 
the  remaining  Slave  States,  and  naturally,  as  second  only  to 
the  preparation  for  war,  the  course  to  be  pursued  by  those  States 
became  an  object  of  chief  interest. 

The  necessity  of  at  once  gaining  over  Virginia  to  the  Seces 
sion  side,  in  order  to  the  prosecution  of  their  plans,  was  now 
manifest  to  the  leading  conspirators  at  Montgomery  and  Rich 
mond.  The  Convention  of  that  State,  as  already  seen,  had 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  229 

hitherto  proved  intractable.  In  electing  that  body,  the  people 
had  decided  for  the  Union  by  a  very  large  majority.  What 
show  or  pretense  of  right,  even  on  Secession  principles,  had 
these  representatives  to  repudiate  alike  the  clearly  expressed 
wishes  of  their  constituents  and  their  own  personal  pledges? 
In  the  hope  of  gaining  some  plausible  pretext  for  such  an  act 
of  double  perfidy,  to  be  used  in  connection  with  threats  rapidly 
growing  into  a  reign  of  terror,  a  committee  of  three  was 
appointed  by  the  Convention,  just  at  the  time  of  the  impending 
attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  to  wait  on  the  President,  avowedly  to 
ascertain  his  intended  policy  toward  the  rebellious  States.  Mr. 
Lincoln  granted  this  committee  an  interview  on  the  13th  of 
April,  and  gave  them  the  subjoined  response : 

To  Hon.  Messrs.  PRESTON,  STUART  and  RANDOLPH — Gen 
tlemen  :  As  a  committee  of  the  Virginia  Convention,  now  in 
session,  you  present  me  a  preamble  and  resolution  in  these 
words : 

"  WHEREAS,  In  the  opinion  of  this  Convention,  the  uncer 
tainty  which  prevails  in  the  public  mind  as  to  the  policy  which 
the  Federal  Executive  intends  to  pursue  toward  the  seceded 
States,  is  extremely  injurious  to  the  industrial  and  commercial 
interests  of  the  country,  tends  to  keep  up  an  excitement  which 
is  unfavorable  to  the  adjustment  of  the  pending  difficulties,  and 
threatens  a  disturbance  of  the  public  peace  ;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  delegates  be  appointed 
to  wait  on  the  President  of  the  United  States,  present  to  him 
this  preamble,  and  respectfully  ask  him  to  communicate  to  this 
Convention  the  policy  which  the  Federal  Executive  intends  to 
pursue  in  regard  to  the  Confederate  States." 

In  answer  I  have  to  say,  that  having,  at  the  beginning  of 
my  official  term,  expressed  my  intended  policy  as  plainly  as  I 
was  able,  it  is  with  deep  regret  and  mortification  I  now  learn 
there  is  great  and  injurious  uncertainty  in  the  public  mind  as 
to  what  that  policy  is,  and  what  course  I  intend  to  pursue.  Not 
having  as  yet  seen  occasion  to  change,  it  is  now  my  purpose  to 
pursue  the  course  marked  out  in  the  inaugural  address.  I  com 
mend  a  careful  consideration  of  the  whole  document  as  the 
best  expression  I  can  give  to  my  purposes.  As  I  then  and 
therein  said,  I  now  repeat,  "  The  power  confided  in  me  will  be 
used  to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess  property  and  places  belong 
ing  to  the  Government,  and  to  collect  the  duties  and  imports  ; 
but  beyond  what  is  necessary  for  these  objects  there  will  be  no 


230  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

invasion,  no  using  of  force  against  or  among  the  people  any 
where."  By  the  words  "  property  and  places  belonging  to  the 
Government,"  I  chiefly  allude  to  the  military  posts  and  prop 
erty  which  were  in  possession  of  the  Government  when  it  came 
into  my  hands.  But  if,  as  now  appears  to  be  true,  in  pursuit 
of  a  purpose  to  drive  the  United  States  authorities  from  these 
places,  an  unprovoked  assault  has  been  made  upon  Fort  Sumter, 
I  shall  hold  myself  at  liberty  to  repossess  it,  if  I  can,  like 
places  which  had  been  seized  before  the  Government  was 
devolved  upon  me  ;  and  in  any  event  I  shall,  to  the  best  of  my 
ability,  repel  force  by  force.  In  case  it  proves  true  that  Fort 
Sumter  has  been  assaulted,  as  is  reported,  I  shall,  perhaps, 
cause  the  United  States  mails  to  be  withdrawn  from  all  the 
States  which  claim  to  have  seceded,  believing  that  the  com 
mencement  of  actual  war  against  the  Government  justifies  and 
possibly  demands  it.  I  scarcely  need  to  say  that  I  consider  the 
military  posts  and  property  situated  within  the  States  which 
claim  to  have  seceded,  as  yet  belonging  to  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  as  much  as  they  did  before  the  supposed 
secession.  Whatever  else  I  may  do  for  the  purpose,  I  shall 
not  attempt  to  collect  the  duties  and  imposts  by  any  armed 
invasion  of  any  part  of  the  country ;  not  meaning  by  this,  how 
ever,  that  I  may  not  land  a  force  deemed  necessary  to  relieve  a 
fort  upon  the  border  of  the  country.  From  the  fact  that  I  have 
quoted  a  part  of  the  inaugural  address,  it  must  not  be  inferred 
that  I  repudiate  any  other  part,  the  whole  of  which  I  reaffirm, 
except  so  far  as  what  I  now  say  of  the  mails  may  be  regarded 
as  a  modification. 

The  Governors  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky,  thoroughly  in 
fellowship  with  the  South  Carolina  policy  from  the  outset, 
promptly  sent  back  defiant  messages  in  response  to  the  Presi 
dent's  call  for  troops.  "Kentucky  will  furnish  no  troops,"  said 
Governor  Magoffin,  "  for  the  wicked  purpose  of  subduing  her 
sister  Southern  States."  "The  militia  of  Virginia,"  wrote 
Letcher  to  Secretary  Cameron,  "  will  not  be  furnished  to  the 
powers  at  "Washington  for  any  such  use  or  purpose  as  they  have 
in  view."  Similar  was  the  reply  of  Governor  Harris,  of  Ten 
nessee.  Governor  Ellis,  of  North  Carolina,  with  greater  mod 
eration  in  his  language,  plainly  intimated  his  purpose  not  to 
respond  to  the  President's  call.  On  the  17th,  the  Virginia 
Convention,  yielding  at  length  to  the  artifices  and  intimidations 
of  the  busy  conspirators,  in  whose  service  an  ignorant  mob  was 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  231 

conspicuous,  passed,  in  the  darkness  of  a  secret  conclave,  an 
ordinance  of  secession.  The  processes  resorted  to  for  the  ac 
complishment  of  this  object  were  yet  insufficient  to  move  many 
honorable  delegates  from  their  fidelity,  but  the  fatal  majority 
was  obtained.  Although  there  was  still  to  be,  nominally,  a 
vote  of  the  people  on  this  question,  on  the  23d  of  May,  Union 
sentiments  were  no  longer  tolerated  at  Richmond.  Violence 
and  terror  insured  a  majority  for  the  insurrection  in  a  State 
which,  on  a  fair  vote,  would  still  have  pronounced  emphatically 
against  secession. 

The  conspirators  in  North  Carolina  also  triumphed,  as  was 
to  be  expected  after  this  defection,  and  Tennessee  and  Arkan 
sas  followed.  Thus  four  States  were  gained  to  the  "  Confed 
eracy" — by  no  means  through  a  fair  or  honest  vote — as  a  result 
of  the  war  begun  in  Charleston  harbor.  The  desperate  efforts 
to  win  over  Delaware,  Maryland,  Kentucky  and  Missouri, 
utterly  failed,  as  would  have  been  the  case  with  the  other  four 
States,  just  named,  had  the  pacific  policy  of  the  Administration 
been  permitted  to  continue. 

The  week  following  the  President's  proclamation  was 
crowded  with  important  events.  Public  meetings  were  held 
all  through  the  loyal  States,  and  the  response  to  the  call  for 
troops  was  hearty  and  universal.  Companies  and  regiments 
were  rapidly  filled  up  and  started  for  the  National  Capital. 
But  a  few  hours  intervened  before  Massachusetts  had  one  regi 
ment  at  its  rendezvous,  and  ready  for  departure.  Pennsylvania 
and  New  York  were  on  the  alert,  and  a  battalion  of  volunteers, 
from  the  former  State,  were  the  first  to  reach  Washington, 
while  the  New  York  Seventh  was  at  nearly  the  same  time  on 
its  way.  The  spirit  already  roused  throughout  the  country 
was  greatly  intensified  by  the  attempts  of  a  secession  mob  in 
Baltimore  to  prevent  the  passage  of  the  Massachusetts  Sixth 
through  that  city.  Here  the  first  blood  of  Union  troops  was 
shed,  on  an  ever  memorable  anniversary,  the  19th  day  of  April. 
Enlistments  followed  with  such  rapidity,  that  it  was  soon  only  a 
question  whose  services  should  be  declined,  of  the  tens  of  thou 
sands  offering  themselves. 

The  city  of  Washington,  an  object  of  threatened  attack,  and 


232  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

thronged  with  people,  who  either  openly  proclaimed  their  hos 
tility  to  the  Government,  or  were  of  doubtful  fidelity,  was  full 
of  excitement — liable  at  any  moment  to  an  emeute  or  to  an 
irruption  of  rebel  troops  already  in  the  field  in  Virginia. 
Alexandria  was  in  their  possession,  or  easily  accessible  at  any 
moment  from  Richmond.  Rumors  were  current  of  an  immedi 
ate  intention  on  the  part  of  the  Confederate  leaders  to  occupy 
Arlington  Heights,  completely  commanding  the  city,  while  as 
yet  only  a  few  companies  of  the  regular  service,  with  two  or 
three  light  field  batteries,  were  in  Washington  for  its  defense. 
To  these  were  added  a  few  hundred  volunteer  militia,  made  up 
chiefly  of  transient  sojourners  at  the  Capital.  A  few  dragoons, 
with  a  detachment  of  artillery,  guarded  the  Long  Bridge,  and 
the  Navy  Yard  and  other  portions  of  the  city  had  a  small 
guard  of  extemporized  infantry.  There  was  also  a  single  com 
pany  of  sappers  and  miners,  under  Lieut,  (now  General) 
Weitzel.  Thus  passed  an  anxious  week,  while  every  exertion 
was  made  by  the  Government  and  its  loyal  supporters  to  assem 
ble  an  adequate  defensive  force.  How  easily  the  place  might 
have  been  taken,  with  not  one  of  the  present  numerous  and 
strong  fortifications,  with  no  army  but  half  a  dozen  scattered 
companies  of  infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery,  and  with  so  large 
a  number  within  ready  to  rise  and  give  active  welcome  to  the 
assailing  force  they  so  eagerly  expected,  need  not  here  be  dis 
cussed.  From  one  extremity  of  the  country  to  the  other,  the 
danger  was  seen  and  felt.  The  few  days  needful,  fortunately 
were  gained. 

The  19th  of  April  is  further  memorable  for  the  proclamation 
issued  on  that  day,  declaring  a  blockade  of  every  port  of  the 
States  in  insurrection,  in  the  following  terms  : 

WHEREAS,  An  insurrection  against  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  has  broken  out  in  the  States  of  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Alabama,  Florida,  Mississippi,  Louisiana  and  Texas, 
and  the  laws  of  the  United  States  for  the  collection  of  the  reve 
nue  can  not  be  efficiently  executed  therein  conformably  to  that 
provision  of  the  Constitution  which  requires  duties  to  be  uni 
form  throughout  the  United  States  : 

AND  WHEREAS,  A  combination  of  persons,  engaged  in  such 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  233 

insurrection,  have  threatened  to  grant  pretended  letters  of 
marque  to  authorize  the  bearers  thereof  to  commit  assaults  on 
the  lives,  vessels,  and  property  of  good  citizens  of  the  country 
lawfully  engaged  in  commerce  on  the  high  seas,  and  in  waters 
of  the  United  States : 

AND  WHEREAS,  An  Executive  Proclamation  has  already  been 
issued,  requiring  the  persons  engaged  in  these  disorderly  pro 
ceedings  to  desist  therefrom,  calling  out  a  militia  force  for  the 
purpose  of  repressing  the  same,  and  convening  Congress  in 
extraordinary  session  to  deliberate  and  determine  thereon  : 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United 
States,  with  a  view  to  the  same  purposes  before  mentioned,  and 
to  the  protection  of  the  public  peace,  and  the  lives  and  property 
of  quiet  and  orderly  citizens  pursuing  their  lawful  occupations, 
until  Congress  shall  have  assembled  and  deliberated  on  the  said 
unlawful  proceedings,  or  until  the  same  shall  have  ceased,  have 
further  deemed  it  advisable  to  set  on  foot  a  blockade  of  the 
ports  within  'the  States  aforesaid,  in  pursuance  of  the  laws  of 
the  United  States,  and  of  the  laws  of  nations  in  such  cases  pro 
vided.  For  this  purpose  a  competent  force  will  be  posted  so 
as  to  prevent  entrance  and  exit  of  vessels  from  the  ports  afore 
said.  If,  therefore,  with  a  view  to  violate  such  blockade,  a 
Vessel  shall  approach,  or  shall  attempt  to  leave  any  of  the  said 
ports,  she  will  be  duly  warned  by  the  commander  of  one  of  the 
blockading  vessels,  who  will  indorse  on  her  register  the  fact 
and  date  of  such  warning ;  and  if  the  same  .vessel  shall  again 
attempt  to  enter  or  leave  the  blockaded  port,  she  will  be  cap 
tured  and  sent  to  the  nearest  convenient  port,  for  such  proceed 
ings  against  her  and  her  cargo  as  prize  as  may  be  deemed 
advisable. 

And  I  hereby  proclaim  and  declare,  that  if  any  person,  under 
the  pretended  authority  of  said  States,  or  under  any  other  pre 
tense,  shall  molest  a  vessel  of  the  United  States,  or  the  persona 
or  cargo  on  board  of  her,  such  person  will  be  held  amenable 
to  the  laws  of  the  United  States  for  the  prevention  and  punish 
ment  of  piracy. 

By  the  President :  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 

Washington,  April  19,  1861. 

Intelligence  having  been  received  that  Virginia  troops  were 
marching  on  Harper's  Ferry,  to  take  possession  of  the  import 
ant  Government  property  there,  the  public  works  were 
destroyed  and  the  place  evacuated  by  Lieut.  Jones,  the  com 
mandant.  Almost  simultaneously  the  Fourth  Massachusetts 


234  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Regiment,  dispatched  by  wise  forethought,  arrived  at  Fortress 
Monroe  (soon  after  reinforced  by  the  First  Vermont,  under 
Col.  Phelps),  and  secured  a  permanent  occupation  of  that 
strong  position  in  the  Old  Dominion,  which  had  now  become 
(without  waiting  for  the  consummation  of  the  farce  of  a  pop 
ular  vote  under  duress)  the  eighth  State  of  the  Rebel  Confed 
eracy. 

During  this  brief  period — at  the  close  of  a  week  of  unpre 
cedented  excitement  at  Washington  and  of  loyal  enthusiasm 
throughout  the  country — earnest  appeals  were  made  to  the 
President  by  prominent  Marylanders  to  stop  all  attempts  to 
transport  troops  through  that  State  to  the  National  Capital. 
His  prompt  reply  set  all  such  petitions  at  rest.  The  usual 
thoroughfares,  meanwhile,  had  been  obstructed.  Treason  hoped 
the  work  was  already  accomplished,  and  relief  cut  off.  Timor 
ous  or  hesitating  men  feared  that  the  effort  would  be  useless. 
But  the  purpose  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  for  an  instant  shaken. 
The  route  by  Annapolis  was  opened  by  Gen.  Butler  and  his 
Massachusetts  force,  and  on  the  25th  of  April  troops  from  the 
North  began  to  pour  into  Washington,  relieving  all  immediate 
anxiety.  The  people  had  nobly  responded.  The  "  great  up 
rising  "  was  an  assured  event. 

Toward  the  veteran  Lieutenant-General  of  the  Army  all 
eyes  were  turned  as  the  fit  organizer  and  leader  of  the  Govern 
ment  forces.  His  counsels  were  potent,  necessarily,  in  the  for 
mation  of  plans  suited  to  the  juncture.  Compelled  to  resort  to 
force  by  armed  aggressive  rebellion,  the  foremost  purpose  was 
strictly  a  defensive  one.  To  protect  the  capital  first  of  all — 
for  in  the  flush  of  triumph  over  the  reduction  of  Fort  Sumter, 
the  determination  to  take  Washington,  a  city  surrounded  by 
territory  claimed  as  destined  to  form  part  of  the  Confederacy, 
was  boldly  avowed,  alike  by  the  Rebel  Secretary  of  War  and  by 
the  organs  of  public  opinion  every -where  in  the  insurrectionary 
States — was  the  object  aimed  at  by  the  President,  and  ener 
getically  undertaken  by  Gen.  Scott.  Secondary  to  this,  and 
a  labor  for  the  future,  was  the  reoccupation  and  re-possession 
of  Federal  forts  and  Federal  property  already  seized  by  the 
Rebels,  and  the  retention  of  such  as  were  threatened,  as 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  235 

distinctly  promised  by  the  President  in  his  inaugural  address— 
forcibly  now,  since  the  peaceable  alternative  was  no  longer  pos 
sible.  The  blockade  by  sea,  and  a  defensive  campaign  by  land, 
were  the  immediate  steps  recommended  by  the  General-in- 
Chief  and  adopted  by  the  Administration. 

On  the  27th  of  April  the  following  announcement  of  new 
Military  Departments  and  Commanders  was  made  by  Aclj.- 
Gen.  Thomas:  1.  The  Department  of  Washington,  including 
the  District  of  Columbia,  according  to  its  original  boundary, 
Fort  Washington  and  the  adjacent  country,  and  the  State  of 
Maryland  as  far  as  Bladensburgh,  inclusive ;  under  the  com 
mand  of  Gen.  Joseph  K.  F.  Mansfield — headquarters  at  Wash 
ington.  2.  The  Department  of  Annapolis,  including  the  coun 
try  for  twenty  miles  on  each  side  of  the  railroad  from  Annapolis 
to  the  city  of  Washington,  as  far  as  Bladensburgh ;  under  the 
command  of  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler — headquarters  at  Annapolis. 
3.  The  Department  of  Pennsylvania,  including  that  State,  the 
State  of  Delaware,  and  all  of  the  State  of  Maryland  not 
embraced  within  the  Departments  first  named;  under  command 
of  Gen.  Robert  Patterson — headquarters  at  Philadelphia, 
"  or  any  other  point  he  may  temporarily  occupy."  This  organ 
ization  of  Departments  indicates  tKe  field  of  contemplated 
military  operations  in  the  East.  The  Department  of  Wash 
ington  extended  no  further  southward  than  the  old  limits  of 
the  District  of  Columbia,  an  extension  into  Virginia  only  for 
the  obvious  purpose  of  including  Alexandria  and  Arlington 
Heights,  as  essential  to  the  defenses  of  the  capital. 

To  these  Departments  were  added  a  fourth,  on  the  10th  day 
of  May,  including  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois, 
under  the  command  of  Gen.  George  B.  McClellan — head 
quarters  at  Cincinnati.  This  Department  was  also  manifestly 
organized  with  a  view  to  the  maintenance  of  a  defensive  line, 
on  the  Ohio  river,  from  Wheeling  to  Cairo.  During  the  first 
week  succeeding  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  indications  were  appa 
rent  which  led  the  people  along  this  extended  line — and  par 
ticularly  at  Cincinnati  and  Cairo,  deemed  especially  vulnerable 
points — to  desire  some  eificient  preparation  to  repel  any  Rebel 
advance.  The  debatable  ground  of  Kentucky  was  early  cov- 


236  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

eted  as  a  field  for  military  occupancy  by  the  confident  insurgents. 
The  Governor  of  that  State  was  in  open  sympathy  with  the 
rebellion,  and,  under  the  guise  of  neutrality  which  even  the 
most  loyal  of  her  citizens  seemed  for  a  time  to  acquiesce  in  as 
the  wisest  expedient,  was  believed  to  be  preparing  to  subject 
the  State  to  Rebel  domination.  Across  this  middle  territory, 
by  the  Coviugton  and  Lexington  Railroad,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  by  the  Mississippi  river,  from  Columbus  and  Paducah,  on 
the  other,  an  invasion  of  Ohio  or  Illinois  was  reasonably  appre 
hended.  That  sympathizers  and  complotters  with  the  Mont 
gomery  leaders  were  eagerly  designing  and  ready  to  aid  such 
invasion,  in  both  sections  of  Kentucky,  was  well  understood. 

It  was  from  the  wish  for  prompt  and  decisive  action  in 
securing  this  defensive  fine,  which  involved  the  occupation  of 
all  necessary  points  on  the  Kentucky  side  of  the  river  com 
manding  the  north  bank  of  the  Ohio,  just  as  the  possession  of 
the  hights  south  of  the  Potomac,  near  Washington,  was  essen 
tial  to  the  defense  of  that  city,  that  the  appointment  of 
Gen.  McClellan  by  Gov.  Dennison,  of  Ohio,  as  Commander 
of  the  Volunteer  Militia  of  that  State,  was  made.  This  was 
earnestly  desired,  especially  by  influential  citizens  of  Cincin 
nati,  where  McClellan  had  been  quietly  residing  during  the 
previous  year  or  two,  charged  with  responsible  duties  in  the 
management  of  an  important  railroad.  It  was  known  that  he 
had  a  military  education  and  that  he  was  an  experienced  engi 
neer,  which  latter  quality  specially  commended  him  to  the 
favor  of  those  who  were  anxious  for  the  protection  of  the  city. 
To  render  this  appointment  efficient,  by  giving  him  authority 
to  pass  the  limits  of  Ohio  and  to  occupy  the  hights  on  the 
Kentucky  side  of  the  river,  his  appointment,  by  the  Federal 
Government,  to  a  position  in  the  regular  army  was  strenuously 
urged,  and  ere  long  secured.  In  assigning  him  so  large  an 
area  as  his  Department,  its  contemplated  reorganization  at  an 
early  day  was  distinctly  announced. 

It  was  also  on  the  10th  day  of  May  that  the  Rebel  Secretary 
of  War  issued  his  order,  at  Montgomery,  directing  Gen. 
Robert  E;  Lee  to  assume  command  of  the  "  forces  of  the  Con 
federate  States  in  Virginia." 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  237 

Of  the  eight  Slave  States  which  had  stood  aloof  from  the 
Montgomery  Confederacy  at  the  outset,  Virginia  had  nominally 
entered  into  an  alliance  with  that  pretended  Government,  as 
already  seen,  and  practically  joined  the  insurrection,  in  advance 
of  the  promised  popular  vote.  Tennessee  and  Arkansas  fol 
lowed  this  example  on  the  6th  of  May,  and  North  Carolina 
(her  rulers  being  previously  in  practical  alliance),  on  the  20th. 
Maryland,  Missouri  and  Kentucky,  as  the  event  proved,  were 
saved  from  this  suicidal  conduct,  not  without  the  aid  of  Federal 
arms.  Delaware  remained  true. 

On  the  29th  of  April  the  blockade  was  extended,  in  accord 
ance  with  a  proclamation  of  the  President,  so  as  to  embrace  the 
ports  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  owing  to  rebellious  acts 
in  those  States,  antecedent  to  their  pretended  secession,  yet 
clearly  pointing  to  such  an  event  as  practically  determined. 
Jefferson  Davis,  on  the  same  day,  having  hastily  convened  his 
"  Confederate  Congress  "  to  make  provision  for  more  effective 
hostilities,  submitted  his  message  to  that  body,  containing  an 
elaborate  attempt  to  justify  the  war  that  had  been  precipitated 
upon  the  country,  appealing  to  slaveholding  interest  and  preju 
dice,  and  instigating  a  united  and  zealous  prosecution  of  the 
war.  He  recognized,  solely,  the  issue  of  slavery  as  the  one 
cause  which  had  led  to  the  outbreak.  As  to  the  mode  of  action 
pursued  by  the  Rebel  leaders,  he  distinctly  claimed  that  the 
Constitutional  right  of  secession  had  been  steadily  maintained 
by  "  the  Democratic  party  of  the  United  States,"  and  urged  its 
pledges  "  that  it  would  faithfully  abide  by  and  uphold  "  those 
principles,  as  they  were  "  laid  down  in  the  Kentucky  and  Vir 
ginia  Legislatures  of  1799,"  and  its  adoption  of  "  those  princi 
ples  as  constituting  one  of  the  main  foundations  of  its  political 
creed."  (How  vain  this  appeal,  let  the  prompt  and  cordial 
action  of  such  Democrats  as  Douglas,  Andrew  Johnson,  B.  F. 
Butler,  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  Lewis  Cass,  and  hundreds  of  other 
faithful  leaders  in  the  ranks  of  their  party  testify.  The  reor 
ganized  party,  assuming  the  Democratic  name,  at  a  later  day, 
under  the  auspices  of  Vallandigham,  Richardson,  Wood,  Cox 
and  their  compeers,  may  perhaps  as  heartily,  though  not  as 
openly,  indorse  this  exposition  of  the  "  Democratic  "  faith,  as 


238  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

it  directly    sustains    the  allegation  of   Davis  that   Northern 
aggressions  are  the  cause  of  the  war.) 

The  Rebel  champion  further  asserts  that  these  "  principles 
were  maintained  by  overwhelming  majorities  of  the  people  of 
all  the  States  of  the  Union  at  different  elections,  especially  in 
the  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  1805,  Mr.  Madison,  in  1809, 
and  Mr.  Pierce  in  1852."  Equally  veracious  are  his  narratives 
of  the  impudent  efforts  of  Crawford  and  his  associates  to  make 
an  appearance  of  negotiating  for  peaceable  separation,  and  of 
the  events  immediately  preceding  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter, 
with  a  view  to  rid  himself  of  the  terrible  responsibility  of  in 
augurating  a  war  that  must  consign  his  name  to  lasting  infamy. 
He  boasts  of  his  attempt  to  organize  piracy  on  the  high  seas, 
by  assuming  the  power  of  issuing  letters  of  marque  and  repri 
sal,  without  a  shadow  of  right  under -international  laws,  even 
conceding  his  claim  of  a  national  existence  for  his  pseudo-Con 
federacy.  He  expresses  his  entire  confidence  "  that,  ere  you 
[the  'Confederate  Congress ']  shall  have  been  many  weeks  in 
session,  the  whole  of  the  Slaveholding  States  of  the  late  Union 
will  respond  to  the  call  of  honor  and  affection,  and  by  uniting 
their  fortune  with  ours,  promote  our  common  interests  and 
secure  our  common  safety."  He  speaks  of  "  the  rapid  develop 
ment  of  the  purpose  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  to 
invade  our  soil,  capture  our  forts,  blockade  our  ports,  and  wage 
war  against  us,"  and  refers  to  the  report  of  the  "  Confederate  " 
Secretary  of  War  "  for  a  full  history  of  the  occurrences  in 
Charleston  harbor,  prior  to  and  including  the  bombardment 
and  reduction  of  Fort  Sumter,  and  of  the  measures  subse 
quently  taken  for  common  defense,  on  receiving  the  intelligence 
of  the  declaration  of  war"  (so  this  scrupulous  personage  chooses 
to  say)  "  against  us  by  the  President  of  the  United  States." 
He  gives  the  number  of  his  troops  "  now  in  the  field  at 
Charleston,  Pensacola,  Forts  Morgan,  Jackson,  St.  Philip,  and 
Pulaski,"  as  19,000  men,  with  16,000  more  "now  en  route  for 
Virginia."  He  adds:  "  It  is  proposed  to  organize  and  hold  in 
readiness  for  instant  action,  in  view  of  the  present  exigences 
of  the  country,  an  army  of  100,000  men;"  and  declares  that 
volunteers  "  are  constantly  tendering  their  services  far  in  excess 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  239 

of  our  wants."  He  does  not  conclude  his  extended  document 
without  uttering  the  now  familiar  words,  equally  as  appropriate 
to  brip-ands  and  pirates  as  to  traitors  :  "All  we  ask  is,  to  be  let 
alone." 

Partly  by  way  of  inciting  slaveholders  to  unite  as  a  body  in 
his  unhallowed  schemes,  and  partly  to  influence  public  opinion 
abroad,  for  the  hour,  the  arch  conspirator  prepared  this  skillful, 
but  eminently  fallacious,  message,  and  he  found  the  pseudo- 
Congress  he  addressed  to  be  willing  instruments  in  organizing 
the  formidable  w^r  power  he  desired. 

These  preparations  at  Montgomery  and  the  growing  require 
ments  of  a  service  already  expanded  through  so  wide  a  field, 
made  it  necessary  for  Mr.  Lincoln  to  anticipate  the  extra  ses 
sion  of  Congress,  called  for  the  4th  of  July,  and  to  issue,  on 
the  3d  of  May,  a  proclamation  for  42, 000  additional  volunteers, 
for  the  term  of  three  years,  unless  sooner  discharged,  and  for 
eight  regiments  of  infantry,  one  of  cavalry,  and  one  of  artillery, 
numbering  22,714  in  the  aggregate,  to  be  added  to  the  regular 
army.  A  call  was  also  made,  in  the  same  proclamation,  for 
18,000  additional  seamen  for  the  naval  service.  This  action, 
clearly  justified  by  the  requirements  of  the  occasion,  or  rather 
made  obligatory  upon  him  by  the  necessities  of  the  situation, 
was  confirmed  and  legalized,  without  opposition,  by  Congress  at 
its  extra  session.  It  met  the  universal  approval  of  the  loyal 
men  of  the  country,  and  the  quick  response  to  this  call  in  a  few 
days  more  than  filled  the  demand  for  army  volunteers. 

Cairo,  Illinois,  had  been  occupied  by  Government  forces, 
under  Col.  B.  M.  Prentiss,  during  the  latter  part  of  April. 
On  the  Kentucky  and  Missouri  sides  of  the  Mississippi  and 
Ohio  rivers,  and  particularly  on  each  side  of  the  former,  at 
Columbus,  Belmont  and  below,  preparations  on  the  part  of  the 
insurgents  were  soon  manifest,  threatening  an  aggressive  move 
ment,  and  certainly  intended  to  hold  the  Mississippi,  as  a  rebel 
possession,  from  Cairo  to  New  Orleans.  The  prompt  move- 
•ment  of  Illinois  volunteers  saved  the  West  from  invasion. 
This  little  army  of  occupation  at  Camp  Defiance  prepared  the 
way  for  enterprises,  enlarging  to  a  magnitude  perhaps  little 
imagined  at  the  moment. 


240  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

At  this  time,  also,  Capt.  Nathaniel  Lyon  (subsequently 
General)  was  taking  prompt  measures  to  protect  the  United 
States  arms  in  the  Arsenal  at  St.  Louis  from  seizure  by  Seces 
sionists,  who  were  scheming  to  get  possession  of  this  prize — of 
incalculable  value  to  the  Union  troops  then  volunteering.  The 
Government  now,  as  for  months  afterward,  though  untiring  in 
its  efforts,  found  it  no  easy  task  to  provide  muskets  in  numbers 
at  all  adequate  to  the  emergency.  Adroit  management  secured 
the  very  considerable  supply  at  St.  Louis  to  the  Department 
of  the  Ohio.  Like  timely  action,  soon  after, ^broke  up  a  Seces 
sion  camp  forming  in  the  same  city,  and  defeated  the  plots  of  a 
traitorous  Governor  for  betraying  the  State  of  Missouri  into 
the  hands  of  the  insurgents.  Camp  Jackson,  with  a  large  sup 
ply  of  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  and  several  hundred  prison 
ers,  were  surrendered  on  the  10th  of  May — a  memorable  day 
for  Missouri. 

On  the  llth  of  the  same  month,  Gen.  W.  S.  Harney,  of  the 
regular  army,  returning  from  Richmond,  whither  he  had  been 
taken  as  a  prisoner,  captured  in  Western  Virginia,  while  on  his 
way  to  Washington,  assumed  command  of  the  Military  Depart 
ment  of  the  West.  His  career  was  a  brief  one,  practically  cul 
minating  in  a  compact  entered  into,  on  the  21st,  with  Gen. 
Sterling  Price,  acting  on  behalf  of  the  disloyal  Governor  of 
Missouri,  to  the  effect  that  the  whole  responsibility  and  labor 
of  maintaining  peace  and  order  in  that  State  should  be  in 
trusted  to  the  State  authorities  ;  while  Gen.  Harney,  on  hispart; 
should  make  no  military  movements,  and  carefully  avoid  any 
acts  tending  to  produce  jealousy  and  excitement.  It  is  need 
less  to  say  that  such  an  engagement  never  had  the  sanction  of 
the  President.  It  was  definitely  set  aside  by  an  order  of  the 
Adjutant  General  addressed  to  Harney,  under  date  of  May 
27th,  and  a  force  was  promptly  put  in  the  field,  under  command 
of  Gen.  Lyon. 

Meanwhile,  at  Washington,  since  the  free  arrival  of  troops 
had  commenced,  the  whole  country  south  of  the  Potomac, 
except  as  explored  by  scouts,  was  little  better  than  an  unknown 
land.  At  Alexan4jia,  a  secession  flag  floated  in  sight  of  the 
Capital,  while  at  Manassas  Junction  a  threatening  force  was 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  241 

gathering.  It  was  not  until  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  May 
that  an  advance  into  Virginia,  by  the  forces  under  Gen.  Mans 
field,  was  deemed  expedient.  This  movement,  awakening  great 
interest  among  the  people,  who  had  anticipated  early  and  deci 
sive  results,  and  began  already  to  weary  of  indispensable  delay, 
had  no  further  immediate  purpose  than  the  occupancy  of 
Arlington  Heights  and  Alexandria,  for  the  greater  security  of 
Washington ;  for  any  more  extended  undertaking,  this  impro 
vised  army,  as  all  now  see  after  three  years  of  war,  was  entirely 
inadequate,  either  in  itself  or  in  its  appliances.  An  advance 
on  Manassas  Junction,  at  this  time,  was  indeed  discussed  in 
official  circles,  but  military  opinions  were  decidedly  against  the 
undertaking,  and  the  Department  of  Washington  was  not  now 
enlarged. 

This  advance  into  Virginia,  early  in  the  morning  of  the  day 
after  the  farce  of  a  popular  vote  for  Secession  had  been  enacted, 
was  executed  without  resistance.  Col.  Ellsworth,  who  com 
manded  a  regiment  ordered  to  Alexandria,  lost  his  life  by  the 
hands  of  an  assassin,  in  hauling  down,  with  his  own  hand,  the 
JRebel  flag  that  had,  for  many  days,  flaunted  defiance  toward 
Washington  ;  otherwise,  no  serious  casualty  occurred.  To  the 
people  of  Alexandria  this  movement  was  a  surprise,  and  some 
prisoners  fell  into  the  hands  of  our  troops.  The  number  of 
men  who  crossed  the  Potomac,  at  this  time,  was  about  13,000. 
They  immediately  commenced  constructing  earthworks,  where 
Fort  Ellsworth,  Fort  Corcoran,  the  defenses  of  the  Long  Bridge, 
and  other  memorials  of  like  purpose,  still  attest  the  labors  then 
entered  upon. 

Two  days  later,  the  Postmaster  General  issued  his  order  sus 
pending  all  postal  service  in  the  States  of  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Missis 
sippi,  Louisiana,  Arkansas  and  Texas,  to  take  effect  on  the  31st 
of  May.  Tennessee,  although  in  league  with  the  Confederate 
insurgents,  through  the  State  oflicers,  was  intentionally  omitted 
in  this  order.  Obvious  advantages  had  resulted  from  a  contin 
uance  of  the  United  States  mails  in  all  the  States  hitherto,  and 
it  was  only  when,  more  active  hostilities  being  imminent,  these 

advantages  would  be  more  than  counterbalanced,  that  this  order 
16 


242  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

was  issued.  To  the  leaders  and  people  of  the  insurgent  dis 
tricts  it  was  no  light  matter,  as  at  once  practically  felt,  to  be 
deprived  of  this  beneficent  intervention  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment,  maintained,  as  it  always  had  been,  in  part,  by  a  tax  upon 
the  correspondence  of  the  Free  States.  This  order  marks  the 
date  of  the  first  decisive  step  toward  the  enforcement  of  non- 
intercourse  with  the  Kebel  population,  except  as  their  territory 
might  successively  fall  within  the  lines  of  our  armies,  now 
rapidly  preparing  for  the  field. 

A  great  portion  of  the  army  which  had  been  forming  under 
the  eye  of  Glen.  McClellan,  was  to  have  its  first  employment, 
by  direction  of  the  President,  in  sustaining  the  loyal  people  of 
Western  Virginia.  The  force  sent  into  that  region  was  to  drive 
back  the  Rebel  troops  which  had  gone  out  to  destroy  the  Bal 
timore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  and  to  subjugate  that  part  of  the 
State,  in  which  a  purpose  to  repudiate  secession  was  already 
manifested.  The  order  was  issued  by  the  General  from  his 
headquarters  at  Cincinnati  on  the  26th  of  May,  and  the  First 
Virginia  Regiment  of  volunteers,  under  Col.  B.  F.  Kelly,  was 
sent  out  from  Bellaire  on  the  Wheeling  branch  of  the  railroad, 
while  the  Fourteenth  Ohio  Regiment  of  volunteers,  under  Col. 
J.  B.  Steadman,  advanced  on  the  Parkersburg  branch  of  the 
road,  toward  Grafton. 

For  several  days  after  this  movement  commenced,  Gen. 
McClellan  remained  at  Cincinnati.  Under  the  auspices  of 
Gov.  Magomn  and  his  Inspector-General,  Simon  B.  Buckner, 
a  force  was  organizing  in  Kentucky,  believed  to  be  covertly 
intended  for  the  Rebel  service,  and  watched  with  apprehension 
by  loyal  people  north  of  the  Ohio.  During  the  progress  of 
Buckner's  preparations  he  visited  Cincinnati  and  had  a  pro 
tracted  interview  with  Gen.  McClellan,  on  the  8th  of  June. 
In  an  official  report  to  Gov.  Magoffin,  made  public  on  the 
22d  of  that  month,  Buckner  set  forth  in  detail  what  he  alleged 
as  a  formal  agreement  between  McClellan  and  himself,  the  sub 
stance  of  which,  after  an  engagement  on  the  part  of  Kentucky 
to  maintain  "  neutrality  "  between  the  "  United  States  "  and 
the  "  Southern  States,"  is  contained  in  the  following  extract 
from  that  document : 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  243 

Gen.  McClellan  stipulates  that  the  territory  of  Kentucky 
shall  be  respected  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  even  though 
the  Southern  States  should  occupy  it;  but  in  the  latter  case  he 
will  call  upon  the  authorities  of  Kentucky  to  remove  the 
Southern  forces  from  our  territory.  Should  Kentucky  fail  to 
accomplish  this  object  in  a  reasonable  time,  Gen.  McClellan 
claims  the  same  right  of  occupancy  given  to  the  Southern 
forces.  I  have  stipulated,  in  that  case,  to  advise  him  of  the 
inability  of  Kentucky  to  comply  with  her  obligations,  and  to 
invite  him  to  dislodge  the  Southern  forces.  He  stipulates  that 
if  he  is  successful  in  doing  so,  he  will  withdraw  his  forces  from 
the  territory  of  the  State  as  soon  as  the  Southern  forces  shall 
have  been  removed.  This,  he  assures  me,  is  the  policy  which 
he  will  adopt  toward  Kentucky. 

That  this  interview  took  place,  is  an  undisputed  fact.  That 
any  compact  of  this  nature  was  entered  into,  would  seem 
incredible,  without  other  evidence  than  Buckner's  word  of 
honor.  But  that  Gen.  McClellan,  while  commanding  the 
Department  of  the  Ohio,  did  nothing  inconsistent  with  the 
alleged  terms  of  agreement,  must  be  conceded.  Thus  was  one 
controlling  purpose  in  his  first  appointment  by  the  Governor  of 
Ohio  completely  defeated.  The  occupation  and  defense  of  the 
southern  bank  of  the  river,  near  Cincinnati,  was  voluntarily 
abandoned — either  by  reason  of  this  stipulation  or  without 
it — by  the  man  specially  chosen  for  that  work.  Near  the 
same  date,  Gen.  McClellan  addressed  a  letter  to  the  late 
Mr.  Crittenden,  expressing  regret  that  some  of  Gen.  Prentiss' 
men,  in  making  an  excursion  down  the  Mississippi,  on  the  12th 
of  June,  had  landed  on  the  Kentucky  shore  and  cut  down  and 
brought  away  a  Secession  flag  which  they  saw  flying  at  Colum 
bus.  He  disclaimed  all  responsibility  for  this  intrusion. 

Thus  cautious  was  the  Commanding  General  to  be  no  aggres 
sor  on  the  soil  of  any  Slave  State,  and  to  wound  the  sensi 
bilities  of  neither  incipient  Rebels  nor  "  neutrals,"  who  were 
supporters  of  slave  institutions.  Even  while  sending  a  force 
to  the  aid  of  loyal  Western  Virginia,  at  the  request  of  her 
people,  he  was  careful  to  assure  them : 

Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said  by  the  traitors  to 
induce  you  to  believe  that  our  advent  among  you  will  be  signal 


244  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

ized  by  interference  with  your  slaves,  understand  one  thing 
clearly — not  only  will  we  abstain  from  all  such  interference, 
but  we  will,  on  the  contrary,  with  an  iron  hand,  crush  any 
attempt  at  insurrection  on  their  part. 

The  first  engagement  in  Western  Virginia  was  fought  at  Phil 
ippa,  on  the  2d  of  June,  Gen.  Thomas  A.  Morris,  of  Indiana,  being 
the  officer  in  actual  command  of  the  forces  now  concentrated  at 
and  near  Grafton,  with  headquarters  at  that  place.  The  arduous 
and  successful  expedition  thence  to  Philippa,  surprising  and 
breaking  up  an  important  camp  of  Rebels,  was  under  the  imme 
diate  direction  of  Col.  Dumont,  of  Indiana. 

On  the  3d  of  June,  Gen.  Patterson  issued  an  address  from 
his  headquarters,  now  at  Chambersburg,  Pa.,  to  the  troops  of 
his  Department,  promising  that  they  should  "soon  meet  the 
insurgents."  He  added :  "  You  must  bear  in  mind  you  are 
going  for  the  good  of  the  whole  country,  and  that,  while  it  is 
your  duty  to  punish  sedition,  you  must  protect  the  loyal,  and, 
should  the  occasion  offer,  at  once  suppress  servile  insurrection." 

It  is  worthy  of  note  here  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  that  magna 
nimity  which  would  see  only  an  endangered  country,  had  put 
at  the  head  of  three  important  Military  Departments  three  of 
the  most  decided  of  his  political  opponents — Patterson,  Butler 
and  McClellan.  These  appointments  were  made  under  the 
earnest  conviction — how  well  justified  by  the  result  will  pres 
ently  appear — that  these  officers  possessed  the  military  capacity 
and  skill  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  occasion,  and  that  they 
would  heartily  sustain  the  Government  in  its  work  of  self-pres 
ervation.  Patterson  and  McClellan  had  each  been  selected  by 
the  Republican  Executives  of  their  own  States.  Both  had 
served  in  Mexico,  under  the  eye  of  Gen.  Scott,  and  their  selec 
tion  had  his  approval. 

To  the  voluntary  promises  made  by  Patterson  and  McClellan, 
that  slavery  should  be  upheld  by  force  of  arms,  if  need  be,  it 
must  be  added  that  a  like  assurance  was  given  by  Butler  to  the 
people  of  Maryland,  soon  after  his  occupation  of  Annapolis. 

A  few  days  after  the  victory  at  Philippa,  Gen.  Thomas  A. 
Morris,  the  General  in  actual  command,  on  whom,  with  Gen. 
W.  S.  Ilosecrans,  the  direction  of  the  campaign  now  inaugu- 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  245 

rated  in  West  Virginia  mainly  depended,  issued  his  proclama 
tion  from  headquarters  at  Grafton,  calling  on  the  people  to  arm 
for  their  own  protection  against  the  enemies  of  their  "  freedom 
and  peace,"  and  to  rally  in  arms  to  the  support  of  the  Consti 
tutional  Government.  The  Convention  of  loyal  Virginia  Del 
egates,  held  at  Wheeling,  proclaimed,  on  the  17th  of  June, 
their  repudiation  of  the  pretended  ordinance  of  secession  by 
which  Virginia  was  called  on  "  to  separate  from  and  wage  war 
against  the  Government  of  the  United  States,"  and  in  the  name 
of  the  people,  declared  that  "  the  offices  of  all  who  adhere  to  " 
the  Richmond  Convention  and  Gov.  Letcher  (in  the  enumerated 
acts  of  treason  and  usurpation  perpetrated  by  them),  whether 
legislative,  executive  or  judicial,  are  vacated.  A  new  State 
Government  was  promptly  organized,  with  Francis  H.  Pierpont 
for  Governor.  In  due  time  a  State  Legislature  was  chosen,  and 
Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  were  elected.  Thus, 
with  the  full  approbation  of  President  Lincoln,  and  with  his 
substantial  support,  was  the  first  step  inaugurated  toward  a 
restoration  of  a  loyal  local  Government  in  the  insurgent  States. 
The  State  Government  thus  organized  was  for  Virginia  in  its 
integrity,  and  it  was  sustained  by  the  people,  wherever  our 
armies  held  in  check  the  armed  forces  of  the  Rebels. 

On  the  23d  of  June,  three  weeks  after  the  battle  of  Phil- 
ippa,  Gen.  McClellan,  having  just  arrived,  issued  another 
proclamation  to  the  people  from  headquarters  at  Grafton, 
announcing  that  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  "  headed  by  Virginia 
troops,  is  rapidly  occupying  all  Western  Virginia."  He  re 
affirmed  the  promises  of  his  former  proclamation,  adding: 
"  Your  houses,  families,  property  and  all  your  rights  will  be 
religiously  respected."  He  denounced  upon  guerrillas  and 
marauders  the  severest  penalties  of  military  law.  To  the  sol 
diers  of  his  Army  he  issued  an  order  enjoining  good  conduct, 
and  inspiriting  them  for  the  work  before  them.  "  We  have 
come  here,"  he  said,  "  to  save,  not  to  upturn." 

Nearly  three  weeks  later,  July  12th  (after  a  skirmish  at 
Laurel  Hill,  on  the  10th),  an  engagement  was  had  with  the 
Rebels  under  Col.  Pegram,  commonly  known  as  the  battle  of 
Rich  Mountain,  resulting  in  the  surrender  of  that  officer  and  a 


246  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

number  of  men,  officially  estimated  as  "  nine  hundred  or  one 
thousand,"  as  well  as  in  the  rout  and  close  pursuit  of  Gen. 
Garnett  and  the  forces  he  was  bringing  to  the  support  of  Pe- 
gram,  and  in  the  death  of  Garnett  at  Carrickford,  on  the  14th. 
Without  discussing  the  merits  of  this  brief  campaign,  in  which 
the  number  of  men  engaged  on  either  side  may  be  estimated  at 
rather  more  than  10,000,  it  will  suffice  to  quote  the  final  sum 
ming  up,  by  the  Commanding  General,  in  his  dispatch  to  the 
War  Department,  of  July  14th,  as  follows : 

HUTTONSVILLE,  VA.,  July  14,  1861. 
Col.  E.  D.  Townsend,  Assistant  Adjutant  General : 

Gen.  Garnett  and  his  forces  have  been  routed  and  his  bag 
gage  and  one  gnn  taken.  His  army  are  completely  demoralized. 
Gen.  Garnett  was  killed  while  attempting  to  rally  his  forces  at 
Carrickford,  near  St.  George. 

We  have  completely  annihilated  the  enemy  in  Western 
Virginia. 

Our  loss  is  but  thirteen  killed  and  not  more  than  forty 
wounded,  while  the  enemy's  loss  is  not  far  from  two  hundred 
killed,  and  the  number  of  prisoners  we  have  taken  will  amount 
to  at  least  one  thousand.  We  have  captured  seven  of  the  ene 
my's  guns  in  all. 

A  portion  of  Garnett's  forces  retreated,  but  I  look  for  their 
capture  by  General  Hill,  who  is  in  hot  pursuit. 

The  troops  that  Garnett  had  under  his  command  are  said  to 
be  the  crack  regiments  of  Eastern  Virginia,  aided  by  Geor 
gians,  Tennesseeans  and  Carolinians. 

Our  success  is  complete,  and  I  firmly  believe  that  secession 
is  killed  in  this  section  of  the  country. 

GEORGE  B.  MCCLELLAN,  Maj.-Gen.  U.  S.  A. 

A  similar  work  was  simultaneously  going  on  in  Missouri, 
under  the  earnest  and  skillful  guidance  of  Gen.  Nathaniel  Lyon. 
Missouri  was  nearly  betrayed  by  its  Secessionist  Governor  and 
his  subordinates,  without  the  aid  of  a  conspiring  Convention, 
yet  she  was  drifting,  under  unscrupulous  management,  in  the 
same  direction  which  Virginia,  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee 
had  gone.  Gov;  Claiborne  F.  Jackson  had  defied  the  popular 
repudiation  of  Secession,  issued  his  proclamation,  on  the  12th, 
calling  out  50,000  militia,  to  repel  "  invasion,"  etc.,  and  imme 
diately  organized  a  further  Rebel  force  at  the  State  Capital, 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  247 

after  the  breaking  up  of  Camp  Jackson,  at  St.  Louis,  as  already 
narrated.  Gen.  Lyon  approaching  Jefferson  City  with  a  mod 
erate  force,  Jackson  evacuated  the  place  on  the  14th  of  June, 
and  the  Union  forces  occupied  it  on  the  following  day.  On 
the  17th,  Gen.  Lyon,  finding  that  the  Rebel  Governor  was 
fortifying  at  Boonville,  forty  miles  distant  (his  forces  being 
commanded  by  Gen.  Sterling.  Price),  advanced  to  that  point 
and  gained  a  complete  victory,  dispersing  the  insurgents,  who 
lost  heavily  in  killed,  wounded  and  prisoners.  These  ener 
getic  movements  at  once  secured  the  possession  of  a  large 
portion  of  the  State  from  Rebel  interference. 

The  defeat  of  the  conspirators,  first  at  St.  Louis  and  after 
ward  at  Boonville,  had  been  so  complete  that  it  was  several 
weeks  before  any  considerable  force  was  rallied  to  disturb  the 
quiet  into  which  the  State  was  settling  down,  under  the  new 
government  of  loyal  rulers,  which  was  meanwhile  forming. 
On  the  31st  of  July,  Hamilton  R.  Gamble  was  elected  Provi 
sional  Governor  by  the  Missouri  State  Convention,  and  duly 
inaugurated,  with  other  loyal  officers,  chosen  at  the  same  time. 
The  future  of  that  State  was  thus  assured. 

In  Gen.  Butler's  Department  a  movement,  preparatory  to 
opening  the  way  to  Yorktown,  was  made  by  a  small  force,  on 
the  10th  of  June,  resulting  in  a  repulse  at  Big  Bethel.  Coming 
a  week  after  the  cheering  success  at  Philippa,  under  Gen.  Mor 
ris,  the  effect  of  this  reverse,  unimportant  as  it  may  seem,  was 
sadly  felt  by  the  country,  and  placed  the  Commanding  General 
under  a  cloud,  from  which  he  unfortunately  did  little  to  redeem 
himself,  during  the  time  he  retained  this  command. 

The  fight  at  Falling  Waters,  on  the  2d  of  July,  was  the 
chief  event,  which  had  thus  far  relieved  the  general  quietude, 
not  to  say  dullness,  prevailing  in  the  Department  of  Gen.  Pat 
terson.  This  skirmish  occurred  near  Hainesville,  Md.,  in  the 
tardy  execution  of  a  long-deferred  movement  of  Patterson's 
force  from  Chambersburg,  by  Williamsport,  to  Harper's  Ferry. 
The  loss  was  small  on  either  side,  yet,  as  an  indication  of  some 
approaching  activity,  it  was  not  without  its  effect  on  an  already 
impatient  people.  With  further  delays  and  hesitations,  the 
force  of  Patterson  was  at  length  thrown  across  the  Potomac. 


248  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

At  this  time,  a  considerable  Rebel  force  was  believed  to  have 
accumulated  at  Manassas  Junction  and  at  Winchester.  The 
popular  demand  was  almost  universal  that  our  troops,  now  so 
long  in  arms,  the  brief  term  of  a  large  portion  of  whom  was 
about  to  expire,  should  be  led  against  the  enemy.  Gen.  Scott 
at  length  decided  on  a  movement  upon  Manassas — resulting  in 
the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  with  which  this  first  period  of  the  war 
may  be  said  to  have  closed. 

Gen.  Irvin  McDowell  took  command  of  the  troops  on  the 
Yirginia  side  of  the  Potomac,  May  27th,  three  days  after  they 
had  crossed  over.  His  headquarters  were  at  the  Arlington 
House.  On  the  31st  of  May,  a  company  of  cavalry,  under 
Lieut.  Tompkins,  dashed  into  the  village  of  Fairfax  Court 
House,  where  several  hundred  Rebel  cavalry  were  stationed, 
killing  a  number  of  the  enemy  and  capturing  five  prisoners. 
His  own  loss  was  one  killed  and  five  wounded  or  missing.  This 
may  be  called  the  first  cavalry  raid.  As  a  reconnoissance,  this 
otherwise  unimportant  affair  was  of  service,  the  officer  in  com 
mand  reporting  the  presence  of  Rebel  troops  at  that  point  to 
the  number  of  1,500  men. 

After  the  manifestations,  here  as  well  as  in  the  Shenandoah 
Valley,  of  a  gradual  aggressive  movement  of  the  insurgents, 
threatening  alike  Alexandria,  Washington  and  the  upper  part 
of  Maryland,  the  impatience  of  the  people — ignorant  as  they 
were  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  properly  equipping  a  force, 
even  then  so  much  out  of  proportion  to  any  organized  in  this 
country  during  the  last  forty  years — was  natural,  when,  with 
only  skirmishing  along  the  Potomac,  no  general  movement  to 
thrust  back  these  aggressors  had  been  commenced  until  the  mid 
dle  of  July.  That  the  causes  of  this  delay  were  beyond  the 
control  of  the  Executive,  and  that  even  when  commenced  the 
experienced  military  leaders  in  command  had  failed  to  put  their 
forces  in  full  readiness,  is  now  apparent.  The  Rebels  them 
selves  anticipated  an  earlier  attack,  and  had  prepared  for  it, 
awaiting  the  onset  on  their  chosen  ground.  Meanwhile  bat 
teries  began  to  be  erected  along  the  Potomac,  at  Acquia  Creek 
and  elsewhere,  threatening  a  complete  blockade  of  the  river. 
On  the  27th  of  June,  Capt.  James  H.  Ward,  of  the  Navy,  had 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  249 

lost  Ins  life  in  an  attack  on  the  obstructions  at  Matthias  Point. 
The  hope  and  purpose  of  capturing  Washington  and  subju 
gating  Maryland  were  clearly  shown  by  the  procedure  of  the 
Rebels,  and  not  without  reason,  when  we  remember  their  mili 
tary  preparations  during  a  whole  year,  and  the  advantages  given 
them  by  the  Administration  just  closed. 

Baltimore,  in  which  there  had  been,  since  the  10th  of  April, 
constant  conspiracies  in  aid  of  the  rebellion,  and  which  was 
relied  on  by  the  Rebel  leaders  for  important  aid  in  the  general 
scheme  of  extending  their  military  sway  northward  to  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line,  had  been  occupied  by  Gen.  Butler  on  the  14th 
of  May.  Strong  works  thrown  up  on  Federal  Hill,  and  else 
where,  as  well  as  Fort  McIIenry,  now  held  the  conspirators  in 
check,  and  their  designs  were  effectually  overthrown  before 
Butler's  transfer  to  the  new  Department  of  Virginia,  a  few  days 
later.  This  Department  originally  embraced  Eastern  Virginia 
to  the  summit  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  the  States  of  North  Caro 
lina  and  South  Carolina.  Gen.  N.  P.  Banks  succeeded  to  the 
command  at  Baltimore,  and  continued  the  vigorous  measures  of 
his  predecessor. 

On  the  15th  of  July,  Gen.  Patterson's  army  advanced,  occu 
pying  Bunker  Hill,  and  the  Rebel  force  under  J,  E.  Johnston 
fell  back  on  Winchester.  Patterson  was  expected  at  least  to 
occupy  the  attention  of  the  Rebels,  to  whose  force  his  own 
actually  was,  as  believed  at  the  time  in  Washington,  largely 
superior.  Almost  simultaneously  with  this  "  demonstration"  in 
the  Valley,  Gen.  McDowell  issued  an  order  (July  16th)  dis 
tributing  his  troops  into  divisions,  and  took  up  the  line  of 
march  toward  Fairfax  Court  House.  This  place  his  advance 
column  occupied  on  the  following  day,  without  resistance.  His 
entire  effective  force  was  not  far  from  50,000  men  :  the  First 
Division  under  command  of  Gen.  Daniel  Tyler,  of  Connecticut ; 
the  Second  under  Col.  David  Hunter,  of  the  Army ;  the  Third 
under  Col.  S.  P.  Heintzelman,  of  the  Army;  the  Fourth  under 
Gen.  Theodore  Runyon,  of  New  Jersey,  and  the  Fifth  under 
Col.  D.  S.  Miles,  of  the  Army.  The  two  last  divisions  were 
intended  to  act  as  the  Reserve. 

On  the  18th,  Patterson's  force,  instead  of  attacking  Johnston 


250  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN, 

at  Winchester,  was  moved  on  Charlestown — a  step  which  all 
critics,  judging  after  the  event,  will  agree  to  have  been  unfor 
tunate,  in  consequence  of  which  no  effectual  cooperation  with 
the  Manassas  movement  was  rendered.  On  the  sume  day, 
(Thursday)  McDowell  resumed  his  march  in  the  direction  of 
Centre ville,  aud  a  premature  engagement  was  brought  on  at 
Blackburn's  Ford,  by  a  portion  of  Gen.  Tyler's  division.  The 
slight  repulse  which  followed  ended  an  immediate  advance,  and 
detained  the  army,  inactive,  at  and  near  Centreville,  for  the 
next  two  days. 

The  plan  of  battle,  as  now  seen  in  the  published  order  of 
Gen.  McDowell,  for  Sunday  the  21st,  was  a  good  one,  but  the 
execution  of  some  of  its  details  was  imperfect,  and  the  delay  of 
troops  in  moving  to  the  scene  of  action  prepared  the  way  for 
the  final  disaster,  through  the  arrival  of  Rebel  reinforcements 
from  Johnston,  whom  Patterson  had  failed  to  occupy  as 
•ordered.  The  immediate  purpose  of  giving  battle  at  this 
time,  was  to  force  the  enemy  from  his  position  commanding 
the  Warrenton  road,  and  to  destroy  the  railroad  from  Mauassus 
to  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  preventing  communication  with  fhe 
large  Rebel  force  in  the  latter  locality. 

The  stream  named  Bull  Run  passes  in  a  southeasterly  direc 
tion  through  the  ravine  at  the  foot  of  the  slope  beyond  Centre 
ville.  Three  roads  lead  from  the  latter  place  to  the  South  and 
West — one  nearly  due  south,  crossing  Bull  Run  at  Blackburn's 
Ford;  a  second  due  west  toward  Groveton,  over  the  Stone 
Bridge  ;  aud  a  third,  about  midway  between  these  two,  at  an 
angle  of  forty-five  degrees,  to  each,  extending  more  directly  to 
Newmarket,  (near  Manassas  Junction),  where  Beauregard,  com 
manding  the  Rebel  forces,  had  his  headquarters.  This  last 
road  is  known  as  the  Warrenton  turnpike.  Beyond  the  run 
are  the  Manassas  Plains,  extending  for  miles,  mostly  an  open 
country,  like  a  Western  prairie.  On  the  rolling  ground  near 
the  stream  the  woods  are  dense,  and  there  are  occasional  groves 
farther  away.  The  Rebel  lines  extended  for  a  distance  of  six 
to  ten  miles  along  the  right  bank  of  Bull  Run,  from  near 
Blackburn's  Ford  to  the  Stone  Bridge,  and  beyond  the  Grove- 
ton  road.  The  Rebel  lines  were  two  or  three  miles  distant,  at 


LIFE   Or   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  251 

the  nearest  point,  from  Newmarket,  and  visible  from  the  head 
quarters  of  Beaurcgard.  The  number  of  his  men,  on  Sunday 
morning,  is  believed  to  have  been  about  forty  thousand  in  line, 
with  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  in  reserve,  exclusive  of  ree'n- 
forcements  arriving  during  the  day. 

A  large  portion  of  Johnston's  forces  had  previously  reached 
Manassas  Junction,  and  that  General  was  present  in  person,  but 
waiving  his  seniority  of  rank,  allowed  Beauregard  to  conduct 
the  engagement,  his  dispositions  having  already  been  made. 

Leaving  part  of  the  division  under  Miles — two  brigades  with 
two  batteries — as  a  reserve  at  Centreville,  together  with  Rich 
ardson's  brigade,  temporarily  assigned  to  the  same  division, 
which  was  to  threaten  Blackburn's  Ford,  covered  by  the  ene 
my's  right,  McDowell  ordered  Tyler's  division  to  take  position 
on  the  Warrenton  road,  menacing  the  Rebel  center.  To  Hun 
ter's  division  was  intrusted  the  important  work  of  turning 
the  Rebel  left,  going  to  the  right  of  the  Groveton  road,  and 
crossing  Bull  Run  above  Sudley's  Spring.  This  force  was  to 
be  followed  by  Heintzelman's  division,  which  was  to  cross  lower 
down,  after  Hunter  had  effected  his  crossing  and  descended  the 
right  bank  to  a  point  nearly  opposite,  driving  away  any  force 
that  might  be  there  to  dispute  the  passage.  These  two  divi 
sions  were  the  ones  most  actively  engaged  in  the  ensuing  battle. 
The  necessity  of  strongly  guarding  against  the  contingency  of 
a  Rebel  movement  to  occupy  Centreville,  either  by  Blackburn's 
Ford  or  the  Warrenton  road,  was  strongly  impressed  on  the 
mind  of  the  Commanding  General.  This  led  to  the  detach 
ment  of  one  of  Heintzelman's  brigades,  after  the  movement 
commenced,  to  be  added  to  the  force  on  our  left.  The  event 
showed  the  wisdom  of  his  action  in  protecting  this  position, 
which  the  Rebel  General  had  deliberately  planned  to  assail,  if 
we  may  credit-  his  report,  written  long  afterward,  and  which, 
but  for  McDowell's  precautions,  might  have  been  taken  at  the 
close  of  the  battle,  to  the  much  more  serious  discomfiture  of 
our  army. 

More  time  was  consumed  in  getting  the  men  in  position,  on 
the  morning  of  the  21st,  than  had  been  anticipated.  Tyler 
opened  with  his  artillery  at  half  past  six  o'clock,  eliciting  no 


252  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

reply.  Burnside's  brigade,  under  Hunter,  successfully  crossed 
the  stream,  and  emerged  from  the  wooded  bank  into  the  open 
plain  beyond.  Almost  immediately,  the  head  of  the  column 
encountered  a  heavy  Rebel  force,  but  Tyler  and  Heintzelnian 
had  each,  from  their  respective  positions,  succeeded  in  throwing 
part  of  their  force  across,  and  presently  nearly  all  but  the 
reserves  before  mentioned  were  brought  into  action.  The 
ground  was  hotly  contested  from  half  past  ten  o'clock  until 
three.  The  advantage  at  the  latter  hour  was  clearly  on  the  side 
of  our  arms,  and  the  victory  seemed  assured.  That  such  was 
the  view  taken  by  the  Rebel  commanders  even,  is  seen  from  the 
accounts  of  the  battle  from  that  side. 

At  this  important  juncture,  a  further  reinforcement  from 
Johnston's  army  at  Winchester  (perhaps,  in  fact,  "  the  residue" 
of  that  army,  as  supposed  by  Gen.  McDowell)  arrived  on  the 
field.  Our  men,  who  had  been  up  since  two  o'clock,  had 
marched  several  miles,  and  had  fought  for  many  hours,  were 
exhausted  by  the  privations  they  had  necessarily  undergone, 
and  from  the  fatigue  incident  to  such  labors  in  an  excessively 
hot  day.  Most  were  inexperienced  troops.  This  was  their 
first  engagement.  The  new  masses  now  hurled  upon  them 
decided  the  event.  The  battle  was  lost.  Panic  and  pell-mell 
retreat  ensued.  Only  on  reaching  Centreville  was  any  degree 
of  order  restored,  after  the  first  falling  back.  The  official 
report  of  Gen.  McDowell  states  his  loss  as  481  killed,  and  1,011 
wounded,  without  an  enumeration  of  prisoners.  Beauregard 
stated  his  own  losses  as  269  killed,  and  1,438  wounded,  and 
estimated  McDowell's  entire  loss  (including  prisoners)  at  over 
4,500.  The  battle  field  remained  in  possession  of  the  insur 
gents,  yet,  in  spite  of  their  superior  numbers,  they  foiled  to 
improve  their  victory  by  either  a  destructive  pursuit  or  an 
early  movement  upon  Washington.  The  Rebel  General  con 
fesses,  in  his  official  report,  that  he  was  intending,  before  the 
battle,  to  attack  McDowell,  instead  of  awaiting  his  farther  ad 
vance,  manifestly  hoping,  after  uniting  Johnston's  forces  and 
his  own,  to  gain  possession  of  the  Federal  Capital.  The  hard- 
contested  field  of  Bull  Run  postponed  farther  attempts  to  ac 
complish  this  purpose,  and  the  prompt  and  efficient  measures 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  253 

taken  for  the  defense  of  Washington  rendered  the  joint  cam 
paign  of  Johnston  and  Beauregard  as  unproductive  of  material 
results,  as  the  advance  of  McDowell,  unsustained  by  Patterson, 
had  been  wanting  in  military  success.  It  was  chiefly  in  its 
moral  effect,  at  home  and  abroad,  that  this  battle  had  any 
special  significance 


254  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Extra  Session  of  Congress. — President  Lincoln's  Message. — Rebel  Af 
fairs  at  Richmond. 

CONGRESS  had  convened  on  the  4th  of  July,  in  accordance 
with  the  President's  call  in  his  proclamation  of  April  15th, 
and  organized  by  the  election  of  Mr.  Grow,  of  Pennsylvania, 
as  Speaker.  Little  decisive  action  had  been  taken  prior  to  the 
date  to  which  military  events  have  been  traced  in  the  preced 
ing  chapter.  The  President's  Message  to  Congress,  at  the 
opening  of  this  extra  session,  contains  a  concise  statement  of 
the  situation  of  affairs  at  that  time,  four  months  having  passed 
since  the  delivery  of  his  Inaugural  Address,  and  presents  his 
views  as  to  what  was  required  to  be  done  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  Constitutional  Government.  With  a  review  of  the  cir 
cumstances  under  which  hostilities  were  commenced,  and  with 
a  conclusive  exposure  of  the  false  pretenses  of  Secessionisni,  it 
also  clearly  sets  forth  the  acts,  motives  and  purposes  of  the 
President.  This  document  is  here  given  at  length  : 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  FIRST  MESSAGE. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRE 
SENTATIVES  :  Having  been  convened  on  an  extraordinary  oc 
casion,  as  authorized  by  the  Constitution,  your  attention  is  not 
called  to  any  ordinary  subject  of  legislation.  At  the  begin 
ning  of  the  present  Presidential  term,  four  months  ago,  the 
functions  of  the  Federal  Government  were  found  to  be  gen 
erally  suspended  within  the  several  States  of  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana  and  Florida,  except 
ing  only  those  of  the  Postomce  Department. 

'Within  these  States  all  the  Forts,  Arsenals,  Dock- Yards, 
Custom -Houses,  and  the  like,  including  the  movable  and  sta 
tionary  property  in  and  about  them,  had  been  seized,  and 
were  held  in  open  hostility  to  this  Government,  excepting  only 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  255 

Forts  Pickens,  Taylor  and  Jefferson,  on  and  near  the  Florida 
coast,  and  Fort  Sumter  in  Charleston  harbor,  South  Carolina. 
The  forts  thus  seized  had  been  put  in  improved  condition, 
ne\v  one^  had  been  built,  and  armed  forces  had  been  organ 
ized,  and  were,  organizing,  all  avowedly  with  the  same  hostile 
purpose. 

The  forts  remaining  in  possession  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  in  and  near  these  States  were  either  besieged  or  menaced 
by  warlike  preparations,  arid  especially  Fort  Sumter  was  nearly 
surrounded  by  well-protected  hostile  batteries,  with  guns 
equal  in  quality  to  the  best  of  its  own,  and  outnumbering  the 
latter  as,  perhaps,  ten  to  one — a  disproportionate  share  of  the 
Federal  muskets  and  rifles  had  somehow  found  their  way  into 
these  States,  and  had  been  seized  to  be  used  against  the  Gov 
ernment. 

Accumulations  of  the  public  revenue  lying  within  them  had 
been  seized  for  the  same  object.  The  navy  was  scattered  in 
distant  seas,  leaving  but  a  very  small  part  of  it  within  the  im 
mediate  reach  of  the  Government. 

Officers  of  the  Federal  Army  had  resigned  in  great  numbers, 
and  of  those  resigning  a  large  proportion  had  taken  up  arms 
against  the  Government. 

Simultaneously,  and  in  connection  with  all  this,  the  pur 
pose  to  sever  the  Federal  Union  was  openly  avowed.  In  ac 
cordance  with  this  purpose  an  ordinance  had  been  adopted  in 
each  of  these  States,  declaring  the  States  respectively  to  be 
separated  from  the  National  Union.  A  formula  for  instituting 
a  combined  Government  of  those  States  had  been  promulgated, 
and  this  illegal  organization,  in  the  character  of  the  "Confed 
erate  States,"  was  already  invoking  recognition,  aid  and  inter 
vention  from  foreign  powers. 

Finding  this  condition  of  things,  and  believing  it  to  be  an 
imperative  duty  upon  the  incoming  Executive  to  prevent,  if 
possible,  the  consummation  of  such  attempt  to  destroy  the 
Federal  Union;  a  choice  of  means  to  that  end  became  indis 
pensable.  This%choice  was  made  and  was  declared  in  the  In 
augural  Address. 

The  policy  chosen  looked  to  the  exhaustion  of  all  peaceful 
measures  before  a  resort  to  any  stronger  ones.  It  sought  only 
to  hold  the  public  places  and  property  not  already  "wrested 
from  the  Government,  and  to  collect -the  revenue,  relying  for 
the  rest  on  time,  discussion  arid  the  ballot-box.  It  promised  a 
continuance  of  the  mails,  at  Government  expense,  to  the  very 
people  who  were  resisting  the  Government,  and  it  gave  re 
peated  pledges  against  any  disturbances  to  any  of  the  people, 
or  any  of  their  rights,  of  all  that  which  a  President  might  con- 


256  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

stitutionally  and  justifiably  do  in  such  a  case ;  every  thing  was 
forborne,  without  which  it  was  believed  possible  to  keep  the 
Government  on  foot. 

On  the  5th  of  March,  the  present  incumbent's  first  full  day 
in  office,  a  letter  from  Major  Anderson,  commanding  at  Fort 
Sumter,  written  on  the  28th  of  February,  and  received  at  the 
War  Department  on  the  4th  of  March,  was  by  that  Department 
placed  in  his  hands.  This  letter  expressed  the  professional 
opinion  of  the  writer,  that  reinforcements  could  not  be  thrown 
into  that  fort  within  the  time  for  its  relief  rendered  necessary 
by  the  limited  supply  of  provisions,  and  with  a  view  of  holding 
possession  of  the  same,  with  a  force  less  than  20,000  good  and 
well-disciplined  men.  This  opinion  was  concurred  in  by  all 
the  officers  of  his  command,  and  their  memoranda  on  the  sub 
ject  were  made  inclosures  of  Major  Anderson's  letter.  The 
whole  was  immediately  laid  before  Lieut.  Gen.  Scott,  who  at 
once  concurred  with  Major  Anderson  in  his  opinion.  On  re 
flection,  however,  he  took  full  time,  consulting  with  other  offi 
cers,  both  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  and  at  the  end  of  four  days 
came  reluctantly  but  decidedly  to  the  same  conclusion  as  be 
fore.  He  also  stated  at  the  same  time  that  no  such  sufficient 
force  was  then  at  the  control  of  the  Government,  or  could  be 
raised  and  brought  to  the  ground,  within  the  time  when  the 
provisions  in  the  fort  would  be  exhausted.  In  a  purely  mili 
tary  point  of  view,  this  reduced  the  duty  of  the  Administra 
tion  in  the  case  to  the  mere  matter  of  .getting  the  garrison 
safely  out  of  the  fort. 

It  was  believed,  however,  that  to  so  abandon  that  position, 
under  the  circumstances,  would  be  utterly  ruinous ;  that  the 
necessity  under  which  it  was  to  be  done  would  not  be  fully  un 
derstood;  that  by  many  it  would  be  construed  as  a  part  of  a 
voluntary  policy ;  that  at  home  it  would  discourage  the 
friends  of  the  Union,  embolden  its  ad  verbal  itr»,  aim  gu  fur  to 
insure  to  the  latter  a  recognition  ibroad ;  that,  in  fact,  it 
would  be  our  national  destruction  consummated.  This  could 
not  be  allowed.  Starvation  was  not  yet  upon  the  garrison,  and 
ere  it  would  be  reached,  Fort  Pickens  might  be  ree'nforeed. 
This  last  would  be  a  clear  indication  of  policy,  and  would  bet 
ter  enable  the  country  to  accept  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter 
as  a  military  necessity.  An  order  was  at  once  directed  to  be 
sent  for  the  landing  of  the  troops  from  the  steamship  Brook 
lyn  into  Fort  Pickens.  This  order  could  not  go  by  land,  but 
must  take  the  longer  and  slower  route  by  sea.  The  first  re 
turn  news  from  the  order  was  received  just  one  week  before  the 
fall  of  Sumter.  The  news  itself  was  that  the  officer  command 
ing  the  Sabine,  to  which  vessel  the  troops  had  been  transferred 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  257 

from  the  Brooklyn,  acting  upon  some  quasi  armistice  of  the 
late  Administration,  and  of  the  existence  of  which  the  present 
Administration,  up  to  the  time  the  order  was  dispatched,  had 
only  too  vague  and  uncertain  rumors  to  fix  attention,  had  re 
fused  to  land  the  troops.  To  now  reenforce  Fort  Pickens  be 
fore  a  crisis  would  be  reached  at  Fort  Sumter  was  impossible, 
rendered  so  by  the  near  exhaustion  of  provisions  at  the  latter 
named  fort.  In  precaution  against  such  a  conjuncture  the 
Government  had  a  few  days  before  commenced  preparing  an 
expedition,  as  well  adapted  as  might  be,  to  relieve  Fort  Sum 
ter,  which  expedition  was  intended  to  be  ultimately  used  or 
not,  according  to  circumstances.  Trie  strongest  anticipated 
case  for  using  it  was  now  presented,  and  it  was  resolved  to  send 
it  forward  as  had  been  intended.  In  this  contingency  it  was 
also  resolved  to  notify  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina  that  he 
might  expect  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  provision  the  fort, 
and  that  if  the  attempt  should  not  be  resisted  there  would  be 
no  attempt  to  throw  in  men,  arms  or  ammunition,  without  fur 
ther  notice,  or  in  case  of  an  attack  upon  the  fort.  This  no 
tice  was  accordingly  given,  whereupon  the  fort  was  attacked 
and  bombarded  to  its  fall,  without  even  awaiting  the  arrival  of 
the  provisioning  expedition. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  the  assault  upon  and  reduction  of 
Fort  Sumter,  was,  in  no  sense,  a  matter  of  self-defense  on  the 
part  of  the  assailants.  They  well  knew  that  the  garrison  in 
the  fort  could  by  no  possibility  commit  aggression  upon  them  ; 
they  knew  they  were  expressly  notified  that  the  giving  of  bread 
to  the  few  brave  and  hungry  men  of  the  garrison  was  all  which 
would,  on  that  occasion,  be  attempted,  unless  themselves,  by 
resisting  so  much,  should  provoke  more.  They  knew  that  this 
Government  desired  to  keep  the  garrison  in  the  fort,  not  to 
assail  them,  but  merely  to  maintain  visible  possession,  and  thus 
to  preserve  the  Union  from  actual  and  immediate  dissolution ; 
trusting,  as  hereinbefore  stated,  to  time,  discussion,  and  the 
ballot-box  for  final  adjustment,  and  they  assailed  and  reduced 
the  fort,  for  precisely  the  reverse  object,  to  drive  out  the  visible 
authority  of  the  Federal  Union,  and  thus  force  it  to  immediate 
dissolution  ;  that  this  was  their  object  the  Executive  well  under 
stood,  having  said  to  them  in  the  Inaugural  Address,  "  you  can 
have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the  aggressors."  He 
took  pains  not  only  to  keep  this  declaration  good,  but  also  to  keep 
the  case  so  far  from  ingenious  sophistry  as  that  the  world  should 
not  misunderstand  it.  By  the  aifair  at  Fort  Sumter.,  with  its  sur 
rounding  circumstances,  that  point  was  reached.  Then  and  there 
by  the  assailants  of  the  Government  began  the  conflict  of  arms — 
without  a  gun  in  sight,  or  in  expectancy,  to  return  their  fire, 


258  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

save  only  the  few  in  the  fort  sent  to  that  harbor  years  before, 
for  their  own  protection,  and  still  ready  to  give  that,  protection 
in  whatever  was  lawful.  In  this  act,  discarding  all  else,  they 
have  forced  upon  the  country  the  distinct  issue,  immediate  dis 
solution  or  blood,  and  this  issue  embraces  more  than  the  fate 
of  these  United  States.  It  presents  to  the  whole  family  of 
man  the  question  whether  a  Constitutional  Republic  or  Democ 
racy,  a  Government  of  the  people,  by  the  same  people,  can  or 
can  not  maintain  its  territorial  integrity  against  its  own  domestic 
foes.  It  presents  the  question  whether  discontented  individuals, 
too  few  in  numbers  to  control  the  Administration  according  to 
the  organic  law  in  an}"  case,  can  always,  upon  the  pretenses 
made  in  this  case,  or  any  other  pretenses,  or  arbitrarily  without 
any  pretense,  break  up  their  Government,  and  thus  practically 
put  an  end  to  free  government  upon  the  earth.  It  forces  us  to 
ask,  "  Is  there  in  all  republics  this  inherent  and  fatal  weak 
ness  ?"  Must  a  Government  of  necessity  be  too^  strong  for  the 
liberties  of  its  own  people,  or  too  weak  to  maintain  its  own 
existence  ?  So  viewing  the  issue,  no  choice  was  left  but  to  call 
out  the  war  power  of  the  Government,  and  so  to  resist  the  force 
employed  for  its  destruction  by  force  for  its  preservation,  The 
call  was  made,  and  the  response  of  the  country  was  most  grati 
fying,  surpassing,  in  unanimity  and  spirit,  the  most  sanguine 
expectation.  Yet  none  of  the  States,  commonly  called  Slave 
States,  except  Delaware,  gave  a  regiment  through  the  regular 
State  organization.  A  few  regiments  have  been  organized 
within  some  others  of  those  States  by  individual  enterprise,  and 
received  into  the  Government  service.  Of  course  the  seceded 
States,  so  called,  and  to  which  Texas  had  been  joined  about  the 
time  of  the  inauguration,  gave  no  troops  to  the  cause  of  the 
Union.  The  Border  States,  so  called,  were  not  uniform  in  their 
action,  some  of  them  being  almost  for  the  Union,  while  in 
others,  as  in  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Arkan 
sas,  the  Union  sentiment  was  nearly  repressed  and  silenced. 
The  course  taken  in  Virginia  was  the  most  remarkable,  perhaps 
the  most  important.  A  Convention,  elected  by  the  people  of 
that  State  to  consider  this  very  question  of  disrupting  the 
Federal  Union,  was  in  session  at  the  capital  of  Virginia  when 
Fort  Sumter  fell. 

To  this  body  the  people  had  chosen  a  large  majority  of  pro 
fessed  Union  men.  Almost  immediately  after  the  fall  of  Sumter 
many  members  of  that  majority  went  over  to  the  original  dis 
union  minority,  and  with  them  adopted  an  ordinance  for  with 
drawing  the  State  from  the  Union.  Whether  this  change  was 
wrought  by  their  great  approval  of  the  assault  upon  Sumter,  or 
their  great  resentment  at  the  Government's  resistance  to  that 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  259 

assault,  is  not  definitely  known.  Although  they  submitted  the 
ordinance  for  ratification  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  to  be  taken 
on  a  day  then  somewhat  more  than  a  month  distant,  the  Con 
vention  and  the  Legislature,  which  was  also  in  session  at  the 
saaie  time  and  place,  with  leading  men  of  the  State,  not  mem 
bers  of  either,  immediately  commenced  acting  as  if  the  State  was 
already  out  of  the  Union.  They  pushed  military  preparations 
vigorously  forward  all  over  the  State.  They  seized  the  United 
States  Armory  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  the  Navy  Yard  at  Gos- 
port,  near  Norfolk.  They  received,  perhaps  invited  into  their 
State,  large  bodies  of  troops,  with  their  warlike  appointments, 
from  the  so-called  seceded  States. 

They  formally  entered  into  a  treaty  of  temporary  alliance 
with  the  so-called  Confederate  States,  and  sent  members  to  their 
Congress  at  Montgomery,  and  finally  they  permitted  the  insur 
rectionary  Government  to  be  transferred  to  their  capitol  at 
Richmond.  The  people  of  Virginia  have  thus  allowed  this 
giant  insurrection  to  make  its  nest  within  her  borders,  and  this 
Government  has  no  choice  left  but  to  deal  with  it  where  it  finds 
it,  and  it  has  the  less  to  regret  as  the  loyal  citizens  have,  in 
due  form,  claimed  its  protection.  Those  loyal  citizens  this 
Government  is  bound  to  recognize  and  protect  as  being  in  Vir 
ginia.  In  the  Border  States,  so  called,  in  fact  the  Middle  States, 
there  are  those  who  favor  a  policy  which  they  call  armed  neu 
trality,  that  is,  an  arming  of  those  States  to  prevent  the  Union 
forces  passing  one  way  or  the  disunion  forces  the  other  over 
their  soil.  This  would  be  disunion  completed.  Figuratively 
speaking,  it  would  be  the  building  of  an  impassable  wall  along 
the  line  of  separation,  and  yet  not  quite  an  impassable  one,  for 
under  the  guise  of  neutrali^  it  would  tie  the  hands  of  the 
Union  men,  and  freely  pass  supplies  from  among  them  to  the 
insurrectionists,  wkich  it  could  not  do  as  an  open  enemy.  At  a 
stroke  it  would  take  all  the  trouble  off  the  hands  of  secession, 
except  only  what  proceeds  from  the  external  blockade.  It 
would  do  for  the  disunionists  that  which  of  all  things  they 
most  desire,  feed  them  well  and  give  them  disunion  without  a 
struggle  of  their  own.  It  recognizes  no  fidelity  to  the  Consti 
tution,  no  obligation  to  maintain  the  Union,  and  while  very 
many  who  have  favored  it  are  doubtless  loyal  citizens,  it  is, 
nevertheless,  very  injurious  in  effect. 

Recurring  to  the  action  of  the  Government  it  may  be  stated 
that  at  first  a  call  was  made  for  75,000  militia,  and  rapidly  fol 
lowing  this  a  proclamation  was  issued  for  closing  the  ports  of 
the  insurrectionary  districts  by  proceedings  in  the  nature  of  a 
blockade.  So  far  all  was  believed  to  be  strictly  legal. 


260  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

At  tliis  point  the  insurrectionists  announced  their  purpose  to 
enter  upon  the  practice  of  privateering. 

Other  calls  were  made  for  volunteers,  to  serve  three  years, 
unless  sooner  discharged,  and  also  for  large  additions  to  the 
regular  army  and  navy.  These  measures,  whether  strictly  legal 
or  not,  were  ventured  upon  under  what  appeared  to  be  a  popular 
demand  and  a  public  necessity,  trusting  then,  as  now,  that  Con 
gress  would  ratify  them. 

It  is  believed  that  nothing  has  been  done  beyond  the  consti 
tutional  competency  of  Congress.  Soon  after  the  first  call  for 
militia  it  was  considered  a  duty  to  authorize  the  Commanding 
General,  in  proper  cases,  according  to  his  discretion,  to  suspend 
the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus ;  or,  in  other  words, 
to  arrest  and  detain,  without  resort  to  the  ordinary  processes 
and  forms  of  law,  such  individuals  as  he  might  deem  danger 
ous  to  the  public  safety.  This  authority  has  purposely  been 
exercised,  but  very  sparingly.  Nevertheless  the  legality  and 
propriety  of  what  has  been  done  under  it  are  questioned,  and 
the  attention  of  the  country  has  been  called  to  the  proposition 
that  one  who  is  sworn  to  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully 
executed,  should  not  himself  violate  them.  Of  course  some 
consideration  was  given  to  the  questions  of  power  and  propriety 
before  this  matter  was  acted  upon.  The  whole  of  the  laws 
which  were  required  to  be  faithfully  executed  were  being 
resisted,  and  failing  of  execution  in  nearly  one-third  of  the 
States.  Must  they  be  allowed  to  finally  fail  of  execution,  even 
had  it  been  perfectly  clear  that,  by  use  of  the  means  necessary 
to  their  execution,  some  single  law,  made  in  such  extreme  ten 
derness  of  the  citizen's  liberty  that  practically  it  relieves  more 
of  the  guilty  than  the  innocent,  should,  to  a  very  great  extent, 
be  violated  ?  To  state  the  question  more  directly,  are  all  the 
laws  but  one  to  go  unexecuted,  and  the  Government  itself  to 
go  to  pieces  lest  that  one  be  violated  ?.  Even  in  such  a  case 
would  not  the  official  oath  be  broken  if  the  Government  should 
be  overthrown  when  it  was  believed  that  disregarding  the  single 
law  would  tend  to  preserve  it. 

But  it  was  not  believed  that  this  question  was  presented.  It 
was  not  believed  that  any  law  was  violated.  The  provision  of 
the  Constitution,  that  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
shall  not  be  suspended,  unless  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or 
invasion,  the  public  safety  may  require  it,  is  equivalent  to  a 
provision  that  such  privilege  may  be  suspended  when,  in  cases 
of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  does  require  it.  It 
was  decided  that  we  have  a  case  of  rebellion,  and  that  the  public 
safety  does  require  the  qualified  suspension  of  the  privilege  of  the 
writ,  which  was  authorized  to  be  made.  Now,  it  is  insisted  that 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  261 

Congress,  and  not  the  Executive,  is  vested  with  this  power, 
But  the  Constitution  itself  is  silent  as  to  which  or  who  is  to 
exercise  the  power ;  and  as  the  provision  was  plainly  made  for 
a  dangerous  emergency,  it  can  not  be  believed  that  the  framers 
of  the  instrument  intended  that  in  every  case  the  danger 
should  run  its  course  until  Congress  could  be  called  together, 
the  very  assembling  of  which  might  be  prevented,  as  was 
intended  in  this  case  by  the  rebellion.  No  more  extended  argu 
ment  is  now  afforded,  as  an  opinion  at  some  length  will  prob 
ably  be  presented  by  the  Attorney-General.  Whether  there 
shall  be  any  legislation  on  the  subject,  and  if  so,  what,  is  sub 
mitted  entirely  to  the  better  judgment  of  Congress.  The 
forbearance  of  this  Government  had  been  so  extraordinary,  and 
so  long  continued,  as  to  lead  some  foreign  nations  to  shape 
their  action  as  if  they  supposed  the  early  destruction  of  our 
National  Union  was  probable.  While  this,  on  discovery,  gave 
the  Executive  some  concern,  he  is  now  happy  to  say  that  the 
sovereignty  and  rights  of  the  United  States  are  now  every -where 
practically  respected  by  foreign  Powers,  and  a  general  sympa 
thy  with  the  country  is  manifested  throughout  the  world. 

The  reports  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury,  War,  and  the 
Navy,  will  give  the  information,  in  detail,  deemed  necessary 
and  convenient  for  your  de-liberation  and  action,  while  the  Ex 
ecutive  and  all  the  Departments  will  stand  ready  to  supply 
omissions  or  to  communicate  new  facts  considered  important  for 
you  to  know. 

It  is  now  recommended  that  you  give  the  legal  means  for 
making  this  contest  a  short  and  decisive  one  ;  that  you  place  at 
the  control  of  the  Government  for  the  work  at  least  400,000 
-men  and  $400,000,000  ;  that  number  of  men  is  about  one-tenth 
of  those  of  proper  ages  within  the  regions  where  apparently  all 
are  willing  to  engage,  and  the  sum  is  less  than  a  twenty-third 
part  of  the  money  value  owned  by  the  men  who  seem  ready  to 
devote  the  whole.  A  debt  of  8600,000,000  now  is  a  less  sum 
per  head  than  was  the  debt  of  our  Revolution  when  we  came 
out  of  that  struggle,  and  the  money  value  in  the  country  bears 
even  a  greater  proportion  to  what  it  was  then  than  does  the 
population.  Surely  each  man  has  as  strong  a  motive  now  to 
preserve  our  liberties  as  each  had  then  to  establish  them. 

A  right  result  at  this  time  will  be  worth  more  to  the  world 
than  ten  times  the  men  and  ten  times  the  money.  The  evi 
dence  reaching  us  from  the  country  leaves  -no  doubt  that  the 
material  for  the  work  is  abundant,  and  that  it  needs  only  the 
hand^of  legislation  to  give  it  legal  sanction,  and  the  hand  of 
the  Executive  to  give  it  practical  shape  and  efficiency.  One 
of  the  greatest  perplexities  of  the  Government  is  to  avoid 


262  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

receiving  troops  faster  than  it  can  provide  for  them  ;  in  a  word, 
the  people  will  save  their  Government  if  the  Government  will 
do  its  part  only  indifferently  well.  It  might  seem  at  first 
thought  to  be  of  little  difference  whether  the  present  movement 
at  the  South  be  called  secession  or  rebellion.  The  movers, 
however,  well  understand  the  difference.  At  the  beginning 
they  knew  that  they  could  never  raise  their  treason  to  any 
respectable  magnitude  by  any  name  which  implies  violation  of 
law  ;  they  knew  their  people  possessed  as  much  of  moral  sense, 
as  much  of  devotion  to  law  and  order,  and  as  much  pride  in  its 
reverence  for  the  history  and  Government  of  their  common 
country,  as  any  other  civilized  and  patriotic  people.  They 
knew  they  could  make  no  advancement  directly  in  the  teeth  of 
these  strong  and  noble  sentiments.  Accordingly  they  com 
menced  by  an  insidious  debauching  of  the  public  mind ;  they 
invented  an  ingenious  sophism,  which,  if  conceded,  was  followed 
by  perfectly  logical  steps  through  all  the  incidents  of  the  com 
plete  destruction  of  the  Union.  The  sophism  itself  is  that  any 
State  of  the  Union  may,  consistently  with  the  Nation's  Consti 
tution,  and  therefore  lawfully  and  peacefully,  withdraw  from 
the  Union  without  the  consent  of  the  Union  or  of  any  other 
State. 

The  little  disguise  that  the  supposed  right  is  to  be  exercised 
only  for  just  cause,  themselves  to  be  the  sole  judge  of  its 
justice,  is  too  thin  to  merit  any  notice  with  rebellion.  Thus 
sugar-coated,  they  have  been  drugging  the  public  mind  of  their 
section  for  more  than  thirty  years,  and  until  at  length  they 
have  brought  many  good  men  to  a  willingness  to  take  up  arms 
against  the  Government  the  day  after  some  assemblage  of  men 
have  enacted  the  farcical  pretense  of  taking  their  State  out  of 
the  Union,  who  could  have  been  brought  to  no  such  thing  the 
day  before.  This  sophism  derives  much,  perhaps  the  whole  of 
its  currency,  from  the  assumption  that  there  is  some  omnipo 
tent  and  sacred  supremacy  pertaining  to  a  State,  to  each  State 
of  our  Federal  Union.  Our  States  have  neither  more  nor  less 
power  than  that  reserved  to  them  in  the  Union  by  the  Consti 
tution,  no  one  of  them  ever  having  been  a  State  out  of  the 
Union.  The  original  ones  passed  into  the  Union  before  they 
cast  off  their  British  Colonial  dependence,  and  the  new  ones 
came  into  the  Union  directly  from  a  condition  of  dependence, 
excepting  Texas,  and  even  Texas,  in  its  temporary  indepen 
dence,  was  never  designated  as  a  State.  The  new  ones  only  took 
the  designation  of  States  on  coming  into  the  Union,  while  that 
name  was  first  adopted  for  the  old  ones  in  and  by  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence.  Therein  the  United  Colonies  were  de 
clared  to  be  free  and  independent  States.  But  even  then  the 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  263 

object  plainly  was  not  to  declare  their  independence  of  one 
another  of  the  Union,  hut  directly  the  contrary,  as  their  mutual 
pledge  and  their  mutual  action  hefore,  at  the  time,  and  after 
ward,  abundantly  show.  The  express  plight  of  faith  by  each 
and  all  of  the  original  thirteen  States  in  the  Articles  of  Con 
federation  two  years  later  that  the  Union  shall  be  perpetual,  is 
most  conclusive.  Having  never  been  States  either  in  substance 
or  in  name  outside  of  the  Union,  whence  this  magical  omnipo 
tence  of  State  rights,  asserting  a  claim  of  power  to  lawfully 
destroy  the  Union  itself.  Much  is  said  about  the  sovereignty 
of  the  States,  but  the  word  even  is  not  in  the  National  Consti 
tution,  nor,  as  is  believed,  in  any  of  the  State  constitutions. 
What  is  sovereignty  in  the  political  sense  of  the  word  ?  Would 
it  be  far  wrong  to  define  it  a  political  community  without  a 
political  superior?  Tested  by  this,  no  one  of  our  States, 
except  Texas,  ever  was  a  sovereignty.  And  even  Texas  gave 
up  the  character  on  coming  into  the  Union;  by  which  act, 
she  acknowledged  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  laws  and  treaties  of  the  United  States,  made  in  pursuance 
of  the  Constitution,  to  be,  for  her,  the  supreme  law  of  the 
land.  The  States  have  their  status  IN  the  Union,  and  they 
have  no  other  legal  status.  If  they  break  from  this  they  can 
only  do  so  against  law  and  by  revolution.  The  Union  and 
not  themselves  separately  procured  their  independence  and 
their  liberty  by  conquest  or  purchase.  The  Union  gave 
each  of  them  whatever  of  independence  and  liberty  it  has. 
The  Union  is  older  than  any  of  the  States,  and,  in  fact,  it 
created  them,  as  States.  Originally,  some  dependent  Colo 
nies  made  the  Union,  and  in  turn  the  Union  threw  off  their 
old  dependence  for  them  and  made  them  States,  such  as  they 
are.  Not  one  of  them  ever  had  a  State  constitution  indepen 
dent  of  the  Union.  Of  course  it  is  not  forgotten  that  all  the 
new  States  formed  their  constitutions  before  they  entered  the 
Union  ;  nevertheless,  dependent  upon,  and  preparatory  to  com 
ing  into  the  Union.  Unquestionably  the  States  have  the  pow 
ers  and  rights  reserved  to  them  in  and  by  the  National  Consti 
tution. 

But  among  these  surely  are  not  included  all  conceivable 
powers,  however  mischievous  or  destructive,  but  at  most  such 
only  as  were  known  in  the  world  at  the  time  as  governmental 
powers,  and  certainly  a  power  to  destroy  the  Government  itself 
had  never  been  known  as  a  governmental,  as  a  merely  adminis 
trative  power.  This  relative  matter  of  National  power  and 
State  rights  as  a  principle,  is  no  other  than  the  principle  of 
generality  and  locality.  Whatever  concerns  the  whole  should 
be  conferred  to  the  whole  General  Government,  while  whatever 


264  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

concerns  only  the  State  should  be  left  exclusively  to  the  State. 
This  is  all  there  is  of  original  principle  about  it.  Whether  the 
National  Constitution,  in  obfining  boundaries  between  the  two, 
has  applied  the  principle  with  exact  accuracy,  is  not  to  be  ques 
tioned.  We  are  all  bound  by  that  denning  without  question. 
What  is  now  combatted  is  the  position  that  secession  is  con 
sistent  with  the  Constitution,  is  lawful  and  peaceful.  It  is  not 
contended  that  there  is  any  express  law  for  it,  and  nothing 
should  ever  be  implied  as  law  which  leads  to  unjust  or  absurd 
consequences.  The  nation  purchased  with  money  the  countries 
out  of  which  several  of  these  States  were  formed.  Is  it  just 
that  they  shall  go  oif  without  leave  and  without  refunding? 
The  nation  paid  very  large  sums  in  the  aggregate,  I  believe 
nearly  a  hundred  millions,  to  relieve  Florida  of  the  aboriginal 
tribes.  Is  it  just  that  she  shall  now  be  oif  without  consent,  or 
without  any  return  ?  The  nation  is  now  in  debt  for  money  ap 
plied  to  the  benefit  of  these  so-called  seceding  States,  in  com 
mon  with  the  rest.  Is  it  just,  either  that  creditors  shall  go 
unpaid,  or  the  remaining  States  pay  the  whole  ?  A  part  of  the 
present  National  debt  was  contracted  to  pay  the  old  debt  of 
Texas.  Is  it  just  that  she  shall  leave  and  pay  no  part  of  this 
herself?  Again,  if  one  State  may  secede  so  may  another,  and 
when  all  shall  have  seceded  none  is  left  to  pay  the  debts.  Is 
this  quite  just  to  creditors?  Did  we  notify  them  of  this  sage 
view  of  ours  when  we  borrowed  their  money?  If  we  now 
recognize  this  doctrine  by  allowing  the  seceders  to  go  in  peace, 
it  is  difficult  to  see  what  we  can  do  if  others  choose  to  go,  or 
to  extort  terms  upon  which  they  will  promise  to  remain.  The 
seceders  insist  that  our  Constitution  admits  of  secession.  They 
have  assumed  to  make  a  National  Constitution  of  their  own, 
in  which,  of  necessity,  they  have  either  discarded  or  retained 
the  right  of  secession,  as  they  insist  exists  in  ours.  If  they 
have  discarded  it,  they  thereby  admit  that  on  principle  it  ought 
not  to  exist  in  ours  ;  if  they  have  retained  it,  by  their  own  con 
struction  of  ours  that  shows  that  to  be  consistent,  they  must 
secede  from  one  another  whenever  they  shall  find  it  the  easiest 
way  of  settling  their  debts,  or  effecting  any  other  selfish  or 
unjust  object.  The  principle  itself  is  one  of  disintegration, 
and  upon  which  no  Government  can  possibly  endure.  If  all 
the  States  save  one  should  assert  the  power  to  drive  that  one 
out  of  the  Union,  it  is  presumed  the  whole  class  of  seceder  poli 
ticians  would  at  once  deny  the  power,  and  denounce  the  act  as 
the  greatest  outrage  upon  State  rights.  But  suppose  that  pre 
cisely  the  same  act,  instead  of  being  called  driving  the  one 
out.  should  be  called  the  seceding  of  the  others  from  that  one, 
it  would  bo  exactly  what  the  Seceders  claim  to  do,  unless, 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  265 

indeed,  they  made  the  point  that  the  one,  because  it  is  a 
minority,  may  rightfully  do  what  the  others,  because  they  are 
a  majority,  may  not  rightfully  do.  These  politicians  are  subtle, 
and  profound  in  the  rights  of  minorities.  They  are  not  par 
tial  to  that  power  which  made  the  Constitution,  and  speaks  from 
the  preamble,  calling  itself,  "We,  the  people."  It  may  be  well 
questioned  whether  there  is  to-day  a  majority  of  the  legally 
qualified  voters  of  any  State,  except,  perhaps,  South  Carolina, 
in  favor  of  disunion.  There  is  much  reason  to  believe  that 
the  Union  men  are  the  majority  in  many,  if  not  in  every  one 
of  the  so-culled  seceded  States.  The  contrary  has  not  been 
demonstrated  in  any  one  of  them.  It  is  ventured  to  affirm  this, 
even  of  Virginia  and  Tennessee,  for  the  result  of  an  election 
held  in  military  camps,  where  the  bayonets  are  all  on  one  side 
of  the  question  voted  upon,  can  scarcely  be  considered  as  de 
monstrating  popular  sentiment.  At  such  an  election  all  that 
large  class  who  are  at  once  for  the  Union  and  against  coercion 
would  be  coerced  to  vote  against  the  Union.  It  may  be  affirmed, 
without  extravagance,  that  the  free  institutions  we  eujoy  have 
developed  the  powers  and  improved  the  condition  of  our  whole 
people  beyond  any  example  in  the  world.  Of  this  we  now 
have  a  striking  and  impressive  illustration.  So  large  an  army 
as  the  Government  has  now  on  foot  was  never  before  known, 
without  a  soldier  in  it  but  who  has  taken  his  place  there  of  his 
own  free  choice.  But  more  than  this,  there  are  many  single 
regiments  whose  members,  one  and  another,  possess, full  practi 
cal  knowledge  of  all  the  arts,  sciences,  professions,  and  what 
ever  else,  whether  useful  or  elegant,  is  known  in  the  whole 
world,  and  there  is  scarcely  one  from  which  there  could  not  be 
selected  a  President,  a  Cabinet,  a  Congress,  and  perhaps  a 
Court,  abundantly  competent  to  administer  the  Government 
itself.  Nor  do  I  say  this  is  not  true  also  in  the  army  of  our 
late  friends,  now  adversaries,  in  this  contest.  But  it  is  so  much 
better  the  reason  why  the  Government  which  has  conferred 
such  benefits  on  both  them  and  us  should  not  be  broken  up. 
Whoever  in  any  section  proposes  to  abandon  such  a  Govern 
ment,  would  do  well  to  consider  in  deference  to  what  principle 
it  is  that  he  does  it.  What  better  he  is  likely  to  ^get  in  its 
stead,  whether  the  substitute  will  give,  or  be  intended  to  give 
so  much  of  good  to  the  people.  There  are  some  foreshadow- 
ings  on  this  subject.  Our  adversaries  have  adopted  some  decla 
rations  of  independence  in  which,  unlike  our  good  old  one 
penned  by  Jefferson,  they  omit  the  words,  "all  men  are  created 
equal."  Why?  They  have  adopted  a  temporary  National 
Constitution,  in  the  preamble  of  which,  unlike  our  good  old 
on3  signed  by  Washington,  they  omit,  "We,  the  people,"  and 


2GG  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

substitute  "We,  the  deputies  of  the  sovereign  and  independent 
States."  Why?  Why  this  deliberate  pressing  out  of  view 
the  rights  of  men  and  the  authority  of  the  people  ?  This  is 
essentially  a  people's  contest.  On  the  side  of  the  Union  it  is 
a  struggle  for  maintaining  in  the  world  that  form  and  substance 
of  Government  whose  leading  object  is  to  elevate  the  condition 
of  men,  to  lift  artificial  weights  from  all  shoulders,  to  clear  the 
paths  of  laudable  pursuit  for  all,  to  afford  all  an  unfettered 
start  and  a  fair  chance  in  the  race  of  life,  yielding  to  partial 
and  telnporary  departures  from  necessity.  This  is  the  leading 
object  of  the  Government,  for  whose  existence  we  contend. 

I  am  most  happy  to  believe  that  the  plain  people  understand 
and  appreciate  this.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  while  in  this, 
the  Government's  hour  of  trial,  large  numbers  of  those  in  the 
army  and  navy  who  have  been  favored  with  the  offices,  have 
resigned  and  proved  false  to  the  hand  which  pampered  them, 
not  one  common  soldier  or  common  sailor  is  known  to  have 
deserted  his  flag.  Great  honor  is  due  to  those  officers  who 
remained  true  despite  the  example  of  their  treacherous  associ 
ates,  but  the  greatest  honor  and  the  most  important  fact  of  all, 
is  the  unanimous  firmness  of  the  common  soldiers  and  common 
sailors.  To  the  last  man,  so  far  as  known,  they  have  success 
fully  resisted  the  traitorous  efforts  of  those  whose  commands 
but  an  hour  before  they  obeyed  as  absolute  law.  This  is  the 
patriotic  instinct  of  plain  people.  They  understand  without  an 
argument  that  the  destroying  the  Government  which  was  made 
by  Washington  means  no  good  to  them.  Our  popular  Govern 
ment  has  often  been  called  an  experiment.  Two  points  in  it 
our  people  have  settled  :  the  successful  establishing  and  the 
successful  administering  of  it.  One  still  remains.  Its  success 
ful  maintenance  against  a  formidable  internal  attempt  to  over 
throw  it.  It  is  now  for  them  to  demonstrate  to  the  world  that 
those  who  can  fairly  carry  an  election,  can  also  suppress  a  re 
bellion  ;  that  ballots  are  the  rightful  and  peaceful  successors  of 
bullets,  and  that  when  ballots  have  fairly  and  constitutionally 
decided,  there  can  be  no  successful  appeal  back  to  bullets  ;  that 
there  can  be  no  successful  appeal  except  to  ballots  themselves 
at  succeeding  elections.  Such  will  be  a  great  lesson  of  peace, 
teaching  men  that  what  they  can  not  take  by  an  election,  neither 
can  they  take  by  a  war,  teaching  all  the  folly  of  being  the 
beginners  of  a  war. 

Lest  there  be  some  uneasiness  in  the  minds  of  candid  men 
as  to  what  is  to  be  the  course  of  the  Government  toward  the 
Southern  States  after  the  rebellion  shall  have  been  sup 
pressed,  the  Executive  deems  it  proper  to  say  it  will  be  his 
purpose  then,  as  ever,  to  be  guided  by  the  Constitution  and 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  267 

the  laws,  and  that  he  probably  will  have  no  different  under 
standing  of  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  Federal  Government 
relatively  to  the  rights  of  the  States  and  the  people  under  the 
Constitution  than  that  expressed  in  the  Inaugural  Address. 
He  desires  to  preserve  the  Government  that  it  may  be  adminis 
tered  for  all,  as  it  was  administered  by  the  men  who  made  it. 
Loyal  citizens  every-where  have  a  right  to  claim  this  of  their 
Government,  and  the  Government  has  no  right  to  withhold  or 
neglect  it.  It  is  not  perceived  that  in  giving  it  there  is  any 
coercion,  conquest  or  subjugation  in  any  sense  of  these  terms. 

The  Constitution  provided,  and  all  the  States  have  accepted 
the  provision,  "that  the  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every 
State  in  this  Union  a  Republican  form  of  government,"  but  if 
a  State  may  lawfully  go  out  of  the  Union,  having  done  so,  it 
may  also  discard  the  'Republican  form  of  Government.  So  that 
to  prevent  its  going  out  is  an  indispensable  means  to  the  end 
of  maintaining  the  guarantee  mentioned ;  and  when  an  end  is 
lawful  and  obligatory,  the  indispensable  means  to  it  are  also 
lawful  and  obligatory. 

It  was  with  the  deepest  regret  that  the  Executive  found  the 
duty  of  employing  the  war  power.  In  defense  of  the  Govern 
ment  forced  upon  him,  he  could  but  perform  this  duty  or  sur 
render  the  existence  of  the  Government.  No  compromise  by 
public  servants  could  in  this  case  be  a  cure,  not  that  com 
promises  are  not  often  proper,  but  that  no  popular  govern 
ment  can  long  survive  a  marked  precedent,  that  those  who 
carry  an  election  can  only  save  the  Government  from  immedi 
ate  destruction  by  giving  up  the  main  point  upon  which  the 
people  gave  the  election.  The  people  themselves  and  not 
their  servants  can  safely  reverse  their  own  deliberate  decisions. 

As  a  private  citizen  the  Executive  could  not  have  consented 
that  these  institutions  shall  perish,  much  less  could  he,  in  be 
trayal  of  so  vast  and  so  sacred  a  trust  as  these  free  people  had 
confided  to  him.  He  felt  that  he  had  no  moral  right  to 
shrink,  nor  even  to  count  the  chances  of  his  own  life  in  what 
might  follow. 

In  full  view  of  his  great  responsibility,  he  has  so  far  done 
what  he  has  deemed  his  duty.  You  will  now,  according  to 
your  own  judgment,  perform  yours.  He  sincerely  hopes  that 
your  views  and  your  actions  may  so  accord  with  his  as  to  as 
sure  all  faithful  citizens  who  have  been  disturbed  in  their 
rights,  of  a  certain  and  speedy  restoration  to  them,  under  the 
Constitution  and  laws,  and  having  thus  chosen  our  cause  with 
out  guile,  and  with  pure  purpose,  let  us  renew  our  trust  in 
God, -and  go  forward  without  fear  and  with  manly  hearts. 

July  4,  1861.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


2G8  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

To  the  recommendation  that  $400,000,000  bo  appropriated, 
and  400,000  men  raised,  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  Con 
gress  responded  with  great  unanimity,  granting  instead  $500,- 
000,000  in  money,  and  calling  for  500,000  volunteers  for  the 
army.  This  action  was  consummated  on  the  22d  of  July — the 
day  following  the  battle  of  Bull  Run.  The  Senate  had  passed 
a  bill  of  similar  character  on  the  10th — five  Senators,  Messrs. 
Johnson,  of  Missouri,  Kennedy,  Polk,  Powell  and  Saulsbury, 
voting  in  favor  of  an  amendment  reducing  the  number  of  men 
to  200,000.  Otherwise,  the  measure  was  unopposed  in  that 
body. 

On  the  22d  of  July,  the  House  of  Representatives  passed, 
with  only  two  dissenting  votes,  the  following  resolution,  intro 
duced  by  Mr.  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky : 


Jvcd,  By  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  That  tlie  present  deplorable  civil  war  has 
been  forced  upon  the  country  by  the  Disunionists  of  the 
Southern  States  now  in  revolt  against  the  Constitutional  Gov 
ernment,  and  in  arms  around  the  capital ;  that  in  this  National 
emergency  Congress,  banishing  all  feeling  of  mere  passion  or 
resentment,  will  recollect  only  its  duty  to  the  whole  country ; 
that  this  war  is  not  waged  on  our  part  in  any  spirit  of  oppres 
sion,  nor  for  any  purpose  of  conquest  or  subjugation,  nor  pur 
pose  of  overthrowing  or  interfering  with  the  rights  or  estab 
lished  institutions  of  the  States,  but  to  defend  and  maintain 
the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution,  and  to  preserve  the  Union, 
with  all  the  dignities,  equality  and  rights  of  the  several  States 
unimpaired  ;  and  that  as  soon  as  these  objects  are  accomplished 
the  war  ought  to  cease. 

On  the  10th  of  July,  a  bill  passed  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  authorizing  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  effect  a  Na 
tional  loan,  of  not  exceeding  8250,000,000,  on  bonds  bcnring 
seven  per  cent,  interest,  redeemable  in  twenty  years,  or  in 
Treasury-notes  of  a  denomination  not  less  than  $50,  payable  in 
three  years,  at  an  interest  of  seven  and  three-tenths  per  cent. 
Only  five  Representatives  voted  in  the  negative  namely. 
Messrs.  Burnett,  Reid,  Norton,  Vallandigham  and  Wood.  The 
first  three  of  these,  from  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  were  soon  af 
ter  direct  participants  in  the  rebellion,  either  as  civil  or  mill- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  2G9 

tary  officials.  The  subsequent  course  of  the  other  two,  living 
at  the  North,  has  been  steadily  in  keeping  with  this  asso 
ciation  of  their  names  and  acts. 

With  certain  modifications,  which  need  not  be  particular 
ized,  the  financial  policy  thus  indicated  was  ultimately  adopted 
by  both  houses  of  Congress,  and  approved  by  the  President. 
A  new  tariff  bill,  designed  to  increase  the  revenue  from  im 
ports,  and  a  direct  tax  bill  to  raise  $20,000,000,  also  became  a 
law  on  the  2d  of  August.  A  confiscation  act,  moderate  in  its 
provisions,  was  also  passed  near  the  close  of  the  session.  An 
act  legalizing  the  official  measures  of  the  President,  during  the 
recent  emergency,  received  the  support  of  nearly  every  mem 
ber  of  both  houses.  The  extra  session  closed  on  the  Gth  day 
of  August. 

On  the  20th  day  of  July,  the  so-called  Congress  of  the  Rebel 
Confederacy  assembled  at  Richmond,  the  seat  of  the  civil 
branch  of  the  rebellion  having  been  removed  to  that  city  from 
Montgomery,  where  the  same  body  had  closed  its  first  session 
on  the  21st  of  May.  Eight  days  after  the  latter  date  Davis  ar 
rived  in  Richmond,  and  his  "  government "  was  there  put  in 
operation.  His  message  was  sent  in  on  the  20th  of  July.  lie 
therein  congratulates  his  friends  on  the  accession  of  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  Tennessee  and  Arkansas  to  the  seceding  sister 
hood,  making  in  all  eleven  States  against  twenty-three  stil1 
loyal.  Thtt  subjoined  extracts  will  serve  to  show  the  general 
character  of  the  document,  giving  also  an  authentic  Southern 
view  of  the  contest  down  to  the  day  preceding  the  battle  of 
Manassas  : 

I  deemed  it  advisable  to  direct  the  removal  of  the  several 
Executive  departments,  with  their  archives,  to  this  city,  to 
which  you  have  removed  the  seat  of  government.  Immedi 
ately  after  your  adjournment,  the  aggressive  movements  of  the 
enemy  required  prompt,  energetic  action.  The  accumulation 
of  his  forces  on  the  Potomac  sufficiently  demonstrated  that  his 
efforts  were  to  be  directed  against  Virginia,  and  from  no  point 
could  necessary  measures  for  her  defense  and  protection  be  so 
effectively  decided  as  from  her  own  capital.  The  rapid  prog 
ress  of  events  for  the  last  few  weeks  has  fully  sufficed  to  lift 
the  vail,  behind  which  the  true  policy  and  purposes  of  the 


270  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Government  of  the  United  States  had  been  previously  con 
cealed.  Their  odious  features  now  stand  fully  revealed.  The 
message  of  their  President,  and  the  action  of  their  Congress 
during  the  present  month,  confess  their  intention  of  the  sub 
jugation  of  these  States,  by  a  war  by  which  it  is  impossible 
to  attain  the  proposed  result,  while  its  dire  calamities,  not  to 
be  avoided  by  us,  will  fall  with  double  severity  on  themselves. 

Referring  to  the  hearty  response  of  Congress  to  the  recom 
mendation  of  President  Lincoln  as  to  men  and  means  for  pros 
ecuting  the  war  begun  at  Fort  Sumter — the  responsibility  of 
which  he  vainly  endeavors,  by  angry  special  pleading,  to  fix 
upon  the  Government — Davis,  with  a  recklessness  commen 
surate  with  his  passion,  goes  on  to  say : 

These  enormous  preparations  in  men  and  money,  for  the 
conduct  of  the  war,  on  a  scale  more  grand  than  any  which  the 
new  world  ever  witnessed,  is  a  distinct  avowal,  in  the  eyes  of 
civilized  man,  that  the  United  States  are  engaged  in  a  conflict 
with  a  great  and  powerful  nation.  They  are  at  last  compelled 
to  abandon  the  pretense  of  being  engaged  in  dispersing  rioters 
and  suppressing  insurrections,  and  are  driven  to  the  acknowl 
edgment  that  the  ancient  Union  has  been  dissolved.  They 
recognize  the  separate  existence  of  these  Confederate  States, 
by  an  interdictive  embargo  and  blockade  of  all  commerce  be 
tween  them  and  the  United  States,  not  only  by  sea,  but  by 
land ;  not  only  in  ships,  but  in  cars ;  not  only  with  those  who 
bear  arms,  but  with  the  entire  population  of  the  Confederate 
States.  Finally,  they  have  repudiated  the  foolish  conceit  that 
the  inhabitants  of  this  Confederacy  are  still  citizens  of  the 
United  States;  for  they  are  waging  an  indiscriminate  war  upon 
them  all  with  savage  ferocity,  unknown  in  modern  civilization. 

After  a  highly-wrought  picture  of  imaginary  outrages  perpe 
trated  in  Virginia  by  Federal  armies  that  had  scarcely  begun 
to  move,  except  in  Western  Virginia,  where  no  pretext  for  such 
complaints  existed,  and  by  the  Government  in  its  adoption  of 
the  policy  of  non-intercourse,  he  comes  to  the  case  of  certain 
captured  privateersmen  who  were  in  close  confinement,  awaiting 
their  trial  for  piracy.  No  terms  for  an  exchange  of  prisoners 
had  yet  been  agreed  upon — the  number  on  either  side  being 
very  small,  and  the  civil  bearings  of  the  question  being  yet  un 
der  consideration.  On  this  subject  Davis  fiercely  remarks. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.        .  271 

The  prisoners  of  war  taken  by  the  enemy  on  board  tho 
armed  schooner  Savannah,  sailing  under  our  commission,  were, 
as  I  was  credibly  advised,  treated  like  common  felons,  put  in 
irons,  confined  in  a  jail  usually  appropriated  to  criminals  of  the 
worst  dye,  uad  threatened  with  yimishment  as  such.  I  had 
made  application  for  the  exchange  of  these  prisoners  to  the 
commanding  officer  of  the  enemy's  squadron  off  Charleston, 
but  that  officer  had  already  sent  the  prisoners  to  New  York 
when  application  was  made.  I  therefore  deemed  it  my  duty  to 
renew  the  proposal  for  the  exchange  to  the  constitutional  Com 
mander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States, 
the  only  officer  having  control  of  the  prisoners.  To  this  end, 
I  dispatched  an  officer  to  him  under  a  flag  of  truce,  and,  in 
making  the  proposal,  I  informed  President  Lincoln  of  my  reso 
lute  purpose  to  check  all  barbarities  on  prisoners  of  war  by  such 
severity  of  retaliation  on  prisoners  held  by  us  as  should  secure 
the  abandonment  of  the  practice.  This  communication  was 
received  and  read  by  an  officer  in  command  of  the  United 
States  forces,  and  a  message  was  brought  from  him  by  the 
bearer  of  my  communication,  that  a  reply  would  be  returned 
by  President  Lincoln  as  soon  as  possible.  I  earnestly  hope  this 
promised  reply  (which  has  not  yet  been  received)  will  convey 
the  assurance  that  prisoners  of  war  will  be*  treated,  in  this  un 
happy  contest,  with  that  regard  for  humanity,  which  has  made 
such  conspicuous  progress  in  the  conduct  of  modern  warfare. 
As  measures  of  precaution,  however,  and  until  this  promised 
reply  is  received,  I  still  retain  in  close  custody  some  officers  cap 
tured  from  the  enemy,  whom  it  had  been  my  pleasure  pre* 
viously  to  set  at  large  on  parole,  and  whose  fate  must  neces 
sarily  depend  on  that  of  prisoners  held  by  the  enemy. 

The  bearer  of  the  communication  referred  to  in  this  extract 
had  come,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  to  the  headquarters  of  Gen. 
McDowell,  at  the  Arlington  House,  on  the  8th  of  July,  causing 
much  speculation,  for  a  brief  time,  as  to  the  object  of  his  mis- 
eion.  Its  real  purport,  however,  was  soon  known.  Capt.  Tay 
lor,  who  bore  the  insolent  letter  of  Davis,  reported  to  the  latter, 
on  the  10th  of  July,  that  the  missive  had  been  delivered,  a  ad 
added : 

After  reading  your  communication  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  Gen. 
Scott  informed  me  that  a  reply  would  be  returned  by  Mr.  Lin 
coln  as  soon  as  possible. 


272  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

It  would  bo  more  than  doubtful,  on  such  equivocal  evidence 
alone,  whether  any  reply  was  ever  "  promised,"  or  even  remotely 
suggested  by  the  President.  Certain  it  is  that  he  made  neither 
promise  nor  reply.  At  a  subsequent  date  it  was  decided  to  put 
captured  privateersmen  on  the  same  footing  as  other  prisoners 
of  war. 

After  persuasive  allusions  to  the  Border  Slave  States,  with  a 
palliation  of  the  Kentucky  neutrality  so  unsparingly  dealt  with 
by  President  Lincoln  in  his  message,  the  Ilebel  "  Executive  " 
proceeds  to  other  topics  : 

The  operations  in  the  field  will  be  greatly  extended  by  reason 
of  the  policy  which  heretofore  has  been  secretly  entertained, 
and  is  now  avowed  and  acted  on  by  us.  The  forces  hitherto 
raised  provide  amply  for  the  defense  of  seven  States  which 
originally  organized  in  the  Confederacy,  as  is  evidently  the  fact, 
since,  with  the  exception  of  three  fortified  islands,  whose  de 
fense  is  efficiently  aided  by  a  preponderating  naval  force,  the 
enemy  has  been  driven  completely  out  of  these  stations  ;  and 
now,  at  the  expiration  of  five  months  from  the  formation  of  the 
Government,  not  a  single  hostile  foot  presses  their  soil.  These 
forces,  however,  must  necessarily  prove  inadequate  to  repel 
invasion  by  the  half  million  of  men  now  proposed  by  the  ene 
my,  and  a  corresponding  increase  of  our  forces  will  become 
necessary. 

To  speak  of  subjugating  such  a  people,  so  united  and  deter 
mined,  is  to  speak  in  a  language  incomprehensible  to  them ;  to 
resist  attack  on  their  rights  or  their  liberties  is  with  them  an 
instinct.  Whether  this  war  shall  last  one,  or  three,  or  five 
years,  is  a  problem  they  leave  to  be  solved  by  the  enemy  alone. 
It  will  last  till  the  enemy  shall  have  withdrawn  from  their  bor 
ders  ;  till  their  political  rights,  their  altars,  and  their  homes 
are  freed  from  invasion,  Then,  and  then  only,  will  they  rest 
from  this  struggle  to  enjoy,  in  peace,  the  blessings  which,  with 
the  favor  of  Providence,  they  have  secured  by  the  aid  of  their 
own  strong  hearts  and  steady  arms. 

It  may  be  added  that  the  chief  conspirator  found  his  subor 
dinates  of  the  self-styled  Confederate  Congress  ready  to  second 
his  wishes,  and  to  act  in  the  spirit  of  his  communication  to  them. 
They  voted,  without  stint — in  their  assumption  of  authority — 
men  and  means  for  carrying  on  aggressive  as  well  as  defensive 
war,  on  the  scale  planned  by  their  chief. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  273 

The  issue  was  now  fairly  joined.  No  possible  solution  re 
mained  but  one  to  be  achieved  by  arms,  and  the  most  serious 
stage  of  the  contest  seemed  to  be  at  hand.  On  both  sides  the 
armies  were  rapidly  filling  up,  and  receiving  the  necessary 
organization  and  discipline  under  leaders  deemed,  at  the  time, 
best  suited  for  the  emergency.  From  this  time  onward,  the 
history  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Administration  is,  to  a  large  extent, 
merged  in  that  of  the  war.  The  most  important  measures  of 
legislation  and  all  the  principal  Executive  acts  and  orders,  are 
closely  related  to  the  suppression  of  a  revolt  which  surpasses, 
in  the  magnitude  of  its  proportions  and  of  the  final  issues 
involved,  any  other  recorded  in  authentic  annals 
18 


274  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Military  Reorganization. — Resume  of  Events  to  the  December  Session 
of  Congress. — Action  in  Regard  to  "Contrabands"  and  Slavery. 

THE  first  depression  which  followed  the  disaster  at  Manassas, 
speedily  gave  place  to  an  uprising  of  the  loyal  sentiment  of  the 
nation,  surpassing  in  earnestness  and  grandeur  even  that  which 
immediately  succeeded  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter.  For  this 
effect  in  deepening  and  strengthening  the  popular  determination, 
the  Rebel  cause  had  received  no  substantial  compensation 
through  its  barren  victory.  The  losses  were  too  nearly  equal, 
the  ground  won  was  too  insignificant,  and  the  fruits  which 
might  have  been  gathered  by  a  Napoleonic  general  had  too 
completely  eluded  the  grasp  of  Beauregard  and  his  superior, 
Davis,  (who  had  come  up  from  Richmond  just  in  time  to  wit 
ness  the  closing  spectacle),  to  afford  real  occasion  for  the  exul 
tation  universally  manifested  throughout  the  territory  occupied 
by  the  insurgents.  Yet,  at  home  and  abroad,  the  immediate 
effect  was  auspicious  in  appearance  for  the  now  very  sanguine 
leaders  of  secession.  They  looked  forward  to  nothing  less  than 
early  occupation  of  Washington,  with  the  subjection  of  Mary 
land,  Delaware,  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  under  an  armed  inva 
sion,  and  a  recognition,  throughout  the  world,  of  the  Rebel 
Empire. 

A  prompt  reorganization  of  our  armies  in  front  of  Washing 
ton  and  in  the  Shenandoah  was  ordered  by  the  President. 
Whatever  the  merits  of  McDowell,  it  was  necessary  to  call 
another  to  his  place  who  could  better  command  the  public  con 
fidence.  The  ardent  dispatches  of  the  young  commander  in 
West  Virginia  were  yet  fresh  in  all  minds.  He  had  the  favor 
ing  support  of  Gen.  Scott,  and  on  every  side  there  was  a  pre 
disposition  to  hope  the  most  and  the  best  from  his  assignment 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  275 

to  a  larger  command.  If  the  President  erred,  it  was  only  in 
common  with  the  people  whose  will  he  had  undertaken  to  exe 
cute,  and  not  from  favoritism  or  partiality,  political  or  personal, 
toward  an  officer  whom  he  had  never  seen. 

The  25th  of  July,  1861,  is  memorable  as  the  day  on  which 
Maj.  Gen.  John  C.  Fremont  arrived  in  St.  Louis,  and  entered 
on  his  command  of  the  Department  of  the  West ;  as  the  day  on 
which  Maj.  Gen.  Nathaniel  P.  Banks  (previously  in  command 
at  Baltimore)  reached  Harper's  Ferry,  superseding  Gen.  Pat 
terson ;  and  as  that  on  which  Maj.  Gen.  George  B.  McClellan 
arrived  in  Washington  to  take  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac.  His  former  place,  as  commander  of  the  Army  in 
West  Virginia,  was,  by  an  order  issued  on  the  same  day,  given 
to  the  hero  of  Rich  Mountain,  Maj.  Gen.  William  S.  Rose- 
crans.  At  Baltimore,  Maj.  Gen.  John  A.  Dix  assumed  com 
mand  in  place  of  Banks. 

For  the  three  months  succeeding  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  from  which  the  people  impatiently 
awaited  worthy  deeds  to  redeem  and  avenge  the  former  failure, 
has  only  the  history  of  rapidly  increasing  numbers,  of  improv 
ing  organization  and  discipline,  and  of  the  needed  preparation, 
in  respect  to  arms,  equipments,  supplies  and  experience  of  camp 
life.  During  this  period,  the  number  of  men  under  McClellan's 
command  had  come  to  be  estimated  at  about  200,000.  It  is 
believed  that  the  effective  force,  on  the  21st  of  October,  when 
the  first  movement  commenced,  fell  but  little,  if  any,  short  of 
that  number.  Meanwhile  the  Potomac  had  become  substan 
tially  closed  by  a  Rebel  blockade,  injurious  to  many  interests, 
and  hazardous  in  a  military  point  of  view.  But  the  prudent 
General,  guarding  himself  against  premature  movements,  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  monition  which  he  saw  in  the  result  of 
McDowell's  advance,  deemed  it  unwise  to  risk  a  general  action 
by  cooperating  with  a  naval  force,  as  was  desired,  to  reopen 
navigation  on  the  river. 

On  the  18th  of  August,  the  command  at  Fortress  Monroe 
was  surrendered  to  Gen.  John  E.  Wool,  by  Gen.  Butler,  who 
proceeded  northward  to  organize  a  separate  expedition,  the 
destination  of  which  was  not  disclosed. 


276  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

In  the  "West  stirring  events  had  transpired  prior  to  the 
arrival  of  Gen.  Fremont  at  the  headquarters  of  his  Department. 
In  Missouri,  the  Rebel  forces  had  been  gradually  driven  toward 
the  Southwest  by  the  small  army  under  Gens.  Lyon  and  Sigel, 
with  occasional  engagements,  until  finally  the  insurgents,  with 
greatly  increased  numbers,  had  made  a  stand  at  a  place  nine 
miles  beyond  Springfield,  on  Wilson's  Creek.  Here,  on  the 
10th  of  August,  was  fought  a  memorable  battle,  which  may  be 
termed  the  second  considerable  engagement  of  the  war.  Gen 
Lyon,  whose  entire  force  appears  to  have  been  less  than  G,000, 
attacked  the  enemy  in  camp,  reported  to  be  22,000  strong,  now 
under  command  of  Ben.  McCulloch.  The  advance  was  made 
in  two  columns  :  one  under  Lyon  himself,  moving  directly  on 
the  enemy ;  the  other,  making  a  circuit  of  fifteen  miles  toward 
the  left,  was  to  turn  the  enemy's  right.  This  well-planned 
movement  was  commenced  on  the  night  of  the  9th.  Gen. 
Lyon's  column,  after  resting  two  hours,  following  the  night's 
march,  resumed  its  course  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
his  advance  drove  in  the  enemy's  pickets  an  hour  later.  The 
camp  was  soon  in  full  view,  extending  for  three  miles  along  the 
valley,  and  the  attack  was  commenced  by  Blair's  Missouri  regi 
ment,  while  Totten's  battery  began  to  shell  the  tents  more 
distant.  The  Iowa  First  and  two  Kansas  regiments  were  also 
brought  up.  A  cavalry  charge  of  the  enemy  was  met  and 
repulsed.  Another  attack,  about  nine  o'clock,  somewhat  stag 
gered  our  forces,  and  in  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
Iowa  regiment,  to  lead  a  bayonet  charge,  Gen.  Lyon,  who  had 
already  received  three  wounds  that  morning,  was  shot  through 
the  breast  by  a  rifle  ball  and  fell  dead  on  the  field.  The  last 
Bebel  advance,  made  about  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  was 
repulsed. 

The  movement  under  Gen.  Sigel  was  successful  at  first,  and 
resulted  in  the  destruction  of  the  enemy's  tents  and  entire  bag 
gage  train,  about  noon.  Sigel's  column,  however,  was  obliged 
at  length  to  give  way.  Both  columns  now  retired  toward 
Springfield,  the  entire  loss  being  reported  as  eight  hundred  in 
killed  and  wounded.  The  enemy  is  believed  to  have  suffered 
heavily,  especially  from  the  well-directed  fire  of  our  artillery. 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  277 

He  did  not  pursue  our  forces,  which  were  led  away  by  Gen. 
Sigel  without  confusion  or  disorder.  Although  not  successful 
in  occupying  the  enemy's  position,  yet  the  partial  advantages 
gained,  with  so  great  a  disparity  of  numbers,  left  a  very  differ 
ent  moral  impression  from  that  of  the  defeat  at  Manassas,  on 
the  21st  of  July. 

The  loss  of  Nathaniel  Lyon  would  have  been  a  dear  price 
for  the  most  decided  victory.  As  a  General,  as  a  patriot,  as  a 
man,  his  name  will  remain  one  of  the  brightest  among  those  of 
the  memorable  heroes  of  his  time. 

Gen.  Fremont,  on  his  arrival  at  St.  Louis,  had  set  about 
organising  his  forces  for  an  energetic  campaign,  not  only  to  re 
store  order  in  Missouri,  but  also  to  gain  control  of  the  Missis 
sippi  river.  Volunteers  in  great  numbers  sought  service  un 
der  him,  his  name  awakening  an  enthusiasm,  particularly 
among  citizens  of  German  origin,  beyond  that  of  any  other 
commander.  The  operations  began  under  Lyon  and  Sigel  were 
allowed  to  continue,  substantially  following  out  the  plans  already 
formed,  while  he  was  carefully  fortifying  the  city  of  St.  Louis, 
and  organizing  a  gunboat  service,  afterward  to  become  so  im 
portant  an  auxiliary  on  the  Western  waters.  But  a  brief  time 
had  elapsed,  after  Fremont's  arrival  at  St.  Louis,  before  the  en 
gagement  at  Wilson's  Creek — fought  at  greatly  unequal  odds, 
for  which  his  personal  opponents  vehemently  censured  him — 
and  the  subsequent  retreat,  together  with  the  constantly  oc 
curring  disturbances  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  satisfied  tho 
commanding  General  that  he  had  no  light  task  in  reestablish 
ing  peace  and  order  in  Missouri  alone.  Before  he  assumed 
command,  Gen.  Pope  had  already  been  obliged  to  resort  to 
energetic  measures  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  to  sup 
press  the  irregular  warfare  there  prevalent,  and  to  quiet  the 
deadly  feuds  existing  between  the  two  parties  into  which  the 
communities  were  divided.  The  necessity  of  more  stringent 
proceedings  throughout  the  State  was  daily  becoming  manifest 

It  was  under  these  circumstances  that,  at  length,  Gen. 
Fremont  issued  his  famous  order  proclaiming  martial  law,  in 
the  following:  terms : 


278  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

HEADQUARTERS  WESTERN  DEPARTMENT,    1 
ST.  Louis,  August  30,  1861.  J 

Circumstances  in  my  judgment  are  of  sufficient  urgency 
to  render  it  necessary  that  the  commanding  General  of  thia 
department  should  assume  the  administrative  powers  of  the 
State.  Its  disorganized  condition,  helplessness  of  civil  au 
thority,  and  the  total  insecurity  of  life,  and  devastation  of 
property  by  bands  of  murderers  and  marauders,  who  infest 
nearly  every  county  in  the  State,  and  avail  themselves  of  pub 
lic  misfortunes,  in  the  vicinity  of  a  hostile  force,  to  gratify 
private  and  neighborhood  vengeance,  and  who  find  an  enemy 
wherever  they  find  plunder,  finally  demand  the  severest  meas 
ures  to  repress  the  daily  increasing  crimes  and  outrages  which 
are  driving  off  the  inhabitants  and  ruining  the  State. 

In  this  condition  the  public  safety  and  success  of  our  arms 
require  unity  of  purpose,  without  let  or  hindrance  to  the 
prompt  administration  of  affairs.  In  order,  therefore,  to  sup 
press  disorders,  maintain  the  public  peace,  and  give  security  to 
the  persons  and  property  of  loyal  citizens,  I  do  hereby  extend 
and  declare  established  martial  law  throughout  the  State  of 
Missouri.  The  lines  of  the  army  occupation  in  this  State  are 
for  the  present  declared  to  extend  from  Leavenworth,  by  way 
of  posts  of  Jefferson  City,  Holla  and  Ironton,  to  Cape  Grirar- 
deau  on  the  Mississippi  river.  All  persons  who  shall  be  taken 
with  arms  in  their  hands  within  these  lines  shall  be  tried  by 
court-martial,  and  if  found  guilty  will  be  shot.  Real  and  per 
sonal  property  of  those  who  shall  take  up  arms  against  the 
United  States,  or  who  shall  be  directly  proven  to  have  taken  an 
active  part  with  their  enemies  in  the  field,  is  declared  confis 
cated  to  public  use,  and  their  slaves,  if  any  they  have,  are 
hereby  declared  free  men. 

All  persons  who  shall  be  proven  to  have  destroyed,  after  the 
publication  of  this  order,  railroad  tracks,  bridges,  or  telegraph 
lines,  shall  suffer  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law.  All  persons 
engaged  in  treasonable  correspondence,  in  giving  or  procuring 
aid  to  the  enemy,  in  fermenting  turmoil,  and  disturbing  public 
tranquillity,  by  creating  or  circulating  false  reports,  or  incen 
diary  documents,  are  warned  that  they  are  exposing  them 
selves. 

All  persons  who  have  been  led  away  from  allegiance, 
are  required  to  return  to  their  homes  forthwith.  Any  such 
absence,  without  sufficient  cause,  will  be  held  to  be  presump 
tive  evidence  against  them.  The  object  of  this  declaration  is 
to  place  in  the  hands  of  military  authorities  power  to  give  in 
stantaneous  effect  to  the  existing  laws,  and  supply  such  defi 
ciencies  as  the  conditions  of  the  war  demand  ;  but  it  is  not  in 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  279 

tended  to  suspend  the  ordinary  tribunals  of  the  country,  where 
law  will  be  administered  by  civil  officers  in  the  usual  manner, 
and  with  their  customary  authority,  while  the  same  can  be 
peaceably  administered. 

The  commanding  General  will  labor  vigilantly  for  the  pub 
lic  welfare,  and,  by  his  efforts  for  their  safety,  hopes  to  obtain 
not  only  acquiescence,  but  the  active  support  of  the  people  of 
the  country, 

J.  C.  FREMONT, 
Major  General  Commanding. 

An  order  of  this  character  could  not  fail  to  become  a  topic 
of  general  discussion  throughout  the  land.  The  attention  of 
the  President  was  early  called  to  the  subject,  and  the  strong 
est  opposition  was  manifested  to  the  proposed  exercise  of  the 
military  power,  by  a  subordinate  commander,  for  the  confisca 
tion  of  slave  property.  This  sentiment  was  clearly  expressed 
in  a  letter  to  the  President,  by  the  Hon.  Joseph  Holt,  under 
date  of  September  12th,  in  which  he  said : 

The  late  act  of  Congress  providing  for  the  confiscation  of 
the  estates  of  persons  in  open  rebellion  against  the  Govern 
ment  was,  as  a  necessary  war  measure,  accepted  and  fully  ap 
proved  by  the  loyal  men  of  the  country.  It  limited  the  pen 
alty  of  confiscation  to  property  actually  employed  in  the  serv 
ice  of  the  rebellion  with  the  knowledge  and  consent  of  its  own 
ers,  and,  instead  of  emancipating  slaves  thus  employed,  left 
their  status  to  be  determined  either  by  the  Courts  of  the 
United  States  or  by  subsequent  legislation.  The  proclama 
tion,  however,  of  Gen.  Fremont,  under  date  of  the  30th  of  Au 
gust,  transcends,  and,  of  course,  violates  the  law  in  both  these 
particulars,  and  declares  that  the  property  of  rebels,  whether 
used  in  support  of  the  rebellion  or  not,  shall  be  confiscated, 
and  if  consisting  in  slaves,  that  they  shall  be  at  once  manu 
mitted.  The  act  of  Congress  referred  to  was  believed  to  em 
body  the  conservative  policy  of  your  Administration  upon  this 
delicate  and  perplexing  question,  and  hence  the  loyal  men  of 
the  Border  Slave  States  have  felt  relieved  of  all  fears  of  any 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
to  liberate  suddenly  in  their  midst  a  population  unprepared  for 
freedom,  and  whose  presence  could  not  fail  to  prove  a  painful 
apprehension,  if  not  a  terror,  to  the  homes  and  families  of  all. 
You  may,  therefore,  well  judge  of  the  alarm  and  condemnation 
with  which  the  Union-loving  citizens  of  Kentucky — the  State 


280  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

with  whose  popular    sentiment  I  am  best  acquainted — have 
read  this  proclamation. 

The  hope  is  earnestly  indulged  by  them  as  it  is  by  myself, 
that  this  paper  was  issued  under  the  pressure  of  military 
necessity,  which  G-en.  Fremont  believed  justified  the  step,  but 
that  in  the  particulars  specified  it  has  not  your  approbation 
and  will  not  be  enforced  in  derogation  of  law.  The  magnitude 
of  the  interest  at  stake,  and  my  extreme  desire  that  by  no  mis 
apprehension  of  your  sentiments  or  purposes  shall  the  pow^r 
and  fervor  of  the  loyalty  of  Kentucky  be  at  this  moment 
abated  or  chilled,  must  be  my  apology  for  the  frankness  with 
which  I  have  addressed  you,  and  for  the  request  I  venture  to 
make  of  an  expression  of  your  views  upon  the  points  of  Gen. 
Fremont's  proclamation  on  which  I  have  commented. 

The  President  had  already  written  and  transmitted  the  fol 
lowing  letter  to  Gen.  Fremont,  expressing  in  definite  terms,  as 
a  public  order,  what  had  been  before  more  privately  indicated 
to  him,  immediately  after  that  officer's  action  on  this  subject 
was  known : 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Sept.  11,  1861. 
Major  General  John  0.  Fremont : 

SIR  :  Yours  of  the  8th,  in  answer  to  mine  of  the  2d  inst., 
is  just  received.  Assured  that  you,  upon  the  ground,  could 
better  judge  of  the  necessities  of  your  position  than  I  could  at 
this  distance,  on  seeing  your  proclamation  of  August  30,  I  per 
ceived  no  general  objection  to  it;  the  particular  clause,  how 
ever,  in  relation  to  the  confiscation  of  property  and  the  libera 
tion  of  slaves  appeared  to  me  to  be  objectionable  in  its  non 
conformity  to  the  act  of  Congress,  passed  the  6th  of  last  Au 
gust,  upon  the  same  subjects,  and  hence  I  wrote  you,  express 
ing  my  wish  that  that  clause  should  be  modified  accordingly. 
Your  answer  just  received  expresses  the  preference  on  your 
part  that  I  should  make  an  open  order  for  the  modification, 
which  I  very  cheerfully  do.  It  is,  therefore,  ordered  that  the 
said  clause  of  the  said  proclamation  be  so  modified,  held,  and 
construed  as  to  conform  with  and  not  to  transcend  the  provi 
sions  on  the  same  subject  contained  in  the  act  of  Congress  en 
titled  "An  act  to  confiscate  property  used  for  insurrectionary 
purposes,"  approved  August  6,  1861,  and  that  said  act  be  pub 
lished  at  length  with  this  order. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  LINCOLN. 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  281 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  modification  merely  requires  the 
General  commanding  in  the  Department  of  the  West  "  to  con 
form  with,  and  not  to  transcend,  the  provisions"  of  the  Confis 
cation  Act  in  regard  to  the  slaves  of  Rebels ;  in  other  words,  it 
merely  required  obedience  to  the  law.  At  the  present  time,  in 
view  of  what  the  President  has  since  done,  as  Commander-in- 
chief  of  the  Army,  as  well  as  of  his  sentiments  on  Slavery 
clearly  set  forth,  previously,  on  all  proper  occasions,  no  word  is 
needed  to  prevent  misapprehension  as  to  this  Executive  order. 

By  a  timely  movement,  anticipating  the  contemplated  advance 
of  Gen.  Polk  from  Hickman  and  Columbus,  Gen.  Grant,  of 
Fremont's  command,  on  the  6th  of  September,  occupied 
Paducah,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee  river — a  position  vir 
tually  flanking  that  of  the  Rebel  forces  on  the  Mississippi,  in 
Kentucky.  Com.  A.  H.  Foote  had  been  ordered,  a  few  days 
previously,  (August  26,)  to  the  command  of  the  naval  forces 
on  the  Western  waters.  Price  and  Jackson  were  actively 
engaged  in  endeavoring  to  raise  a  formidable  army,  and  to  over 
run  the  State.  Their  attack  on  our  forces  at  Lexington  had 
terminated  in  the  surrender  of  Col.  Mulligan  and  the  men 
under  him  at  that  place,  on  the  12th  of  September.  Fremont 
at  length  prepared  to  take  the  field  in  person  against  the  insur 
gents,  in  Southwestern  Missouri.  He  collected  all  the  troops 
which  he  regarded  as  properly  available  for  the  purpose,  and, 
leaving  Jefferson  City  for  Sedalia,  on  the  8th  of  October 
seemed  to  be  energetically  commencing  a  campaign  which  many 
thought  to  have  been  quite  too  long  deferred.  Price's  force 
gradually  fell  back  once  more  before  the  National  columns, 
and  were  finally  reported  to  be  preparing  to  give  battle  near 
Springfield.  Here  Fremont,  who  was  apparently  on  the  point 
of  engaging  the  enemy,  was  overtaken  by  the  order  relieving 
him  from  his  command.  He  was  temporarily  succeeded  by 
Gen.  Hunter,  who  soon  handed  over  the  command  to  Gen. 
Halleck. 

Gen.  Fremont  had  been  created  a  Major  General  by  the  vol 
untary  action  of  President  Lincoln,  from  a  conviction  of  the 
fitness  of  such  appointment.  When  assigned  to  the  command 
of  the  Army  of  the  West  he  was  received  in  that  quarter  with 


282  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

general  enthusiasm,  despite  the  seeming  tardiness  with  which 
he  entered  on  his  work.  Of  the  charges  made  against  him, 
and  of  the  grounds  which  seemed  to  make  a  change  in  the 
command  advisable,  it  is  enough  to  say  here  that  they  did  not 
so  far  influence  the  mind  of  Mr.  Lincoln  against  Gen.  Fremont, 
as  to  prevent  his  subsequently  assigning  him  a  high  military 
trust.  The  President's  action  was  then,  and  still  may  be,  to 
some  extent,  misconstrued;  but  no  candid  person,  with  the  facts 
before  him,  will  question  that  honorable  and  patriotic  motives  led 
to  an  order  which  was,  on  mere  personal  considerations,  reluc 
tantly  given. 

Under  Gen.  Hunter,  our  forces  retreated  without  a  battle,  and 
the  Rebel  hordes  again  advanced  over  the  already  devastated 
country  beyond  and  around  Springfield.  It  was  at  the  latter 
place,  which  had  been  speedily  reoccupied  by  Price,  that,  on 
the  25th  of  October,  Fremont's  body  guard,  of  three  hundred 
mounted  men,  under  Maj.  Zagonyi,  charged  upon  and  routed 
two  thousand  Rebels,  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle,  dispersed  them 
pell-mell,  and  retired  without  serious  loss — a  deed  of  heroic 
daring  unsurpassed  in  any  war. 

In  West  Virginia,  after  the  departure  of  McClellan,  our 
army  found  its  labors  by  no  means  so  completely  terminated  as 
that  officer  had  supposed  at  the  date  of  his  glowing  dispatch, 
announcing  the  victory  at  Rich  Mountain.  On  the  contrary, 
serious  work  was  still  to  be  done,  and  there  were  active  enemies 
to  meet,  not  only  under  such  Brigadiers  as  Floyd  and  Wise, 
but  also  under  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee.  The  well-planned  schemes 
of  all  these  Rebel  leaders  for  subjugating  the  loyal  people  of 
that  section  were  foiled  by  Gen.  Rosecrans,  but  not  without  his 
utmost  vigilance,  and  only  after  labors,  hardships  and  battles, 
which  were  by  no  means  unimportant  in  comparison  with  those 
of  the  earlier  summer.  On  the  10th  of  September,  Floyd  was 
beaten  in  the  battle  of  Carnifex  Ferry,  while  Lee's  attempt  to 
lead  a  force  through  Greenbriar  County  to  cooperate  in  crush 
ing  the  Ohio  forces,  which  had  advanced  up  the  Kanawha  and 
the  Gauley,  ended  at  Big  Sewell  Mountain,  in  utter  failure.  It 
was  only  on  the  sudden  and  final  retreat  of  Floyd,  from  Gauley 
Bridge,  eluding  the  grasp  of  Gen.  Benham,  to  the  disappoint- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  283 

ment  of  Rosecrans,  that,  on  the  20th  of  November,  West  Vir 
ginia  was  substantially  freed  from  armed  Rebels,  and  the  cam 
paign  in  that  quarter  ended. 

During  the  progress  of  these  events,  of  the  autumn  of 
1861,  two  expeditions  were  in  preparation,  one  under  the  com 
mand  of  Gen.  Butler,  and  the  other  under  Gen.  Burnside. 
These  expeditions,  undertaken  against  the  persistent  opposi 
tion  of  McClellan,  were  regarded  with  interest  and  hope  by  the 
people,  who  were  becoming  wearied  with  the  long  inaction  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  in  the  presence  of  an  enemy  noto 
riously  much  inferior  in  numbers.  The  fine  condition  of  the 
roads  and  the  pleasant  weather  seemed  to  invite  the  long-delayed 
and  long-expected  advance,  which  the  public  had  again  and 
again  been  led  to  believe,  by  intimations  from  headquarters,  was 
about  to  be  commenced.  One,  at  least,  of  the  expeditions 
named,  was  for  a  time  believed  to  be  intended  to  aid  McClellan's 
promised  movement,  by  ascending  the  Rappahannock  or  other 
wise.  Without  the  slightest  detriment,  twenty  thousand  men 
might  have  been  spared  for  such  a  purpose  from  the  already 
too  cumbersome  army  near  Washington.  Yet  so  little  did  this 
suit  the  policy  of  the  commanding  General,  in  whom  there  was 
still  confidence,  that  the  forces  for  Butler  and  Burnside  were 
raised  elsewhere,  and  they  were  so  delayed,  in  consequence,  as 
in  part  to  thwart  their  original  purpose,  and  to  impair  their 
effectiveness.  That  under  Gen.  Butler,  acting  jointly  with  a 
naval  force  under  Com.  Stringharn,  took  possession  of  the  Hat- 
teras  forts  on  the  29th  of  August.  The  Rebel  commandant, 
Barron,  formerly  of  the  United  States  Navy,  after  enduring  a 
severe  cannonade  from  the  fleet,  surrendered  the  position,  with 
the  officers  and  soldiers  under  him.  This  intelligence  was  re 
ceived  by  the  country  with  lively  satisfaction,  at  a  time  when 
some  reassuring  success  was  specially  needed. 

In  the  month  of  August  the  Rebels  had  occupied  Munson's 
Hill,  in  full  view  of  the  capital,  and  six  or  seven  miles  distant 
in  a  right  line.  The  force  thus  advanced  was  not  formidable, 
and  the  character  of  the  works  thrown  up  there,  as  discovered 
on  the  voluntary  withdrawal  of  the  occupants,  clearly  showed 
that  their  purpose  was  not  serious.  They  held  this  position 


284  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

until  the  2Sth  of  September,  on  which  day  a  foraging  party 
went  out  eight  miles  on  the  Orange  and  Alexandria  Railroad, 
without  encountering  any  enemy,  or  finding  any  definite  trace 
of  his  previous  presence  in  that  direction.  The  prompt  occu 
pation  of  Munson's  Hill,  after  its  evacuation,  by  a  force  which 
McClellan,  with  his  staff,  had  accompanied  in  person,  electrified 
the  people  with  the  hope  of  some  decisive  action,  on  the  part  of 
the  new  commander.  He  shortly  returned  to  Washington, 
however,  and  nearly  another  month  passed  before  there  were 
again  visible  symptoms  of  vitality — beyond  that  of  military 
reviews  and  rhetorical  army  orders,  or  occasional  reconnois- 
gances,  magnified  by  admiring  correspondents — in  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac. 

The  movement  of  Oct.  21st,  resulting  in  the  well-known 
affair  at  Ball's  Bluff,  was  scarcely  less  disastrous  in  its  effects 
than  the  failure  at  Bull  Run  on  the  21st  of  July.  Coming  af 
ter  such  complete  and  thorough  preparation ;  following  such 
manifold  and  inexcusable  delays  j  and  transpiring  as  the  first 
of  the  weighty  manifestations  of  McClellan's  generalship,  the 
consequence  could  only  be  mortification  to  the  Administration, 
and  discouragement,  mingled  with  indignation,  to  the  country 
at  large.  In  this  ill-starred  fight  fell  Col.  E.  D.  Baker,  of 
Mexican  War  fame,  the  eloquent  Senator  from  Oregon.  The 
loss  on  our  side  was  officially  stated  as  150  killed  or  drowned, 
250  wounded,  and  500  prisoners.  The  whole  force  engaged 
was  given  as  2,100.  The  rebel  Gen.  Evans,  commanding  on 
the  other  side,  states  his  own  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  as 
153.  He  estimates  the  Union  loss  at  1,300  killed,  wounded 
and  drowned,  and  asserts  that  710  prisoners  were  captured, 
making  a  total  of  over  2,000,  nearly  equal  to  the  whole  num 
ber  actively  engaged.  This  exaggerated  claim  was  not  needed 
to  show  the  destructive  character  of  the  engagement.  In  his 
general  order  on  this  occasion,  dated  Oct.  25,  McClellan  gave 
this  version  of  the  disaster : 

The  gallantry  and  discipline  there  displayed  deserved  a 
more  fortunate  result ;  but  situated  as  these  troops  were — cut 
off  alike  from  retreat  and  reinforcements,  and  attacked  by  an 
overwhelming  force — five  thousand  against  one  thousand  seven 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  285 

hundred — it  was  not  possible  that  tfye  issue  could  ha^e  been 
successful. 

The  fact  that  Gen.  McCall's  division  was  almost  simultan 
eously  withdrawn  by  Gen.  McClellan  from  a  position  effectually 
within  supporting  distance  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the  river, 
instead  of  being  advanced  to  cooperate  in  the  movement  on 
Leesburg,  has  not  been  satisfactorily  explained.  It  is  fair  to 
presume,  however,  that  there  was  no  more  culpable  motive  for 
this  than  a  desire  for  the  presence  of  McCall's  troops  at  a 
grand  review  which  was  progressing  near  Lewinsville,  while 
Col.  Baker  and  his  men  were  pushed  forward  into  the  jaws 
of  destruction. 

"VYith  the  light  thrown  on  this  affair  by  subsequent  investi 
gations,  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  the  President  should 
not  have  viewed  this  result,  after  three  months  of  wearisome 
and  unaccountable  inaction,  as  sufficient  cause  for  withdrawing 
all  further  confidence  from  the  commanding  General.  For  the 
time,  however,  it  was  made  to  appear  that  the  blame  should 
rest  elsewhere,  and  Gen.  C.  P.  Stone,  the  subordinate  in  the 
field,  became  the  scapegoat  for  his  superior. 

Despite  the  popular  impatience,  and  all  the  circumstances 
favoring  prompt  action,  nothing  more  was  attempted  by  the 
commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac — scarcely  so  much 
as  a  picket  skirmish  disturbed  the  general  stagnation  during 
those  calm,  dry  days — for  the  next  two  months. 

To  Gen.  Scott's  generous  appreciation,  perhaps,  more  than 
to  any  other  circumstance,  was  due  the  confidence  extended  by 
President  Lincoln,  at  the  outset,  to  Gen.  McClellan,  unknown 
as  he  was  to  almost  every  one  else  at  Washington.  His  affili 
ations  had  formerly  been  with  another  class  of  public  men,  the 
principal  of  whom  were  now  actively  engaged  in  rebellion. 
With  Jefferson  Davis  in  particular,  he  seems  to  have  been  a 
youthful  favorite,  as  his  selection  for  a  place  on  the  Crimean 
Commission  attests.  Gen.  Scott  had  formed  a  favorable  opin 
ion  of  the  young  Lieutenant  in  Mexico,  and  had  very  essen 
tially  aided  in  securing  him  credit  with  the  present  Adminis 
tration.  Of  his  subsequent  deportment  toward  Gen.  Scott, 


286  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

this  is  not  the  place  to  speak,  further  than  to  say  that  the  vet 
eran  Lieutenant  General,  his  immediate  superior,  keenly  felt 
the  disrespectful  bearing  of  his  subordinate. 

Increasing  physical  infirmity  led  the  Lieutenant  General  to  de 
sire  relief  from  all  active  duties,  and  from  apparent  responsibil 
ity  for  acts  in  which  he  really  had  no  share.  Directly  after  the 
affair  at  Ball's  Bluff,  he  made  known  this  wish  to  the  President. 
The  request  was  one  which,  urged  as  it  was,  could  not  be  re 
fused.  The  following  is  the  President's  order  on  this  subject: 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  Nov.  1,  1861. 

On  the  1st  day  of  November,  A.  D.  1861,  upon  his  own  ap 
plication  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  Brevet  Lieut. 
Gen.  Winfield  Scott  is  ordered  to  be  placed,  and  hereby  is 
placed,  upon  the  list  of  retired  officers  of  the  Army  of  the 
United  States,  without  reduction  in  his  current  pay,  subsist 
ence  or*  allowances. 

The  American  people  will  hear  with  sadness  and  deep  emo 
tion  that  Gen.  Scott  has  withdrawn  from  the  active  control  of 
the  army,  while  the  President  and  the  unanimous  Cabinet  ex 
press  their  own  and  the  nation's  sympathy  in  his  personal  af 
fliction,  and  their  profound  sense  of  the  important  public 
services  rendered  by  him  to  his  country  during  his  long  and 
brilliant  career,  among  which  will  ever  be  gratefully  distin 
guished  his  faithful  devotion  to  the  Constitution,  the  Union 
and  the  flag,  when  assailed  by  a  parricidal  rebellion. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

This  order  was  read  to  Gen.  Scott,  at  his  residence,  by  tho 
President,  the  Cabinet  being  present.  The  veteran  General 
replied : 

PRESIDENT:  This  honor  overwhelms  me.  It  overpays  all 
services  I  have  attempted  to  render  to  my  country.  If  I  had 
any  claims  before,  they  are  all  obliterated  by  this  expression  of 
approval  by  the  President,  with  the  unanimous  support  of  hig 
Cabinet.  I  know  the  President  and  this  Cabinet  well — I  know 
that  the  country  has  placed  its  interests,  in  this  trying  crisis, 
in  safe  keeping.  Their  counsels  are  wise.  Their  labors  are 
untiring  as  they  are  loyal,  and  their  course  is  the  right  one. 

President,  you  must  excuse  me  ;  I  am  unable  to  stand  longer 
to  give  utterance  to  the  feelings  of  gratitude  which  oppress  me. 
In  my  retirement  I  shall  offer  up  my  prayer  to  God  for  this 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  287 

Administration,  and  for  my  country.     I  shall  pray  for  it  with 
confidence  in  its  success  over  its  enemies,  and  that  speedily. 

On  Gen.  McClcllan,  who  new  held  the  highest  rank  in  the 
army,  the  Preside  at  temporarily  devolved  the  duties  of 
General-in-chief,  and  that  position  was  assumed  in  a  general 
order,  issued  on  the  day  of  the  Lieutenant  General's  retire 
ment. 

On  the  7th  of  November,  an  expedition,  under  the  joint  com 
mand  of  Com.  Dupont  and  Gen.  T.  W.  Sherman,  effected  a 
landing  on  the  South  Carolina  coast,  having  achieved  a  bril 
liant  victory  in  Port  Royal  Harbor.  In  thus  approaching  a 
portion  of  the  South  densely  populated  with  slaves,  it  became 
necessary  to  define  more  clearly  the  policy  to  be  acted  upon  by 
our  military  officers.  In  doing  so,  former  orders  to  General 
Butler,  on  first  entering  Virginia,  in  May,  were  repeated.  The 
following  is  the  official  order  to  Gen.  Sherman : 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  Oct.  14,  1861. 

SIR:  In  conducting  military  operations  within  States  declared 
by  the  proclamation  of  the  President  to  be  in  a  state  of  insur 
rection,  you  will  govern  yourself,  so  far  as  persons  held  to  serv 
ice  under  the  laws  of  such  States  are  concerned,  by  the  prin 
ciples  of  the  letters  addressed  by  me  to  Maj.  Gen.  Butler,  on 
the  30th  of  May  and  the  8th  of  August,  copies  of  which  are 
herewith  furnished  to  you.  As  special  directions,  adapted  to 
special  circumstances,  can  not  be  given,  much  must  be  referred 
to  your  own  discretion,  as  Commanding  General  of  the  expedi 
tion.  You  will,  however,  in  general,  avail  yourself  of  the  serv 
ices  of  any  persons,  whether  fugitives  from  labor  or  not,  who 
may  offer  them  to  the  National  Government ;  you  will  employ 
such  persons  in  such  services  as  they  may  be  fitted  for,  either  as 
ordinary  employees,  or,  if  special  circumstances  seem  to  require" 
it,  in  any  other  capacity,  with  such  organization  in  squads,  com 
panies,  or  otherwise,  as  you  deem  most  beneficial  to  the  service. 
This,  however,  not  to  mean  a  general  arming  of  them  for  mili 
tary  service.  You  will  assure  all  loyal  masters  that  CoDgress 
will  provide  just  compensation  to  them  for  the  loss  of  the  serv 
ices  of  the  persons  so  employed.  It  is  believed  that  the 
course  thus  indicated  will  best  secure  the  substantial  rights  of 
loyal  masters,  and  the  benefits  to  the  United  States  of  the  serv 
ices  of  all  disposed  to  support,  the  Government,  while  it  avoids 


288  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM  'LINCOLN. 

all  interference  with  the  social  systems  or  local  institutions  of 
every  State,  beyond  that  which  insurrection  makes  unavoidable, 
and  which  a  restoration  of  peaceful  relations  to  the  Union,  un 
der  the  Constitution,  will  immediately  remove. 

SIMON  CAMERON 

Secretary  of  War. 
BRIG.  GEN.  T.  W.  SHERMAN, 

Commanding  Expedition  to  the  Southern  Coast. 

Gen.  Butler  having,  in  his  letter  of  May  27th,  apprised  the 
War  Department  as  to  his  views  and  action  in  regard  to  fugi 
tive  slaves  coming  within  his  lines — such  "property"  being,  in 
his  opinion,  contraband  of  war — the  Secretary  of  War  had 
replied : 

WASHINGTON,  May  30,  1861. 

SIR  :  Your  action  in  respect  to  the  negroes  who  came  within 
your  lines,  from  the  service  of  the  Rebels,  is  approved.  The 
Department  is  sensible  of  the  embarrassments,  which  must  sur 
round  officers  conducting  military  operations  in  a  State,  by  the 
laws  of  which  slavery  is  sanctioned.  The  Government  can 
not  recognize  the  rejection  by  any  State  of  its  Federal  obliga 
tion,  resting  upon  itself,  among  these  Federal  obligations. 
However,  no  one  can  be  more  important  than  that  of  suppress 
ing  and  dispersing  any  combination  of  the  former  for  the  pur 
pose  of  overthrowing  its  whole  constitutional  authority.  While, 
therefore,  you  will  permit  no  interference,  by  persons  under 
your  command,  with  the  relations  of  persons  held  to  service 
under  the  laws  of  any  State,  you  will,  on  the  other  hand,  so 
long  as  any  State  within  which  your  military  operations  are 
conducted,  remain  under  the  control  of  such  armed  combina 
tions,  refrain  from  surrendering  to  alleged  masters  any  per 
sons  who  come  within  your  lines.  You  will  employ  such  per 
sons  in  the  services  to  which  they  will  be  best  adapted,  keeping 
an  account  of  the.  labor  by  them  performed,  of  the  value  of  it, 
and  the  expenses  of  their  maintenance.  The  question  of  their 
final  disposition  will  be  reserved  for  future  determination. 

The  other  letter  to  Gen.  Butler,  referred  to  above,  is  in  the 
following  terms : 

WASHINGTON,  August  8, 1861. 

GENERAL  :  The  important  question  of  the  proper  disposi 
tion  to  be  made  of  fugitives  from  service  in  the  States  in  insur- 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  289 

rection  against  the  Federal  Government,  to  which  you  have 
a^ain  directed  my  attention,  in  your  letter  of  July  20,  has  re 
ceived  my  most  attentive  consideration.  It  is  the  desire  of  the 
President  that  all  existing  rights  in  all  the  States  be  fully 
respected  and  maintained.  The  war  now  prosecuted  on  the 
part  of  the  Federal  Government  is  a  war  for  the  Union,  for  the 
preservation  of  all  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  States  arid 
the  citizens  of  the  States  in  the  Union ;  hence  no  question  can 
arise  as  to  fugitives  from  service  within  the  States  and  Terri 
tories  in  which  the  authority  of  the  Union  is  fully  acknowl 
edged.  The  ordinary  forms  of  judicial  proceedings  must  be 
respected  by  the  military  and  civil  authorities  alike  for  the  en 
forcement  of  legal  forms.  But  in  the  States  wholly  or  in  part 
under  insurrectionary  control,  where  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  are  so  far  opposed  and  resisted  that  they  can  not  be 
eifectually  enforced,  it  is  obvious  that  the  rights  dependent 
upon  the  execution  of  these  laws  must  temporarily  fail,  and  it 
is  equally  obvious  that  the  rights  dependent  on  the  laws  of  the 
States  within  which  military  operations  are  conducted  must 
necessarily  be  subordinate  to  the  military  exigences  created  by 
the  insurrection,  if  not  wholly  forfeited  by  the  treasonable  con 
duct  of  the  parties  claiming  them.  To  this  the  general  rule  of 
the  right  to  service  forms  an  exception.  The  act  of  Congress 
approved  Aug.  6,  1861,  declares  that  if  persons  held  to  service 
shall  be  employed  in  hostility  to  the  United  States,  the  right  to 
their  services  shall  be  discharged  therefrom.  It  follows  of 
necessity  that  no  claim  can  be  recognized  by  the  military  au 
thority  of  the  Union  to  the  services  of  such  persons  when 
fugitives. 

A  more  difficult  question  is  presented  in  respect  to  persons 
escaping  from  the  service  of  loyal  masters.  It  is  quite  appar 
ent  that  the  laws  of  the  State  under  which  only  the  services  of 
such  fugitives  can  be  claimed  must  needs  be  wholly  or  almost 
wholly  superseded,  as  to  the  remedies,  by  the  insurrection  and 
the  military  measures  necessitated  by  it ;  and  it  is  equally 
apparent  that  the  substitution  of  military  for  judicial  measures 
for  the  enforcement  of  such  claims  must  be  attended  by  great 
inconvenience,  embarrassments  and  injuries.  Under  these  cir 
cumstances,  it  seems  quite  clear  that  the  substantial  rights  of 
loyal  masters  are  still  best  protected  by  receiving  such  fugitives 
as  well  as  fugitives  from  disloyal  masters,  into  the  service  of 
the  United  States,  and  employing  them  under  such  organizations 
and  in  such  occupations  as  circumstances  may  suggest  or 
require.  Of  course  a  record  should  be  kept  showing  the  names 
and  descriptions  of  the  fugitives,  the  names  and  characters,  as 
loyal  or  disloyal,  of  their  masters,  and  such  facts  as  may  bo 
19 


290  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

necessary  to  a  correct  understanding  of  the  circumstances   of 
each  case. 

After  tranquillity  shall  have  been  restored  upon  the  return  of 
peace,  Congress  will  doubtless  properly  provide  for  all  the  per 
sons  thus  received  into  the  service  of  the  Union,  and  for  a  just 
compensation  to  loyal  masters.  In  this  way  only,  it  would 
seem,  can  the  duty  and  safety  of  the  Government  and  just 
rights  of  all  be  fully  reconciled  and  harmonized.  You  will, 
therefore,  consider  yourself  instructed  to  govern  your  future 
action  in  respect  to  fugitives  from  service  by  the  premises 
herein  stated,  and  will  report  from  time  to  time,  and  at  least 
twice  in  each  month,  your  action  in  the  premises  to  this  Depart 
ment.  You  will,  however,  neither  authorize  nor  permit  any 
interference  by  the  troops  under  your  command  with  the 
servants  of  peaceable  citizens  in  a  house  or  field,  nor  will  you 
in  any  manner  encourage  such  citizens  to  leave  the  lawful  serv 
ice  of  their  masters,  nor  will  you,  except  in  cases  where  the 
public  good  may  seem  to  require  it,  prevent  the  voluntary 
return  of  any  fugitive  to  the  service  from  which  he  may  have 
escaped.  I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

SIMON  CAMERON, 
Secretary  of  War. 

To  MAJ.  GEN.  BUTLER, 

Commanding  Department  of  Virginia,  Fortress  Monroe. 

On  the  6th  of  November,  a  force  under  Gens.  Grant  and 
McClernand  left  Cairo  on  transports  for  the  purpose  of  break 
ing  up  a  Rebel  camp  on  the  Missouri  side  of  the  Mississippi 
river,  nearly  opposite  Columbus,  the  headquarters  of  Gen. 
Polk.  The  whole  number  of  men  engaged  in  this  expedition, 
including  a  Chicago  battery  and  two  companies  of  cavalry,  was 
about  3,500.  The  gunboats  Tyler  and  Lexington  accompanied 
them.  The  troops  effected  a  landing  and  were  formed  in  line 
of  battle  about  eight  o'clock  the  following  morning,  and  at 
once  advanced  upon  the  Rebel  works.  The  Rebels,  under 
Gen.  Cheatham,  met  this  attack,  but  were  driven  back  over  the 
wooded  field,  fighting  from  tree  «o  tree,  into  and  through  their 
camp.  Twelve  guns  were  captured  from  the  Rebels,  their  camp 
burned,  and  baggage,  horses,  and  many  prisoners  were  taken. 
Reinforcements  from  Columbus  subsequently  crossed  to  Bel- 
mont,  compelling  the  Union  forces  to  return  to  their  transports, 
under  cover  of  the  gunboats.  Though  a  decided  success  in 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  291 

the  early  part  of  the  day,  the  engagement  terminated  less 
favorably,  and  victory  was  claimed  by  the  Rebels. 

About  the  same  time,  it  is  worthy  of  note,  a  gunboat  recon- 
noissance  was  made  to  Fort  Donelson.  The  movement  at  Bel- 
mont,  made  by  order  of  Gen.  Fremont,  perhaps  aided  another 
ere  long  to  be  undertaken  in  the  latter  direction,  as  well  as  the 
advance  into  Southwestern  Missouri,  then  in  progress. 

A  large  force,  under  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman,  had  meanwhile 
advanced  as  far  as  Bowling  Green,  to  meet  an  invasion  of  Ken 
tucky  under  the  Rebel  Gen.  Bragg,  while  on  the  left  of  Sher 
man,  Gen.  William  Nelson,  on  the  8th,  gained  a  decisive  victory 
over  the  Rebels,  under  Col.  Williams,  clearing  the  northeastern 
part  of  the  State  of  invaders.  Thus  the  prompt  occupation  of 
Paducah  by  Gen.  Grant,  the  advance  of  Sherman,  and  the 
energy  of  Nelson,  had  defeated  a  well-devised  plan  of  the 
Rebels  for  overrunning  and  subjugating  Kentucky.  Gen.  Buck- 
ner,  not  long  after  his  interview  with  McClellan  at  Cincinnati, 
in  June,  had  thrown  off  the  mask,  and  was  zealously  engaged 
in  an  attempt  to  draw  Kentucky  into  the  Secession  gulf-stream, 
and  to  gather  a  large  force  of  Kentuckians  for  the  Rebel  Army. 
In  the  latter  purpose  he  was  not  without  success. 

On  the  10th  of  November,  Gen.  H.  W.  Halleck  was  appointed 
to  the  command  of  the  Department  of  the  West,  in  the  place 
of  Gen.  Fremont.  At  the  same  date  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman, 
having  lately  resigned  his  command  in  Kentucky,  Gen.  D.  C. 
Buell  took  that  General's  place. 

During  the  Summer  and  Autumn,  the  Navy  Department  had 
manifested  great  energy  in  collecting  the  before  scattered  navy, 
and  in  fitting  out,  equipping  and  manning  for  service  on  the 
seas  and  navigable  rivers,  where  available,  an  adequate  force 
of  war  vessels,  gunboats  and  transports.  A  blockade  of 
remarkable  stringency,  under  circumstances  so  adverse,  had 
been  maintained  along  our  immense  sea-coast,  and  numerous 
prizes  had  rewarded  the  vigilance  of  our  naval  commanders 
and  seamen.  Blockade-running,  though  frequently  attempted, 
and  sometimes  too  successful,  had  become  hazardous,  and  com 
munication  with  foreign  countries  was  but  casual,  and  attended 
with  constant  peril.  The  capture  of  the  forts  at  Hatteras  Inlet 


292  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

effectually  closed  one  avenue  of  blockade  running,  and  the 
Port  Royal  expedition  was  of  like  value  in  sealing  another 
important  harbor. 

On  the  12th  of  October,  the  steamer  Theodora  evaded  the 
blockading  fleet  off  Charleston,  and  went  to  sea  with  two  noted 
Rebel  leaders  on  board,  James  M.  Mason  and  John  Slidell, 
recently  Senators  of  the  United  States,  now  "accredited,"  respect 
ively,  to  the  Governments  of  England  and  France,  as  Represen 
tatives  of  the  Davis  Confederacy.  Their  immediate  destination 
was  Cardenas,  with  the  intention  of  proceeding  to  Europe  by 
steamer  from  Havana.  At  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  these 
emissaries  in  Cuba,  Com.  "VVilkes,  cruising  for  the  Rebel  priva 
teer  Sumter,  was  at  Cienfuegos,  on  the  southern  coast  of  that 
island.  Having  been  notified  by  Consul  Shufeldt,  he  made  all 
haste  to  intercept  the  Theodora  on  her  return,  but  on  arriving 
at  Havana,  Oct.  31st,  he  found  she  had  already  gone,  and  that 
Mason  and  Slidell  were  waiting  there,  intending  to  leave  for  St. 
Thomas  in  the  British  Mail  steamer  Trent.  Com.  Wilkes  took 
position  with  his  vessel,  the  San  Jacinto,  to  intercept  the  Trent, 
designing  to  make  prisoners  of  her  two  diplomatic  passengers. 
This  purpose  he  accomplished  on  the  8th  of  November.  The 
intelligence  of  this  capture,  of  course,  created  no  little  excite 
ment  in  this  country  and  in  Europe.  As  involving  a  question 
of  international  rights  and  jurisdiction,  the  event  was  widely 
discussed,  while  the  loyal  sentiment  of  the  people  undeniably 
went  strongly  with  Com.  Wilkes  in  his  bold  action.  Secretary 
"Welles  promptly  congratulated  that  officer,  complimenting  him, 
and  his  subordinates  and  crew — fully  appreciating  the  worthy 
motive,  and  the  energy  of  the  procedure.  Meanwhile,  Mason 
and  Slidell,  having  arrived  at  New  York,  were  transferred  to 
close  quarters  at  Fort  Warren,  in  Boston  harbor. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  293 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  President's  Message,  December,  1861. — Proceedings  of  Con 
gress. — Emancipation. — Confiscation. — Messages  and  Addresses  of 
Mr.  Lincoln. 

CONGRESS  reassembled  on  the  2d  day  of  December,  1861. 
During  the  last  few  months  public  attention  had  been  earnestly 
directed  to  the  policy  of  turning  to  account  the  great  element 
of  Rebel  strength  or  weakness — as  it  should  prove — in  short 
ening  a  war  becoming  gigantic  in  its  dimensions  and  cost.  A 
large  portion  of  the  people  had  come  to  believe  that  a  proper 
exercise  of  the  war  power  would  require  the  slaves  of  the 
rebels  to  be  not  only  withdrawn  from  producing  for  the  sup 
port  of  the  Confederate  armies,  but  also  to  be  actively 
employed,  so  far  as  might  be,  on  the  right  side.  A  small 
class,  more  radical  in  their  views,  insisted  on  setting  aside,  by 
Executive  act,  all  legal  or  constitutional  guarantees  of  slavery 
in  general,  and  not  merely  in  so  far  as  they  inured  to  the 
benefit  of  Rebels,  who  had  repudiated  all  laws,  and  the  Consti 
tution  itself,  by  taking  up  arms  against  the  supreme  authority. 
Had  every  Slave  State  joined  in  the  Secession  movement,  this 
question  would  have  been  free  from  all  embarrassments.  But 
when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  inaugurated,  only  seven  of  these  States 
had  been  ranged  on  the  side  of  the  rebellion,  while  eight  re 
mained  in  an  attitude  of  loyalty.  And,  in  the  final  event,  but 
four  of  the  remaining  eight  were  drawn  into  Secession.  As 
the  President  of  an  undivided  Union,  the  President  had  thus 
far  felt  compelled,  as  well  in  the  avowals  of  his  Inaugural  Ad 
dress  as  in  his  subsequent  action,  not  to  interfere  directly  with 
the  relations  of  master  and  slave.  It  was  only  where  the 
slave,  in  accordance  with  all  the  laws  of  war,  could  be  actually 
used  by  military  commanders  in  the  field,  to  subserve  military 
purposes,  and  not  by  any  general  blow  at  a  recognized  insti- 


294  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

tution,  that  lie  had  authorized  the  relation  to  be  forcibly  dis 
turbed. 

The  existence  of  this  popular  agitation,  as  well  as  of  a  sim 
ilar  debate  in  his  own  mind,  perceptibly  appears  in  the  Presi 
dent's  annual  Message  to  Congress. 

It  is  likewise  to  be  observed,  that  the  military  results,  thus 
far,  had  not  been  quite  satisfactory,  either  to  the  President  or 
to  the  people.  Despite  the  lavish  means  provided  at  the  July 
session  of  Congress,  with  a  manifest  view  to  energetic-  aggres 
sive  war,  little  more  had  been  accomplished — and  that  cer 
tainly  not  a  little,  however  short  of  expectation — than  to  pro 
tect  the  National  capital,  and  to  save  Maryland,  West  Virginia, 
Kentucky  and  Missouri,  from  being  subjugated  by  Rebel 
armies.  Manassas  and  Ball's  Bluff,  in  the  East,  were  still  una 
venged,  or  but  partly  compensated  by  the  capture  of  Hatteras 
and  Port  Royal.  In  the  West,  large  Rebel  armies  were 
threatening  to  overrun  Kentucky  from  Bowling  Green  and 
Columbus,  and  Missouri  from  the  Southwest,  as  well  as  hold 
ing  the  Mississippi  river  to  within  a  few  miles  of  Cairo. 

In  addition,  was  the  exciting  question  growing  out  of  the  ar 
rest  of  Mason  and  Slidell,  on  board  a  British  ship  on  the  high 
seas.  The  popular  feeling,  on  the  one  hand,  seemed  to  be  unan 
imous  in  favor  of  retaining  possession  of  these  prisoners,  as  con 
spirators  and  traitors;  while  on  the  other,  the  British  Govern 
ment,  in  spite  of  its  own  precedents,  and  backed  by  French 
influence,  seemed  determined  to  regard  such  action  on  our 
part  as  a  cause  for  war.  The  juncture  was  critical.  Every  sym 
pathizer  with  rebellion  was  exultant  in  the  confidence  that  the 
Administration  would  be  wrecked  upon  Scylla  or  Charybdis — 
that  it  would  be  ruined  at  home,  or  involved  in  a  foreign  war  that 
must  end  any  further  effective  effort  to  put  down  the  rebellion. 

The  President,  fully  sensible  of  the  besetting  dangers,  and 
mindful  of  the  situation  of  affairs  in  these  and  other  respects, 
submitted  to  Congress  the  following  views,  in  a  message  which 
was  received  with  great  popular  favor : 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRE 
SENTATIVES  :  In  the  midst  of  unprecedented  political  troubles, 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  295 

we  have  cause  of  great  gratitude  to  God  for  unusual  good 
health  and  most  abundant  harvests. 

You  will  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that,  in  the  peculiar  exi 
gences  of  the  times,  our  intercourse  with  foreign  nations  has 
been  attended  with  profound  solicitude,  chiefly  turning  upon 
our  own  domestic  affairs. 

A  disloyal  portion  of  the  American  people  have,  during  the 
whole  year,  been  engaged  in  an  attempt  to  divide  and  de 
stroy  the  Union.  A  nation  which  endures  factious  domestic 
division,  is  exposed  to  disrespect  abroad ;  and  one  party,  if  not 
both,  is  sure,  sooner  or  later,  to  invoke  foreign  intervention. 

Nations  thus  tempted  to  interfere,  are  not  always  able  to  re 
sist  the  counsels  of  seeming  expediency  and  ungenerous  ambi 
tion,  although  measures  adopted  under  such  influences  seldom 
fail  to  be  unfortunate  and  injurious  to  those  adopting  them. 

The  disloyal  citizens  of  the  United  States  who  have  offered 
the  ruin  of  our  country,  in  return  for  the  aid  and  comfort 
which  they  have  invoked  abroad,  have  received  less  patronage 
and  encouragement  than  they  probably  expected.  If  it  were 
just  to  suppose,  as  the  insurgents  have  seemed  to  assume,  that 
foreign  nations,  in  this  case,  discarding  all  moral,  social  and 
treaty  obligations,  would  act  solely,  and  selfishly,  for  the  most 
speedy  restoration  of  commerce,  including,  especially,  the  ac 
quisitions  of  cotton,  those  nations  appear,  as  yet,  not  to  have 
seen  their  way  to  their  object  more  directly,  or  clearly,  through 
the  destruction  than  through  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 
If  we  could  dare  to  believe  that  foreign  nations  are  actuated 
by  no  higher  principle  than  this,  I  am  quite  sure  a  sound  argu 
ment  could  be  made  to  show  them  that  they  can  reach  their 
aim  more  readily  and  easily  by  aiding  to  crush  this  rebellion 
than  by  giving  encouragement  to  it. 

The  principal  lever  relied  on  by  the  insurgents  for  exciting 
foreign  nations  to  hostility  against  us,  as  already  intimated,  is 
the  embarrassment  of  commerce.  Those  nations,  however,  not 
improbably,  saw  from  the  first,  that  it  was  the  Union  which 
made,  as  well  our  foreign,  as  our  domestic  commerce.  They 
can  scarcely  have  failed  to  perceive  that  the  effort  for  disunion 
produces  the  existing  difficulty ;  and  that  one  strong  nation 
promises  more  durable  peace,  and  a  more  extensive,  valuable 
and  reliable  commerce,  than  can  the  same  nation  broken  into 
hostile  fragments. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  review  our  discussions  with  foreign 
States  ;  because  whatever  might  be  their  wishes  or  dispositions, 
the  integrity  of  our  country  and  the  stability  of  our  Govern 
ment  mainly  depend,  not  upon  them,  but  on  the  loyalty,  virtue, 
patriotism  and  intelligence  of  the  American  people.  The  cor- 


296  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

respondence  itself,  with  the  usual  reservations,  is  herewith  sub 
mitted. 

I  venture  to  hope  it  will  appear  that  we  have  practiced  pru 
dence  and  liberality  toward  foreign  powers,  averting  causes  of 
irritation,  and  with  firmness  maintaining  our  own  rights  and 
honor. 

Since,  however,  it  is  apparent  that  here,  as  in  every  other 
State,  foreign  dangers  necessarily  attend  domestic  difficulties, 
I  recommend  that  adequate  and  ample  measures  be  adopted  for 
maintaining  the  public  defenses  on  every  side.  While,  under 
this  general  recommendation,  provision  for  defending  our  sea- 
coast  line  readily  occurs  to  the  mind,  I  also,  in  the  same  con 
nection,  ask  the  attention  of  Congress  to  our  great  lakes  and 
rivers.  It  is  believed  that  some  fortifications  and  depots  of 
arms  and  munitions,  with  harbor  and  navigation  improvements, 
all  at  well-selected  points  upon  these,  would  be  of  great  im 
portance  to  the  National  defense  and  preservation.  I  ask  atten 
tion  to  the  views  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  expressed  in  his 
report,  upon  the  same  general  subject. 

I  deem  it  of  importance  that  the  loyal  regions  of  East  Ten 
nessee  and  Western  North  Carolina  should  be  connected  with 
Kentucky,  and  other  faithful  parts  of  the  Union,  by  railroad. 
I  therefore  recommend,  as  a  military  measure,  that  Congress 
provide  for  the  construction  of  such  road  as  speedily  as  possi 
ble.  Kentucky,  no  doubt,  will  cooperate,  and,  through  her 
Legislature,  make  the  most  judicious  selection  of  a  line.  The 
northern  terminus  must  connect  with  some  existing  railroad ; 
and  whether  the  route  shall  be  from  Lexington  or  Nicholas  - 
ville  to  the  Cumberland  Gap,  or  from  Lebanon  to  the  Tennes 
see  line,  in  the  direction  of  Knoxville,  or  on  some  still  differ 
ent  line,  can  easily  be  determined.  Kentucky  and  the 
General  Government  cooperating,  the  work  can  be  completed 
in  a  very  short  time ;  and  when  done,  it  will  be  not  only  of 
vast  present  usefulness,  but  also  a  valuable  permanent  im 
provement,  worth  its  cost  in  all  the  future. 

Some  treaties,  designed  chiefly  for  the  interests  of  com 
merce,  and  having  no  grave  political  importance,  have  been 
negotiated,  and  will  be  submitted  to  the  Senate  for  their  con 
sideration. 

Although  we  have  failed  to  induce  some  of  the  commercial 
powers  to  adopt  a  desirable  melioration  of  the  rigor  of  rnara- 
time  war,  we  have  removed  all  obstructions  from  the  way  of 
this  humane  reform,  except  such  as  are  merely  of  temporary 
and  accidental  occurrence. 

I  invite  your  attention  to  the  correspondence  between  Her 
^Britannic  Majesty's  Minister,  accredited  to  this  Government, 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  297 

and  the  Secretary  of  State,  relative  to  the  detention  of  the 
British  ship  Perthshire,  in  June  last,  by 'the  United  States 
steamer  Massachusetts,  for  a  supposed  breach  of  the  block 
ade.  As  this  detention  was  occasioned  by  an  obvious  misap 
prehension  of  the  facts,  and  as  justice  requires  that  we  should 
commit  no  belligerent  act  not  founded  in  strict  right,  as  sanc 
tioned  by  public  law,  I  recommend  that  an  appropriation  be 
made  to  satisfy  the  reasonable  demand  of  the  owners  of  the 
vessel  for  her  detention. 

I  repeat  the  recommendation  of  my  predecessor,  in  his 
annual  message  to  Congress  in  December  last,  in  regard  to  the 
disposition  of  the  surplus  which  will  probably  remain  after 
satisfying  the  claims  of  the  American  citizens  against  China,  pur 
suant  to  the  awards  of  the  commissioners  under  the  act  of  the 
3d  of  March,  1859.  If,  however,  it  should  not  be  deemed 
advisable  to  carry  that  recommendation  into  effect,  I  would 
suggest  that  authority  be  given  for  investing  the  principal, 
over  the  proceeds  of  the  surplus  referred  to,  in  good  securities, 
with  a  view  to  the  satisfaction  of  such  other  just  claims  of  our 
citizens  against  China  as  are  not  unlikely  to  arise  hereafter  in 
the  course  of  our  extensive  trade  with  that  empire. 

By  the  act  of  the  5th  of  August  last,  Congress  authorized 
the  President  to  instruct  the  commanders  of  suitable  vessels  to 
defend  themselves  against  and  to  capture  pirates.  This  au 
thority  has  been  exercised  in  a  single  instance  only.  For  the 
more  effectual  protection  of  our  extensive  and  valuable  com 
merce,  in  the  Eastern  seas  especially,  it  seems  to  me  that  it 
would  also  be  advisable  to  authorize  the  commanders  of  sailing 
vessels  to  recapture  any  prizes  which  pirates  may  make  of 
United  States  vessels  and  their  cargoes,  and  the  consular 
courts,  now  established  by  law  in  Eastern  countries,  to  adjudi 
cate  the  cases,  in  the  event  that  this  should  not  be  objected  to 
by  the  local  authorities. 

If  any  good  reason  exists  why  we  should  persevere  longer  in 
withholding  our  recognition  of  the  independence  and  sover 
eignty  of  Hayti  and  Liberia,  I  am  unable  to  discern  it.  Unwill 
ing,  however,  to  inaugurate  a  novel  policy  in  regard  to  them 
without  the  approbation  of  Congress,  I  submit  for  your  con 
sideration  the  expediency  of  an  appropriation  for  maintaining 
a  charge  d'affaires  near  each  of  those  new  States.  It  does  not 
admit  of  doubt  that  important  commercial  advantages  might  be 
secured  by  favorable  treaties  with  them. 

The  operations  of  the  treasury  during  the  period  which  has 
elapsed  since  your  adjournment  have  been  conducted  with  signal 
success.  The  patriotism  of  the  people  has  placed  at  the  dis 
posal  of  the  Government  the  large  means  demanded  by  the  pub- 


298  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

lie  exigences.  Much  of  the  National  loan  has  been  taken  by 
citizens  of  the  industrial  classes,  -whose  confidence  in  their 
country's  faith,  and  zeal  for  their  country's  deliverance  from 
present  peril,  have  induced  them  to  contribute  to  the  support 
of  the  Government  the  whole  of  their  limited  acquisitions. 
This  fact  imposes  peculiar  obligations  to  economy  in  disburse 
ment  and  energy  in  action. 

The  revenue  from  all  sources,  including  loans,  for  the  finan 
cial  year  ending  on  the  30th  of  June,  18G1,  was  eighty-six 
million  eight  hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand  nine  hundred 
dollars  and  twenty-seven  cents,  and  the  expenditures  for  the 
same  period,  including  payments  on  account  of  the  public  debt, 
were  eighty-four  million  five  hundred  and  seventy-eight  thou 
sand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-four  dollars  and  forty-seven 
cents ;  leaving  a  balance  in  the  treasury  on  the  1st  of  July  of 
two  million  two  hundred  and  fifty-seven  thousand  sixty-five 
dollars  and  eighty  cents.  For  the  first  quarter  of  the  financial 
year,  ending  on  the  30th  of  September,  1861,  the  receipts  from 
all  sources,  including  the  balance  of  the  1st  of  July,  were  one 
hundred  and  two  million  five  hundred  and  thirty-two  thousand 
five  hundred  and  nine  dollars  and  twenty-seven  cents,  and  the 
expenses  ninety-eight  million  two  hundred  and  thirty-nine 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars  and  nine 
cents ;  leaving  a  balance  on  the  1st  of  October,  1861,  of  four 
million  two  hundred  and  ninety-two  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  seventy-six  dollars  and  eighteen  cents. 

Estimates  for  the  remaining  three-quarters  of  the  year,  and 
for  the  financial  year  1863,  together  with  his  views  of  ways 
and  means  for  meeting  the  demands  contemplated  by  them, 
will  be  submitted  to  Congress  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea 
sury.  It  is  gratifiying  to  know  that  the  expenditures  made 
necessary  by  the  rebellion  are  not  beyond  the  resources  of  the 
loyal  people,  and  to  believe  that  the  same  patriotism  which  has 
thus  far  sustained  the  Government  will  continue  to  sustain  it 
till  peace  and  Union  shall  again  bless  the  land. 

I  respectfully  refer  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War 
for  information  respecting  the  numerical  strength  of  the  Army, 
and  for  recommendations  having  in  view  an  increase  of  its 
efficiency  and  the  well  being  of  the  various  branches  of  the 
service  intrusted  to  his  care.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the 
patriotism  of  the  people  has  proved  equal  to  the  occasion,  and 
that  the  number  of  troops  tendered  greatly  exceeds  the  force 
which  Congress  authorized  me  to  call  into  the  field. 

I  refer  with  pleasure  to  those  portions  of  his  report  which 
make  allusion  to  the  creditable  degree  of  discipline  already 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  299 

attained  by  our  troops,  and  to  the  excellent  sanitary  condition 
of  the  entire  army. 

The  recommendation  of  the  Secretary  for  an  organization  of 
tlie  militia  upon  a  uniform  basis  is  a  subject  of  vital  import 
ance  to  the  future  safety  of  the  country,  and  is  commended  to 
tho  serious  attention  of  Congress. 

The  large  addition  to  the  regular  army,  in  connection  with 
the  defection  that  has  so  considerably  diminished  the  number 
of  its  officers,  gives  peculiar  importance  to  his  recommendation 
for  increasing  the  corps  of  cadets  to  the  greatest  capacity  of  the 
Military  Academy. 

By  mere  omission,  I  presume,  Congress  has  failed  to  provide 
chaplains  for  hospitals  occupied  by  volunteers.  This  subject 
was  brought  to  my  notice,  and  I  was  induced  to  draw  up  the 
form  of.  a  letter,  one  copy  of  which,  properly  addressed,  has 
been  delivered  to  each  of  the  persons,  and  at  the  dates  respect 
ively  named  and  stated,  in  a  schedule,  containing  also  the  form 
of  the  letter,  marked  A,  and  herewith  transmitted. 

These  gentlemen,  I  understand,  entered  upon  the  duties  des 
ignated,  at  the  jtimes  respectively  stated  in  the  schedule,  and 
have  labored  faithfully  therein  ever  since.  I  therefore  recom 
mend  that  they  be  compensated  at  the  same  rate  as  chaplains 
in  the  army.  I  further  suggest  that  general  provision  be  made 
for  chaplains  to  serve  at  hospitals,  as  well  as  with  regiments. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  presents  in  detail 
the  operations  of  that  branch  of  the  service,  the  activity  and 
energy  which  have  characterized  its  administration,  and  the 
results  of  measures  to  increase  its  efficiency  and  power.  Such 
have  been  the  additions,  by  construction  and  purchase,  that  it 
may  almost  be  said  a  navy  has  been  created  and  brought  into 
service  since  our  difficulties  commenced. 

Besides  blockading  our  extensive  coast,  squadrons  larger 
than  ever  before  assembled  under  our  flag  have  been  put  afloat, 
and  performed  deeds  which  have  increased  our  naval  renown. 

I  would  invite  special  attention  to  the  recommendation  of  the 
Secretary  for  a  more  perfect  organization  of  the  Navy  by  intro 
ducing  additional  grades  in  the  service. 

The  present  organization  is  defective  and  unsatisfactory,  and 
the  suggestions  submitted  by  the  Department  will,  it  is 
Delieved,  if  adopted,  obviate  the  difficulties  alluded  to,  promote 
narrnony,  and  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  navy. 

There  are  three  vacancies  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme 
Court — two  by  the  decease  of  Justices  Daniel  and  McLean, 
and  one  by  the  resignation  of  Justice  Campbell.  I  have  so 
far  forborne  making  nominations  to  fill  these  vacancies  for 
reasons  which  I  will  now  state.  Two  of  the  outgoing  judges 


300  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

resided  within  the  States  now  overrun  by  revolt ;  so  that  if  suc 
cessors  were  appointed  in  the  same  localities,  they  could  not 
now  serve  upon  their  circuits ;  and  many  of  the  most  compe 
tent  men  there  probably  would  not  take  the  personal  hazard  of 
accepting  to  serve,  even  here,  upon  the  Supreme  Bench.  I 
have  been  unwilling  to  throw  all  the  appointments  northward, 
thus  disabling  myself  from  doing  justice  to  the  South  on  the 
return  of  peace  ;  although  I  may  remark  that  to  transfer  to 
the  North  one  which  has  heretofore  been  in  the  South  would 
not,  with  reference  to  territory  and  population,  be  unjust. 

During  the  long  and  brilliant  judicial  career  of  Judge 
McLean  his  circuit  grew  into  an  empire — altogether  too  large  for 
any  one  judge  to  give  the  courts  therein  more  than  a  nominal 
attendance — rising  in  population  from  one  million  four  hun 
dred  and  seventy  thousand  and  eighteen,  in  1830,  to  sis  million 
one  hundred  and  fifty-one  thousand  four  hundred  and  five, 
in  1860. 

Besides  this,  the  country  generally  has  outgrown  our  present 
judicial  system.  If  uniformity  was  at  all  intended,  the  system 
requires  that  all  the  States  shall  be  accommodated  with  circuit 
courts,  attended  by  supreme  judges,  while,  in  fact,  "Wisconsin, 
Minnesota,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Florida,  Texas,  California  and  Ore 
gon,  have  never  had  any  such  courts.  Nor  can  this  well  be 
remedied  without  a  change  in  the  system;  because  the  adding 
of  judges  to  the  Supreme  Court,  enough  for  the  accommodation 
of  all  parts  of  the  country,  with  circuit  courts,  would  create  a 
court  altogether  too  numerous  for  a  judicial  body  of  any  sort. 
And  the  evil,  if  it  be  one,  will  increase  as  new  States  come 
into  the  Union.  Circuit  courts  are  useful,  or  they  are  not  use 
ful  ;  if  useful,  no  State  should  be  denied  them ;  if  not  useful, 
no  State  should  have  them.  Let  them  be  provided  for  all,  or 
abolished  as  to  all. 

Three  modifications  occur  to  me,  either  of  which,  I  think, 
would  be  an  improvement  upon  our  present  system.  Let  the 
Supreme  Court  be  of  convenient  number  in  every  event. 
Then,  first,  let  the  whole  country  be  divided  into  circuits  of 
convenient  size,  the  supreme  judges  to  serve  in  a  number  of 
them  corresponding  to  their  own  number,  and  independent 
circuit  judges  be  provided  for  all  the  rest.  Or,  secondly,  let 
the  supreme  judges  be  relieved  from  circuit  duties,  and  circuit 
judges  provided  for  all  the  circuits.  Or,  thirdly,  dispense 
with  circuit  courts  altogether,  leaving  the  judicial  functions 
wholly  to  the  district  courts,  and  an  independent  Supreme 
Court. 

I  respectfully  recommend  to  the  consideration  of  Congress 
the  present  condition  of  the  statute  laws,  with  the  hope  that 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  301 

Congress  will  be  able  to  find  an  easy  remedy  for  many  of  the 
inconveniencies  and  evils  which  constantly  embarrass  those 
engaged  in  the  practical  administration  of  them.  Since  the  or- 
ganiza.tion  of  the  Government,  Congress  has  enacted  some  five 
thousand  acts  and  joint  resolutions,  which  fill  more  than  six 
thousand  closely  printed  pages,  and  are  scattered  through 
many  volumes.  Many  of  these  acts  have  been  drawn  in  haste 
and  without  sufficient  caution,  so  that  their  provisions  are  often 
obscure  in  themselves,  or  in  conflict  with  each  other,  or  at  least 
so  doubtful  as  to  render  it  very  difficult  for  even  the  best  in 
formed  persons  to  ascertain  precisely  what  the  statute  law 
really  is. 

It  seems  to  me  very  important  that  the  statute  laws  should 
be  made  as  plain  and  intelligible  as  possible,  and  be  reduced  to 
as  small  a  compass  as  may  consist  with  thefullness  and  preci 
sion  of  the  will  of  the  legislature  and  the  perspicuity  of  its  lan 
guage.  This,  well  done,  would,  I  think,  greatly  facilitate  the 
labors  of  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  assist  in  the  administration 
of  the  laws,  and  would  be  a  lasting  benefit  to  the  people,  by 
placing  before  them,  in  a  more  accessible  and  intelligible  form, 
the  laws  which  so  deeply  concern  their  interests  and  their 
duties. 

I  am  informed  by  some  whose  opinions  I  respect,  that  all 
the  acts  of  Congress  now  in  force,  and  of  a  permanent  and 
general  nature,  might  be  revised  and  re-written,  so  as  to  be 
embraced'in  one  volume  (or,  at  most,  two  volumes,)  of  ordin 
ary  and  convenient  size.  And  I  respectfully  recommend  to 
Congress  to  consider  of  the  subject,  and,  if  my  suggestion  be 
approved,  to  devise  such  plan  as  to  their  wisdom  shall  seem 
most  proper  for  the  attainment  of  the  end  proposed. 

One  of  the  unavoidable  consequences  of  the  present  insur 
rection  is  the  entire  suppression,  in  many  places,  of  all  the 
ordinary  means  of  administering  civil  justice  by  the  officers 
and  in  the  forms  of  existing  law.  This  is  the  case,  in  whole  or 
in  part,  in  all  the  insurgent  States ;  and  as  our  armies  advance 
upon  and  take  possession  of  parts  of  those  States,  the  practical 
evil  becomes  more  apparent.  There  are  no  courts  nor  officers  to 
whom  the  citizens  of  other  States  may  apply  for  the  enforce 
ment  of  their  lawful  claims  against  citizens  of  the  insurgent 
States ;  and  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  debt  constituting  such 
claims.  Some  have  estimated  it  as  high  as  two  hundred  mil 
lion  dollars,  due,  in  large  part,  from  insurgents,  in  open  rebel 
lion,  to  loyal  citizens,  who  are,  even  now,  making  great  sacrifices, 
in  the  discharge  of  their  patriotic  duty,  to  support  the  Govern 
ment. 

Under  these  circumstances,  I  have  been  urgently  solicited  to 


302  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

establish,  by  military  power,  courts  to  administer  summary 
justice  in  such  cases.  I  have  thus  far  declined  to  do  it.  noi 
because  I  had  any  doubt  that  the  end  proposed — the  collection 
of  the  debts — was  just  and  right  in  itself,  but  because  I  havft 
been  unwilling  to  go  beyond  the  pressure  of  necessity  in  the 
unusual  exercise  of  power.  But  the  powers  of  Congress,  I 
suppose,  are  equal  to  the  anomalous  occasion,  and  therefore  I 
refer  the  whole  matter  to  Congress,  with  the  hope  that  a  plan 
may  be  devised  for  the  administration  of  justice  in  all  such 
parts  of  the  insurgent  States  and  Territories  as  may  be  under 
the  control  of  this  Government,  whether  by  a  voluntary  return 
to  allegiance  and  order,  or  by  the  power  of  our  arms.  This, 
however,  not  to  be  a  permanent  institution,  but  a  temporary 
substitute,  and  to  cease  as  soon  as  the  ordinary  courts  can  be 
reestablished  in  peace. 

It  is  important  that  some  more  convenient  means  should  be 
provided,  if  possible,  for  the  adjustment  of  claims  against  the 
Government,  especially  in  view  of  their  increased  number  by 
reason  of  the  war.  It  is  as  much  the  duty  of  Government  to 
render  prompt  justice  against  itself,  in  favor  of  citizens,  as  it 
is  to  administer  the  same  between  private  individuals.  The  in 
vestigation  and  adjudication  of  claims,  in  their  nature,  belong 
to  the  judicial  department;  besides,  it  is  apparent  that  the  at 
tention  of  Congress  will  be  more  than  usually  engaged  for 
some  time  to  come  with  great  national  questions. .  It  was 
intended,  by  the  organization  of  the  Court  of  Claims,  mainly 
to  remove  this  branch  of  business  from  the  halls  of  Congress  ; 
but  while  the  court  has  proved  to  be  an  effective  and  valuable 
means  of  investigation,  it  in  a  great  degree  fails  to  effect  the 
object  of  its  creation  for  want  of  power  to  make  its  judgments 
final. 

Fully  aware  of  the  delicacy,  not  to  say  the  danger,  of  the 
subject,  I  commend  to  your  careful  consideration  whether  this 
power  of  making  judgments  final  may  not  properly  be  given  to 
the  court,  reserving  the  right  of  appeal  on  questions  of  law  to 
the  Supreme  Court,  with  such  other  provisions  as  experience 
may  have  shown  to  be  necessary. 

I  ask  attention  to  the  report  of  the  Postmaster  General,  the 
following  being  a  summary  statement  of  the  condition  of  the 
department : 

The  revenue  from  all  sources  during  the  fiscal  year  ending 
June  30,  1861,  including  the  annual  permanent  appropriation 
of  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  transportation  of 
"  free  mail  matter,"  was  nine  million  forty-nine  thousand  two 
hundred  and  ninety-six  dollars  and  forty  cents,  being  about  two 
per  cent,  less  than  the  revenue  for  18GO. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  303 

The  expenditures  were  thirteen  million  six  hundred  and  six 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty-nine  dollars  and  eleven  cents, 
showing  a  decrease  of  more  than  eight  per  cent,  as  compared 
with  tho«e  of  the  previous  year,  and  leaving  an  excess  of  ex 
penditure  over  the  revenue  for  the  last  fiscal  year  of  four  mil 
lion  five  hundred  and  fifty-seven  thousand  four  hundred  and 
sixty-two  dollars  and  seventy -one  cents. 

The  gross  revenue  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1863.  is 
estimated  at  an  increase  of  four  per  cent,  on  that  of  1861, 
making  eight  million  six  hundred  and  eighty-three  thousand 
dollars,  to  which  should  be  added  the  earnings  of  the  depart 
ment  in  carrying  free  matter,  viz :  seven  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  making  nine  million  three  hundred  and  eighty-three 
thousand  dollars. 

The  total  expenditures  for  1863  are  estimated  at  twelve  mil 
lion  five  hundred  and  twenty-eight  thousand  dollars,  leaving  an 
estimated  deficiency  of  three  million  one  hundred  and  forty- 
five  thousand  dollars  to  be  supplied  from  the  treasury,  in  ad 
dition  to  the  permanent  appropriation. 

The  present  insurrection  shows,  I  think,  that  the  extension 
of  this  .District  across  the  Potomac  river,  at  the  time  of  estab 
lishing  the  capital  here,  was  eminently  wise,  and  consequently 
that  the  relinquishment  of  that  portion  of  it  which  lies  within 
the  State  of  Virginia  was  unwise  and  dangerous.  I  submit  for 
your  consideration  the  expediency  of  regaining  that  part  of 
the-  District,  and  the  restoration  of  the  original  boundaries 
thereof,  through  negotiations  with  the  State  of  Virginia. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  with  the  accom 
panying  documents,  exhibits  the  condition  of  the  several 
branches  of  the  public  business  pertaining  to  that  department. 
The  depressing  influences  of  the  insurrection  have  been 
specially  felt  in  the  operations  of  the  Patent  and  General  Land 
Offices.  The  cash  receipts  from  the  sales  of  public  lands  dur 
ing  the  past  year  have  exceeded  the  expenses  of  our  land  sys 
tem  only  about  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  sales  have 
been  entirely  suspended  in  the  Southern  States,  while  the  in 
terruptions  to  the  business  of  the  country,  and  the  diversions 
of  large  numbers  of  men  from  labor  to  military  service,  have 
obstructed  settlements  in  the  new  States  and  Territories  of  the 
Northwest. 

The  receipts  of  the  Patent  Office  have  declined  in  nine 
months  about  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  rendering  a  large 
reduction  of  the  force  employed  necessary  to  make  it  self-sus 
taining. 

The  demands  upon  the  Pension  Office  will  be  largely  in 
creased  by  the  insurrection.  ^Numerous  applications  for  pen- 


304  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

sions,  based  upon  the  casualties  of  the  existing  war,  have  al 
ready  been  made.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  many  who 
are  now  upon  the  pension  rolls,  and  in  receipt  of  the  bounty 
of  the  Government,  are  in  the  ranks  of  the  insurgent  army,  or 
giving  them  aid  and  comfort.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
has  directed  a  suspension  of  the  payment  of  the  pensions  of 
such  persons  upon  the  proof  of  their  disloyalty.  I  recom 
mend  that  Congress  authorize  that  officer  to  cause  the  names 
of  such  persons  to  be  stricken  from  the  pension  rolls. 

The  relations  of  the  Government  with  the  Indian  tribes 
have  been  greatly  disturbed  by  the  insurrection,  especially  in 
the  Southern  Superintendency  and  in  that  of  New  Mexico. 
The  Indian  country  south  of  Kansas  is  in  the  possession  of 
insurgents  from  Texas  and  Arkansas.  The  agents  of  the 
United  States  appointed  since  the  4th  of  March  for  this  su- 
perintendency  have  been  unable  to  reach  their  posts,  while  the 
most  of  those  who  were  in  office  before  that  time  have  espoused 
the  insurrectionary  cause,  and  assume  to  exercise  the  powers  of 
agents  by  virtue  of  commissions  from  the  insurrectionists.  It 
has  been  stated  in  the  public  press  that  a  portion  of  those  In 
dians  have  been  organized  as  a  military  force,  and  are  attached 
to  the  army  of  the  insurgents.  Although  the  Government  has 
no  official  information  upon  this  subject,  letters  have  been  writ 
ten  to  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  by  several  promi 
nent  chiefs,  giving  assurance  of  their  loyalty  to  the  United 
States,  and  expressing  a  wish  for  the  presence  of  Federal 
troops  to  protect  them.  It  is  believed  that  upon  the  reposses 
sion  of  the  country  by  the  Federal  forces  the  Indians  will 
readily  cease  all  hostile  demonstrations,  and  resume  their 
former  relations  to  the  Government. 

Agriculture,  confessedly  the  largest  interest  of  the  nation, 
has  riot  a  department,  nor  a  bureau,  but  a  clerkship  only, 
assigned  to  it  in  the  Government.  While  it  is  fortunate  that 
this  great  interest  is  so  independent  in  its  nature  as  to  not 
have  demanded  and  extorted  more  from  the  Government,  I 
respectfully  ask  Congress  to  consider  whether  something  more 
can  not  be  given  voluntarily  with  general  advantage. 

Annual  reports  exhibiting  the  condition  of  our  agriculture, 
commerce  and  manufactures,  would  rjresent  a  fund  of  informa 
tion  of  great  practical  value  to  the  country.  While  I  make  no 
suggestion  as  to  details,  I  venture  the  opinion  that  an  agricul 
tural  and  statistical  bureau  might  profitably  be  organized. 

The  execution  of  the  laws  for  the  suppression  of  the  Afri 
can  slave-trade  has  been  confided  to  the  Department  of  the 
Interior.  It  is  a  subject  of  gratulation  that  the  efforts  which 
have  been  made  for  the  suppression  of  this  inhuman  traffic 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  305 

have  been  recently  attended  with  unusual  success.  Five  ves 
sels  being  fitted  out  for  the  slave-trade  have  been  seized  and 
condemned.  Two  mates  of  vessels  engaged  in  the  trade, 
and  one  person  in  equipping  a  vessel  as  a  slaver,  have  been 
convicted  and  subjected  to  the  penalty  of  fine  and  imprison 
ment,  and  one  captain,  taken  with  a  cargo  of  Africans  on 
board  his  vessel,  has  been  convicted  of  the  highest  grade  of 
offense  under  our  laws,  the  punishment  of  which  is  death. 

The  Territories  of  Colorado,  Dakota,  and  Nevada,  created  by 
the  last  Congress,  have  been  organized,  and  civil  administra 
tion  has  been  inaugurated  therein  under  auspices  especially 
gratifying,  when  it  is  considered  that  the  leaven  of  treason  was 
found  existing  in  some  of  these  new  countries  when  the  Federal 
officers  arrived  there. 

The  abundant  natural  resources  of  these  Territories,  with 
the  security  and  protection  afforded  by  organized  government, 
will  doubtless  invite  to  them  a  large  immigration  when  peace 
shall  restore  the  business  of  the  country  to  its  accustomed 
channels.  I  submit  the  resolutions  of  the  Legislature  of  Colo 
rado,  which  evidence  the  patriotic  spirit  of  the  people  of  the 
Territory.  So  far,  the  authority  of  the  United  States  has  been 
upheld  in  all  the  Territories,  as  it  is  hoped  it  will  be  in  the 
future.  I  commend  their  interests  and  defense  to  the  enlight 
ened  and  generous  care  of  Congress. 

I  recommend  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  Congress  the 
interests  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  insurrection  has 
been  the  cause  of  much  suffering  and  sacrifice  to  its  inhabi 
tants,  and  as  they  have  no  representative  in  Congress,  that 
body  should  not  overlook  their  just  claims  upon  the  Govern 
ment. 

At  your  late  session  a  joint  resolution  was  adopted  author 
izing  the  President  to  take  measures  for  facilitating  a  proper 
representation  of  the  industrial  interests  of  the  United  States 
at  the  exhibition  of  the  industry  of  all  nations,  to  be  holden  at 
London  in  the  year  1862.  I  regret  to  say  I  have  been  unable 
to  give  personal  attention  to  this  subject— a  subject  at  once  so 
interesting  in  itself,  and  so  extensively  and  intimately  con 
nected  with  the  material  prosperity  of  the  world.  Through 
the  Secretaries  of  State  and  of  the  Interior  a  plan,  or  system, 
has  been  devised,  and  partly  matured,  and  which  will  be  laid 
before  you. 

Under  and  by  virtue  of  the  act  of  Congress  entitled  "An 
act  to  confiscate  property  used  for  insurrectionary  purposes," 
approved  August  6,  1861,  the  legal  claims  of  certain  persons 
to  the  labor  and  service  of  certain  other  persons  have  become 
forfeited ;  and  numbers  of  the  latter,  thus  liberated,  are  already 
20 


306  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

dependent  on  the  United  States,  and  must  be  provided  for  in 
some  way.  Besides  this,  it  is  not  impossible  that  some  of  the 
States  will  pass  similar  enactments  for  their  own  benefit  respect 
ively,  and  by  operations  of  which  persons  of  the  same  class 
will  be  thrown  upon  them  for  disposal.  In  such  case  I  recom 
mend  that  Congress  provide  for  accepting  such  persons  from 
such  States  according  to  some  "mode  of  valuation,  in  lieu,  pro 
tanto,  of  direct  taxes,  or  upon  some  other  plan  to  be  agreed  on 
with  such  States,  respectively ;  that  such  persons,  on  such 
acceptance  by  the  General  Government,  be  at  once  deemed  free  ; 
and  that,  in  any  event,  steps  be  taken  for  colonizing  both 
classes  (or  the  one  first  mentioned,  if  the  other  shall  not  be 
brought  into  existence)  at  some  place  or  places  in  a  cli 
mate  congenial  to  them.  It  might  be  well  to  consider,  too, 
whether  the  free  colored  people  already  in  the  United  States 
could  not,  so  far  as  individuals  may  desire,  be  included  in  such 
colonization. 

To  carry  out  the  plan  of  colonization  may  involve  the 
acquiring  of  territory,  and  also  the  appropriation  of  money 
beyond  that  to  be  expended  in  the  territorial  acquisition.  Hav 
ing  practiced  the  acquisition  of  territory  for  nearly  sixty  years, 
the  question  of  constitutional  power  to  do  so  is  no  longer  an 
open  one  with  us.  The  power  was  questioned  at  first  by  Mr. 
Jeiferson,  who,  however,  in  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  yielded 
his  scruples  on  the  plea  of  great  expediency.  If  it  be  said 
that  the  only  legitimate  object  of  acquiring  territory  is  to  fur 
nish  homes  for  white  men,  this  measure  effects  that  object,  for 
the  emigra-tion  of  colored  men  leaves  additional  room  for  white 
men  remaining  or  coming  here.  Mr.  Jefferson,  however,  placed 
the  importance  of  procuring  Louisiana  more  on  political  and 
commercial  grounds  than  on  providing  room  for  population. 

On  this  whole  proposition,  including  the  appropriation  of 
money  with  the  acquisition  of  territory,  does  not  the  expedi 
ency  amount  to  absolute,  necessity — that  without  which  the 
Government  itself  can  not  be  perpetuated  ? 

The  war  continues.  In  considering  the  policy  to  be  adopted 
for  suppressing  the  insurrection,  I  have  been  anxious  and  care 
ful  that  the  inevitable  conflict  for  this  purpose  shall  not  degen 
erate  into  a  violent  and  remorseless  revolutionary  struggle.  I 
have,  therefore,  in  every  case  thought  it  proper  to  keep  the 
integrity  of  the  Union  prominent  as  the  primary  object  of  the 
contest  on  our  part,  leaving  all  questions  which  are  not  of  vital 
military  importance  to  the  more  deliberate  action  of  the  legis 
lature. 

In  the  exercise  of  my  best  discretion,  I  have  adhered  to  the 
blockade  of  the  ports  held  by  the  insurgents,  instead  of  putting 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  807 

in  force,  by  proclamation,  the  law  of  Congress  enacted  at  the 
late  session  for  closing  those  ports. 

So,  also,  obeying  the  dictates  of  prudence,  as  well  as  the 
obligations  of  law,  instead  of  transcending,  I  have  adhered  to 
the  act  of  Congress  to  confiscate  property  used  for  insurrec 
tionary  purposes.  If  a  new  law  upon  the  same  subject  shall  be 
proposed,  its  propriety  will  be  duly  considered.  The  Union 
must  be  preserved ;  and  hence  all  indispensable  means  must  be 
employed.  We  should  not  be  in  haste  to  determine  that  radi 
cal  and  extreme  measures,  which  may  reach  the  loyal  as  well  as 
the  disloyal,  are  indispensable. 

The  inaugural  address  at  the  beginning  of  the  administration, 
and  the  message  to  Congress  at  the  late  special  session,  were 
both  mainly  devoted  to  the  domestic  controversy  out  of  which 
the  insurrection  and  consequent  war  have  sprung.  Nothing 
now  occurs  to  add  or  subtract  to  or  from  the  principles  or  gen 
eral  purposes  stated  and  expressed  in  those  documents. 

The  last  ray  of  hope  for  preserving  the  Union  peaceably 
expired  at  the  assault  upon  Fort  Sumter ;  and  a  general  review 
of  what  has  occurred  since  may  not  be  unprofitable.  What 
was  painfully  uncertain  then  is  much  better  defined  and  more 
distinct  now ;  and  the  progress  of  events  is  plainly  in  the  right 
direction.  The  insurgents  confidently  claimed  a  strong  sup 
port  from  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  and  the  friends  of 
the  Union  were  not  free  from  apprehension  on  the  point. 
This,  however,  was  soon  settled  definitely,  and  on  the  right 
side.  South  of  the  line,  noble  little  Delaware  led  oif  right  from 
the  first.  Maryland  was  made  to  seem  against  the  Union.  Our 
soldiers  were  assaulted,  bridges  were  burned,  and  railroads  torn 
up  within  her  limits,  and  we  were  many  days,  at  one  time, 
without  the  ability  to  bring  a  single  regiment  over  her  soil  to 
the  capital.  Now  her  bridges  and  railroads  are  repaired  and 
open  to  the  Government ;  she  already  gives  seven  regiments  to 
the  cause  of  the  Union  and  none  to  the  enemy ;  and  her  peo 
ple,  at  a  regular  election,  have  sustained  the  Union  by  a  larger 
majority  and  a  larger  aggregate  vote  than  they  ever  before  gave 
to  any  candidate  or  any  question.  Kentucky,  too,  for  some 
time  in  doubt,  is  now  decidedly,  and,  I  think,  unchangeably, 
ranged  on  the  side  of  the  Union.  Missouri  is  comparatively 
quiet,  and  I  believe  can  not  again  be  overrun  by  the  insurrec 
tionists.  These  three  States  of  Maryland,  Kentucky  and  Mis 
souri,  neither  of  which  would  promise  a  single  soldier  at  first, 
have  now  an  aggregate  of  not  less  than  forty  thousand  in  the 
field  for  the  Union  ;  while  of  their  citizens  certainly  not  more 
than  a  third  of  that  number,  and  they  of  doubtful  whereabouts 
and  doubtful  existence,  are  in  arms  against  it.  After  a  some* 


308  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

what  bloody  struggle  of  months,  winter  closes  on  the  Union 
people  of  Western  Virginia,  leaving  them  masters  of  their 
own  country. 

An  insurgent  force  of  ahout  fifteen  nundred,  for  months 
dominating  the  narrow  peninsular  region,  constituting  the 
counties  of  Accomac  and  Northampton,  and  known  as  the  east 
ern  shore  of  Virginia,  together  with  some  contiguous  parts  of 
Maryland,  have  laid  down  their  arms ;  and  the  people  there 
have  renewed  their  allegiance  to,  and  accepted  the  protection 
of,  the  old  flag.  This  leaves  no  armed  insurrectionist  north  of 
the  Potomac  or  east  of  the  Chesapeake. 

Also  we  have  obtained  a  footing  at  each  of  the  isolated 
points,  on  the  southern  coast,  of  Hatteras,  Port  Royal,  Tybee 
Island,  near  Savannah,  and  Ship  Island ;  and  we  like 
wise  have  some  general  accounts  of  popular  movements,  in 
behalf  of  the  Union,  in  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee. 

These  things  demonstrate  that  the  cause  of  the  Union  is  ad 
vancing  steadily  and  certainly  southward. 

Since  your  last  adjournment,  Lieut.  Gen.  Scott  has  retired 
from  the  head  of  the  army.  During  his  long  life,  the  nation 
has  not  been  unmindful  of  his  merit;  yet,  on  calling 
to  mind  how  faithfully,  ably  and  brilliantly  he  has  served  the 
country,  from  a  time  far  back  in  our  history,  when  few 
of  the  now  living  had  been  born,  and  thenceforward  continu 
ally,  I  can  not  but  think  we  are  still  his  debtors.  I  submit, 
therefore,  for  your  consideration,  what  further  mark  of 
recognition  is  due  to  him,  and  to  ourselves,  as  a  grateful  people. 

With  the  retirement  of  Gen.  Scott  came  the  Executive  duty 
of  appointing,  in  his  stead,  a  General-in-chief  of  the  army. 
It  is  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  neither  in  council  nor 
country  was  there,  so  far  as  I  know,  any  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  the  proper  person  to  be  selected.  The  retiring  chief  re 
peatedly  expressed  his  judgment  in  favor  of  Gen.  McClellan  for 
the  position,  and  in  this  the  nation  seemed  to  give  a  unanimous 
concurrence.  The  designation  of  Gen.  McClellan  is,  therefore, 
in  considerable  degree,  the  selection  of  the  country  as  well  as 
of  the  Executive ;  and  hence  there  is  better  reason  to  hope 
there  will  be  given  him  the  confidence  and  cordial  support 
thus,  by  fair  implication,  promised,  and  without  which  he  can 
not,  with  so  full  efficiency,  serve  the  country. 

It  has  been  said  that  one  bad  General  is  better  than  two 
good  ones  ;  and  the  saying  is  true,  if  taken  to  mean  no  more 
than  that  an  army  is  better  directed  by  a  single  mind,  though 
inferior,  than  by  two  superior  ones  at  variance  and  cross-pur 
poses  with  each  other. 

And  the  same  is  true  in  all  joint  operations  wherein  those 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  309 

engaged  can  have  none  but  a  common  end  in  view,  and  can 
differ  only  as  to  the  choice  of  means.  In  a  storm  at  sea, 
no  one  on  board  can  wish  the  ship  to  sink,  and  yet,  not  unfre- 
quently,  all  go  down  together  because  too  many  will  direct 
and  no  single  mind  can  be  allowed  to  control. 

It  continues  to  develop  that  the  insurrection  is  largely,  if  not 
exclusively,  a  war  upon  the  first  principle  of  popular  govern 
ment — the  rights  of  the  people.  Conclusive  evidence  of  this 
is  found  in  the  most  grave  and  maturely-considered  public  doc 
uments,  as  well  as  in  the  general  tone  of  the  insurgents.  In 
those  documents  we  find  the  abridgment  of  the  existing 
right  of  suffrage  and  the  denial  to  the  people  of  all  right  to 
participate  in  the  selection  of  public  officers,  except  the  legis 
lative,  boldly  advocated,  with  labored  arguments  to  prove  that 
large  control  of  the  people  in  government  is  the  source 
of  all  political  evil.  Monarchy  itself  is  sometimes  hinted  at 
as  a  possible  refuge  from  the  power  of  the  people. 

In  my  present  position  I  could  scarcely  be  justified  were  I  to 
omit  raising  a  warning  voice  against  this  approach  of  return 
ing  despotism. 

It  is  not  needed  nor  fitting  here  that  a  general  argument 
should  be  made  in  favor  of  popular  institutions ;  but  there  is 
one  point,  with  its  connections,  not  so  hackneyed  as  most 
others,  to  which  I  ask  a  brief  attention.  It  is  the  effort 
to  place  capital  on  an  equal  footing  with,  if  not  above  labor,  in 
the  structure  of  government.  It  is  assumed  that  labor  is 
available  only  in  connection  with  capital — that  nobody  labors 
unless  somebody  else,  owning  capital,  somehow  by  the  use  of 
it  induces  him  to  labor.  This  assumed,  it  is  next  considered 
whether  it  is  best  that  capital  shall  hire  laborers,  and  thus 
induce  them  to  work  by  their  own  consent,  or  buy  them, 
and  drive  them  to  it  without  their  consent.  Having  proceeded 
so  far,  it  is  naturally  concluded  that  all  laborers  are  either 
hired  laborers,  or  what  we  call  slaves.  And  further,  it  is 
assumed  that  whoever  is  once  «,  hired  laborer  is  fixed  in  that 
condition  for  life. 

Now,  there  is  no  such  relation  between  capital  and  labor  as 
assumed ;  nor  is  there  any  such  thing  as  a  free  man  being  fixed 
for  life  in  the  condition  of  a  hired  laborer.  Both  these  assump 
tions  are  false,  and  all  inferences  from  them  are  groundless. 

Labor  is  prior  to  and  independent  of  capital.  Capital  is  only 
the  fruit  of  labor,  and  could  never  have  existed  if  labor  had 
not  first  existed.  Labor  is  the  superior  of  capital,  and  deserves 
much  the  higher  consideration.  Capital  has  its  rights,  which 
are  as  worthy  of  protection  as  any  other  rights.  Nor  is  it 
denied  that  there  is,  and  probably  always  will  be,  a  relation 


310  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

between  labor  and  capital  producing  mutual  benefits.  The 
error  is  in  assuming  that  the  whole  labor  of  community  exists 
within  that  relation.  A  few  men  own  capital,  and  that  few 
avoid  labor  themselves,  and  with  their  capital  hire  or  buy 
another  few  to  labor  for  them.  A  large  majority  belong  to 
neither  class — neither  work  for  others  nor  have  others  working 
for  them.  In  most  of  the  Southern  States  a  majority  of  the 
whole  people,  of  all  colors,  are  neither  slaves  nor  masters, 
while  in  the  Northern  a  large  majority  are  neither  hirers  nor 
hired.  Men,  with  their  families — wives,  sons,  and  daughters — 
work  for  themselves,  on  their  farms,  in  their  houses,  and  in 
their  shops,  taking  the  whole  product  to  themselves,  and  asking 
no  favors  of  capital,  on  the  one  hand,  nor  of  hired  laborers  or 
slaves  on  the  other.  It  is  not  forgotten  that  a  considerable 
number  of  persons  mingle  their  own  labor  with  capital — that 
is,  they  labor  with  their  own  hands,  and  also  buy  or  hire  others 
to  labor  for  them ;  but  this  is  only  a  mixed,  and  not  a  distinct 
class.  No  principle  stated  is  disturbed  by  the  existence  of  this 
mixed  class. 

Again,  as  has  already  been  said,  there  is  not,  of  necessity, 
any  such  thing  as  the  free  hired  laborer  being  fixed  to  that 
condition  for  life.  Many  independent  men  every-where  in  these 
States,  a  few  years  back  in  their  lives,  were  hired  laborers. 
The  prudent,  penniless  beginner  in  the  world,  labors  for  wages 
awhile,  saves  a  surplus  with  which  to  buy  tools  or  land  for  him 
self,  then  labors  on  his  own  account  another  while,  and  at  length 
hires  another  new  beginner  to  help  him.  This  is  the  just,  and 
generous,  and  prosperous  system,  which  opens  the  way  to  all — 
gives  hope  to  all,  and  consequent  energy,  and  progress,  and  im 
provement  of  condition  to  all.  No  men  living  are  more  worthy 
to  be  trusted  than  those  who  toil  up  from  poverty ;  none  less 
inclined  to  take  or  touch  aught  which  they  have  not  honestly 
earned.  Let  them  beware  of  surrendering  a  political  power 
which  they  already  possess,  and  which,  if  surrendered,  will 
surely  be  used  to  close  the  door  of  advancement  against  such 
as  they,  and  to  fix  new  disabilities  and  burdens  upon  them,  till 
all  of  liberty  shall  be  lost. 

From  the  first  taking  of  our  National  Census  to  the  last  are 
seventy  years ;  and  we  find  our  population  at  the  end  of  the 
period  eight  times  as  great  as  it  was  at  the  beginning.  The 
increase  of  those  other  things  which  men  deem  desirable  has 
been  even  greater.  We  thus  have  at  one  view  what  the  popu 
lar  principle,  applied  to  Government  through  the  machinery  of 
the  States  and  the  Union,  has  produced  in  a  given  time,  and 
also  what  it  firmly  maintained,  it  promises  for  the  future. 
There  are  already  among  us  those  who,  if  the  Union  be  pre« 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  311 

served,  will  live  to  see  it  contain  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions. 
The  struggle  of  to-day  is  not  altogether  for  to-day;  it  is  for  a 
vast  future  also.  With  a  reliance  on  Providence  all  the  more 
firm  and  earnest,  let  us  proceed  in  the  great  task  which  events 
have  devolved  upon  us. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
WASHINGTON,  December  3,  1861. 

The  organization  of  an  opposition  party,  taking  the  Demo 
cratic  name,  had  been  effected  under  the  auspices  of  a  few  anti 
war  men  in  Congress,  who  had  occasionally  ventured  to  speak 
out  their  dissent  at  the  previous  session.  This  faction,  repre 
sented  in  Ohio  by  Yallandigham,  and  in  Illinois  by  Richard 
son,  having  apparently  very  little  support  among  the  people, 
began  at  this  session  to  work  in  earnest,  boldly  aspiring  to 
assume  control  of  the  House  of  Representatives  to  be  elected 
during  the  coming  season.  Already,  too,  plans  were  formed  for 
carrying  the  next  Presidential  election,  and  there  were  not 
wanting  sagacious  observers,  who  believed  that  schemes  of  this 
sort  had  the  sympathy  of  at  least  one  Major  General  in  the  army. 

At  this  session  of  Congress  it  was  early  apparent  that  a  great 
advance  had  taken  place  in  the  public  mind  on  the  question  of 
Slavery.  Neither  Secretary  Seward's  diplomatic  assurances  to 
Governments  abroad  that  no  change  in  Southern  institutions 
was  contemplated  in  any  event,  nor  McClellan's  manifesto  on 
this  subject  to  the  people  of  Virginia,  nor  Halleck's  order 
excluding  fugitive  slaves  from  the  lines  of  the  Army  of  the 
West,  nor  the  22d  of  July  resolution  of  Mr.  Crittenden,  were 
now  satisfactory  to  the  people,  who  began  already  to  demand 
that  the  Rebellion  should  be  attacked  in  its  vital  and  vulner 
able  point.  On  the  third  day  of  the  session,  the  Crittenden 
Resolution  was  laid  on  the  table,  in  the  popular  branch  of  Con 
gress,  by  a  vote  of  71  to  65.  The  demand  of  the  people  for 
the  destruction  of  Slavery  was  daily  becoming  more  manifest 
and  more  earnest.  The  President,  in  his  inaugural  address, 
had  clearly  foreseen  a  time  when,  if  war  should  come,  the 
destruction  of  Slavery  must  follow.  He  made  no  pledge,  under 
such  circumstances,  cot  to  hasten  its  destruction  by  all  the 
means  in  his  power.  So  soon  as  the  people,  whose  will  he 


312  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

intended  faithfully  to  execute,  should  sustain  him  in  suchawar 
measure — now  beginning  to  be  deemed  necessary — he  had  no 
dread  to  strike.  A  joint  committee  of  both  Houses  to  inquire 
into  the  conduct  of  the  war  was  appointed  in  the  Senate,  on  the 
18th,  and  in  the  House  on  the  19th  of  December.  It  is  need 
less  to  say  that  this  proceeding  arose  from  the  general  dissatis 
faction  felt  at  the  inaction  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  in  the 
face  of  a  greatly  inferior  enemy,  as  well  as  from  the  disastrous 
issue  of  the  only  positive  movement  yet  attempted — that  at 
Ball's  Bluff.  The  members  of  that  committee  were :  Messrs. 
Wade,  Chandler,  and  Andrew  Johnson  (whose  place  was  sub 
sequently  supplied  by  Mr.  Wright,  of  Indiana),  of  the  Senate ; 
and  Messrs.  Gooch,  Covode,  Julian,  and  Odell,  of  the  House. 
The  evidence  collected  by  this  committee  from  the  best  sources 
of  information,  including  the  testimony  of  the  highest  Generals, 
was,  from  time  to  time,  laid  before  the  President  for  his  consid 
eration,  and  subsequently  given  to  the  public. 

The  exciting  subject  of  the  arrest  of  Mason  and  Slidell  was 
early  seized  upon  by  the  leaders  of  the  Opposition  in  the 
House,  as  one  suited  to  their  purpose.  An  adroitly  worded 
resolution  with  an  elaborate  preamble,  reciting  the  complimen 
tary  order  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  on  this  arrest,  and  the 
unanimous  thanks  of  the  House  to  Com.  Wilkes  already  passed, 
was  offered  in  the  House,  calling  upon  the  President  not  to 
yield  "  to  any  menace  or  demand  of  the  British  Government." 
This  was  referred,  against  the  wishes  of  the  mover,  to  the  Com 
mittee  on  Foreign  Affairs — ayes  109,  nays  16.  At  a  later 
period,  December  30,  the  President  transmitted  to  Congress  the 
correspondence  between  Mr.  Seward  and  the  authorities  of 
Great  Britain  on  this  subject,  conceding  the  illegality  of  the 
arrest,  though  strictly  according  to  English  precedent,  and 
offering  the  proper  satisfaction.  Mason  and  Slidell  were  placed 
on  board  a  British  vessel  lying  off  Boston,  to  be  transported  to 
their  original  destination.  If  this  decision  caused  a  momentary 
disappointment,  its  profound  wisdom  and  prudence  were  at  once 
apparent.  It  was  to  the  supporters  of  Davis,  and  to  the  sym 
pathizers  with  him,  the  defeat  of  an  ardently  cherished  hope 
that  so  unimportant  a  matter  as  the  detention  or  surrender 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  313 

of  their  two  diplomatic  friends  would  involve  this  country  in 
a  foreign  war. 

A  motion  in  the  House,  on  the  10th  of  December,  involving 
the  question  of  the  "arbitrary  arrests"  of  bold  complotters  of 
treason,  in  the  loyal  States,  showed  108  members  in  favor  of 
sustaining  the  President,  and  26  in  opposition. 

At  this  session,  Congress  provided  for  the  issue  of  legal- 
tender  notes,  and  passed  an  internal  revenue  bill,  which  should 
largely  increase  the  receipts  into  the  Treasury,  insuring  a  basis 
for  the  payment  of  interest  on  loans,  also  authorized,  and  con 
fidence  in  the  redemption  of  the  National  currency.  The 
j>olicy  adopted  was  substantially  that  recommended  and  ap 
proved  by  the  distinguished  head  of  the  Treasury  Department, 
Mr.  Chase.  Much  of  the  time  of  Congress  was  also  occupied 
in  considering  various  bills  for  confiscating  the  property  of 
Rebels,  and  in  maturing  the  measure  ultimately  passed. 

On  the  13th  of  January,  1862,  Mr.  Cameron  resigned  hia 
place  in  the  Cabinet  as  Secretary  of  War,  receiving  an  appoint 
ment  as  Minister  to  Russia,  and  the  Hon.  Edwin  M.  Stanton 
was  appointed  in  his  stead. 

The  message  sent  by  President  Lincoln  to  Congress  on  the 
6th  of  March,  in  regard  to  gradual  and  compensated  emancipa 
tion,  shows  that  he  had  now  come  to  look  seriously  upon  the 
question  of  employing  some  means  for  the  complete  eradication 
of  Slavery.  He  intimates  plainly  that  such  a  conviction  was 
on  his  mind  when  preparing  his  message  of  Dec.  3,  1861.  His 
emancipation  message  is  in  these  words : 

4 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRE 
SENTATIVES  :  I  recommend  the  adoption  of  a  joint  resolution 
by  your  honorable  bodies,  which  shall  be  substantially  as  fol 
lows: 

Resolved,  That  the  United  States  ought  to  cooperate  with 
any  State  which  may  adopt  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery, 
giving  to  such  State  pecuniary  aid,  to  be  used  by  such  State  in 
its  discretion,  to  compensate  for  the  inconveniences,  public  and 
private,  produced  by  such  charge  of  system. 

If  the  proposition  contained  in  the  resolution  does  not  meet 
the  approval  of  Congress  and  the  country,  there  is  the  end ; 
but  if  it  does  command  such  approval,  I  dtfem  it  of  importance 


314  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

that  the  States  and  people  immediately  interested  should  be  at 
once  distinctly  notified  of  the  fact,  so  that  they  may  begin  to 
consider  whether  to  accept  or  reject  it.  The  Federal  Govern 
ment  would  find  its  highest  interest  in  such  a  measure  as  one 
of  the  most  efficient  means  of  self-preservation.  The  leaders 
of  the  existing  insurrection  entertain  the  hope  that  this  Gov 
ernment  will  ultimately  be  forced  to  acknowledge  the  inde 
pendence  of  some  part  of  the  disaffected  region,  and  that  all 
the  Slave  States  north  of  such  part  will  then  say,  "  the  Union 
for  which  we  have  struggled  being  already  gone,  we  now 
choose  to  go  with  the  southern  section."  To  deprive  them  of 
this  hope  substantially  ends  the  rebellion,  and  the  initiation  of 
emancipation  completely  deprives  them  of  it  as  to  all  the  States 
initiating  it.  The  point  is  not  that  all  the  States  tolerating  slavery 
would  very  soon,  if  at  all,  initiate  emancipation,  but  that,  while 
the  offer  is  equally  made  to  all,  the  more  northern  shall,  by 
such  initiation,  make  it  certain  to  the  more  southern  that  in  no 
event  will  the  former  ever  join  the  latter  in  their  proposed  con 
federacy.  I  say  "  initiation,"  because,  in  my  judgment,  grad 
ual,  and  not  sudden  emancipation,  is  better  for  all.  In  the 
mere  financial  or  pecuniary  view,  any  member  of  Congress, 
with  the  census  tables  and  treasury  reports  before  him,  can 
readily  see  for  himself  how  very  soon  the  current  expenditures 
of  this  war  would  purchase,  at  fair  valuation,  all  the  slaves  in 
any  named  State.  Such  a  proposition  on  the  part  of  the  Gen 
eral  Government  sets  up  no  claim  of  a  right  by  Federal  author 
ity  to  interfere  with  slavery  within  State  limits,  referring,  as  it 
does,  the  absolute  control  of  the  subject  in  each  case  to  the 
State  and  its  people  immediately  interested.  It  is  proposed  as 
a  matter  of  perfectly  free  choice  with  them. 

In  the  annual  message  last  December  I  thought  fit  to  say,  "the 
Union  must  be  preserved  ;  and  hence  all  indispensable  means 
must  be  employed."  I  said  this  not  hastily,  but  deliberately. 
War  has  been  made,  and  continues  to  be  an  indispensable 
means  to  this  end.  A  practical  reacknowledgment  of  the 
^National  authority  would  render  the  war  unnecessary,  and  it 
would  at  once  cease.  If,  however,  resistance  continues,  the 
war  must  also  continue,  and  it  is  impossible  to  foresee  all  the 
incidents  which  may  attend  and  all  the  ruin  which  may  follow 
it.  Such  as  may  seem  indispensable,  or  may  obviously  promise 
great  efficiency  toward  ending  the  struggle,  must  and  will  come. 

The  proposition  now  made,  though  an  offer  only,  I  hope  it 
may  be  esteemed  no  offense  to  ask  whether  the  pecuniary  con 
sideration  tendered  would  not  be  of  more  value  to  the  States 
and  private  persons  concerned  than  are  the  institutions  and 
property  in  it,  in  the  present  aspect  of  affairs. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  315 

"While  it  is  true  that  the  adoption  of  the  proposed  resolu 
tion  -would  be  merely  initiatory,  and  not  within  itself  a  prac 
tical  measure,  it  is  recommended  in  the  hope  that  it  would 
soon  lead  to  important  practical  results.  In  full  view  of  my 
great  responsibility  to  my  God  and  to  my  country,  I  earn 
estly  beg  the  attention  of  Congress  and  the  people  to  the 
subject. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

March  6,  1862. 

The  resolution  recommended  in  the  foregoing  paper  was 
passed  by  the  House  on  the  llth  of  March — ayes  97,  noes  36. 
Only  five  of  the  affirmative  votes  were  from  the  Slave  States. 
The  resolution  was  concurred  in  by  the  Senate,  with  little  op 
position,  and  signed  by  the  President  on  the  10th  of  April. 

Early  in  April  the  Senate  passed  a  bill  abolishing  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  with  compensation  to  the  loyal  own 
ers  of  slaves.  This  bill  passed  the  House  on  the  llth  of  the 
same  month,  four  days  after  its  transmission — ayes  92,  noes  39. 
In  communicating  his  approval  of  this  measure,  the  President, 
departing  from  the  usual  practice,  sent  a  message  to  Congress 
in  the  following  terms  : 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRE 
SENTATIVES  :  The  act  entitled  "  An  act  for  the  release  of  certain 
persons  held  to  service  or  labor  in  the  District  of  Columbia," 
has  this  day  been  approved  and  signed. 

I  have  never  doubted  the  constitutional  authority  of  Con 
gress  to  abolish  slavery  in  this  District,  and  I  have  ever  de 
sired  to  see  the  National  Capital  freed  from  the  institution  in 
some  satisfactory  way.  Hence  there  has  never  been,  in  my 
mind,  any  question  upon  the  subject  except  the  one  of  expedi 
ency,  arising  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances.  If  there 
be  matters  within  and  about  this  act  which  might  have  taken  a 
course  or  shape  more  satisfactory  to  my  judgment,  I  do  not 
attempt  to  specify  them.  I  am  gratified  that  the  two  prin 
ciples  of  compensation  and  colonization  are  both  recognized 
and  practically  applied  in  the  act. 

In  the  matter  of  compensation  it  is  provided  that  claims 
may  be  presented  within  ninety  days  from  the  passage  of  the 
act,  "but  not  thereafter,"  and  there  is  no  saving  for  minors, 
femmes-coverty  insane  or  absent  persons.  I  presume  this  is  an 


316  LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

omission  by  mere  oversight,  and  I  recommend  that  it  bo  sup 
plied  by  an  amendatory  or  supplemental  act. 

April  16,  1862.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

On  the  10th  of  June,  President  Lincoln  communicated 
to  Congress  a  copy  of  a  treaty  negotiated  with  Great  Britain, 
having  for  its  design  a  complete  suppression  of  the  African 
slave-trade. 

The  Confiscation  Act,  as  finally  matured  and  passed  by  Con 
gress,  with  a  special  provision  for  conditional  pardon  and 
amnesty,  received  the  approval  of  the  Executive  on  the 
last  day  of  the  session,  July  17th.  To  obviate  constitutional 
objections  known  to  exist  in  the  President's  mind,  to  the  meas 
ure  as  at  first  passed,  a  supplementary  joint  resolution  had 
been  adopted,  limiting  the  forfeiture  of  real  estate  to  the  life 
time  of  its  rebel  owner.  His  views  on  this  subject  were 
officially  set  forth  in  a  document,  from  which  the  following 
memorable  sentences  are  quoted  : 

It  is  startling  to  say  that  Congress  can  free  a  slave  within 
a  State,  and  yet  were  it  said  that  the  ownership  of  a  slave  had 
first  been  transferred  to  the  nation,  and  that  Congress  had  then 
liberated  him,  the  difficulty  would  vanish ;  and  this  is  the  real 
case.  The  traitor  against  the  General  Government  forfeits  his 
slave  at  least  as  justly  as  he  does  any  other  property,  and  he 
forfeits  both  to  the  Government  against  which  he  offends. 
The  Government,  so  far  as  there  can  be  ownership,  owns 
the  forfeited  slaves,  and  the  question  for  Congress  in  regard  to 
them  is,  shall  they  be  made  free  or  sold  to  new  masters?  I  see 
no  objection  to  Congress  deciding  in  advance  that  they  shall  be 
free. 

That  those  who  make  a  causeless  war  should  be  compelled  to 
pay  the  c'ost  of  it,  is  too  obviously  just  to  be  called  in  question. 
To  give  Government  protection  to  the  property  of  persons  who 
have  abandoned  it,  and  gone  on  a  crusade  to  overthrow  the 
same  Government,  is  absurd,  if  considered  in  the  mere  light  of 
justice.  The  severest  justice  may  not  always  be  the  best 
policy.  *  *  I  think  our  military  commanders,  when,  in 
military  phrase,  they  are  within  the  enemy's  country,  should,  in 
an  orderly  manner,  seize  and  keep  whatever  of  real  or  personal 
property  may  be  necessary  or  convenient  for  their  commands, 
and  at  the  same  time  preserve  in  some  way  the  evidence  of 
what  they  do. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  317 

A  few  days  before  the  adjournment,  the  President,  evidently 
looking  forward  to  the  necessity  of  a  more  radical  and  decisive 
policy  in  regard  to  Slavery,  invited  the  Senators  and  Represen 
tatives  of  the  border  Slave  States  to  a  conference.  The  disas 
trous  Peninsular  campaign  was  now  over,  and  depression  pre 
vailed  throughout  the  country.  The  war  must  somehow  be 
ended,  with  the  rebellion  overthrown ;  and  the  employment  of 
every  effective  and  legitimate  war  measure,  he  felt  to  be  now 
demanded.  He  desired  the  great  change  to  come  as  lightly  as 
possible  on  the  still  loyal  Slave  States,  and  it  was  in  this  spirit 
that  the  interview  was  solicited  by  him.  Having  convened  at 
the  Executive  Mansion,  on  the  12th  of  July,  these  Represen 
tatives  were  addressed  by  Mr.  Lincoln  (reading  what  he  had 
carefully  prepared  for  the  occasion)  as  follows : 

GENTLEMEN  :  After  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  now  near, 
I  shall  have  no  opportunity  of  seeing  you  for  several  months. 
Believing  that  you  of  the  Border  States  hold  more  power  for 
good  than  any  other  equal  number  of  members,  I  feel  it  a 
duty  which  I  can  not  justifiably  waive  to  make  this  appeal  to 
you. 

I  intend  no  reproach  or  complaint  when  I  assure  you  that, 
in  my  opinion,  if  you  all  had  voted  for  the  resolution  in  the 
gradual  emancipation  message  of  last  March,  the  war  would 
now  be  substantially  ended.  And  the  plan  therein  proposed  is 
yet  one  of  the  most  potent  and  swift  means  of  ending  it.  Let 
the  States  which  are  in  rebellion  see  definitely  and  certainly 
that  in  no  event  will  the  States  you  represent  ever  join  their 
proposed  Confederacy,  and  they  can  not  much  longer  maintain 
the  contest.  But  you  can  not  divest  them  of  their  hope  to 
ultimately  have  you  with  them  so  long  as  you  show  a  deter 
mination  to  perpetuate  the  institution  within  your  own  States. 
Beat  them  at  elections,  as  you  have  overwhelmingly  done,  and, 
nothing  daunted,  they  still  claim  you  as  their  own.  You  and 
I  know  what  the  lever  of  their  power  is.  Break  that  lever  be 
fore  their  faces,  and  they  can  shake  you  no  more  forever. 

Most  of  you  have  treated  me  with  kindness  and  considera 
tion,  and  I  trust  you  will  not  now  think  I  improperly  touch 
what  is  exclusively  your  own,  when,  for  the  sake  of  the  whole 
country,  I  ask,  "  Can  you,  for  your  States,  do  better  than  to 
take  the  course  I  urge  ?"  Discarding  punctilio  and  maxims 
adapted  to  more  manageable  times,  and  looking  only  to  the 
unprecedentedly  stern  facts  of  our  case,  can  you  do  better  in 


318  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

any  possible  event?  You  prefer  that  the  constitutional  rela 
tions  of  the  States  to  the  nation  shall  be  practically  restored 
without  disturbance  of  the  institution  ;  and,  if  this  were  done, 
my  whole  duty  in  this  respect,  under  the  Constitution  and  my 
oath  of  office,  would  be  performed.  But  it  is  not  done,  and  we 
are  trying  to  accomplish  it  by  war.  The  incidents  of  the  war 
can  not  be  avoided.  If  the  war  continues  long,  as  it  must  if 
the  object  be  not  sooner  attained,  the  institution  in  your  States 
will  be  extinguished  by  mere  friction  and  abrasion — by  the 
mere  incidents  of  the  war.  It  will  be  gone,  and  you  will  have 
nothing  valuable  in  lieu  of  it.  Much  of  its  value  is  gone  al 
ready.  How  much  better  for  you  and  for  your  people  to  take 
the  step  which  at  once  shortens  the  war,  and  secures  substan 
tial  compensation  for  that  which  is  sure  to  be  wholly  lost  in 
any  other  event  I  How  much  better,  to  thus  save  the  money 
which  else  we  sink  forever  in  the  war !  How  much  better 
to  do  it  while  we  can,  lest  the  war,  ere  long,  render  us  pecun 
iarily  unable  to  do  it !  How  much  better  for  you,  as  seller, 
and  the  nation,  as  buyer,  to  sell  out  and  buy  out  that  without 
which  the  war  could  never  have  been,  than  to  sink  both  the 
thing  to  be  sold  and  the  price  of  it,  in  cutting  one  another's 
throats  ! 

I  do  not  speak  of  emancipation  at  once,  but  of  a  decision  at 
once  to  emancipate  gradually.  Room  in  South  America  for 
colonization  can  be  obtained  cheaply  and  in  abundance,  and 
when  numbers  shall  be  large  enough  to  be  company  and  en 
couragement  for  one  another,  the  freed  people  will  not  be  so 
reluctant  to  go. 

I  am  pressed  with  a  difficulty  not  yet  mentioned — one  which 
threatens  division  among  those  who,  united,  are  none  too 
strong.  An  instance  of  it  is  known  to  you.  General  Hunter 
is  an  honest  man.  He  was,  and  I  hope  still  is,  my  friend.  I 
valued  him  none  the  less  for  his  agreeing  with  me  in  the  gen 
eral  wish  that  all  men  every-where  could  be  freed.  He  pro 
claimed  all  men  free  within  certain  States,  and  I  repudiated 
the  proclamation.  He  expected  more  good  and  less  harm 
from  the  measure  than  I  could  believe  would  follow.  Yet,  in 
repudiating  it,  I  gave  dissatisfaction,  if  not  offense,  to  many 
whose  support  the  country  can  not  afford  to  lose.  And  this  is 
not  the  end  of  it.  The  pressure  in  this  direction  is  still  upon 
me,  and  is  increasing.  By  conceding  what  I  now  ask  you  can 
relieve  me,  and,  much  more,  can  relieve  the  country  in  this  im 
portant  point. 

Upon  these  considerations,  I  have  again  begged  your  atten 
tion  to  the  Message  of  March  last.  Before  leaying  the  Capitol, 
consider  and  discuss  it  among  vourfyelves.  You  are  patriots 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  319 

and  statesmen,  and  as  such,  I  pray  you  consider  this  proposi 
tion,  and,  at  the  least,  commend  it  to  the  consideration  of  your 
States  and  people.  As  you  would  perpetuate  popular  govern 
ment  for  the  best  people  in  the  world,  I  beseech  you  that  you 
do  in  uo  wise  omit  this.  Our  common  country  is  in  great 
peril,  demanding  the  loftiest  views  and  boldest  action  to  bring 
a  speedy  relief.  Once  relieved,  its  form  of  government  is 
saved  to  the  world ;  its  beloved  history  and  cherished  mem 
ories  are  vindicated,  and  its  happy  future  fully  assured  and 
rendered  inconceivably  grand.  To  you,  more  than  to  any 
others,  the  privilege  is  given  to  assure  that  happiness,  and 
swell  that  grandeur,  and  to  link  your  own  names  therewith 
forever. . 

Twenty  of  the  Senators  and  Representatives  thus  addressed 
replied  in  respectful,  but  decidedly  unfavorable,  terms.  Nine 
only  made  friendly  and  approving  responses. 


320  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Military  Events. — Inaction  on  the  Potomac. — Western  Campaigns. — 
Capture  of  New  Orleans. 

THE  summary  of  political  events  in  the  preceding  chapter 
has  somewhat  outrun  the  course  of  military  operations.  Gen. 
McClellan,  as  General-in-chief  of  the  entire  army,  had  nom 
inally  assumed  control  alike  over  Gen.  Halleck,  command 
ing  in  the  Department  of  the  West,  over  Gen.  Burnside 
and  Gen.  T.  W.  Sherman  in  North  and  South  Carolina,  and 
over  the  vast  Army  of  the  Potomac.  During  the  two  months 
succeeding  the  retirement  of  Lieut.  Gen.  Scott,  every  day's 
delay,  while  calm  skies  and  dry  roads  invited  to  action,  added 
new  weight  to  the  impatience  of  the  people.  But  at  length 
wintry  weather  put  an  end  to  all  immediate  hope  of  action. 
Opinions  as  to  the  General-in-chief  were  divided.  Ready 
excuses  on  the  part  of  those  immediately  about  him  as 
to  still  needed  preparations,  and  lavish  promises  as  to  results 
when  the  time  of  action  should  come,  with  frequent  inti 
mations  of  an  early  movement,  satisfied  many  who  would 
otherwise  have  been  despondent.  To  the  President  himself, 
Gen.  McClellan,  while  reticent  as  to  details,  preserved  an 
air  of  earnest  determination,  and  held  out  the  prospect  of 
effective  action  at  no  remote  day.  An  engagement  near 
Dranesville,  Md.,  under  Gen.  Ord,  favorable  to  our  arms,  yet 
animportant  in  results,  had,  on  the  20th  of  December, 
awakened  only  to  disappoint  an  expiring  hope  of  some 
decisive  action  before  another  season.  Some  occasional  col 
lisions  between  detachments  of  the  opposing  armies  were  all 
that  occurred  in  the  Eastern  Departments  after  the  successful 
landing  of  the  Southern  expedition  until  the  opening  of  spring. 

The  contrast  between  this  inaction  in  the  East,  and  the  ener 
getic  and  decisive  movements  in  the  West  during  the  same  period, 
was  marked.  Neither  this  fact,  nor  the  customary  mode  of 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  321 

stating  the  plan  of  the  General-in-chief — which  was  one  of  sim 
ultaneous  movement  on  all  sides — would  seem  consistent  with 
fhe  supposition  that  affairs  in  the  West  were  under  any  real 
control  of  the  nominal  military  head  at  Washington.  His 
actual  relation  to  these  events  will  in  due  time  appear. 

Early  in  January,  Col.  Garfield  again  cleared  the  eastern 
border  of  Kentucky  of  Rebels,  defeating  an  invading  force 
under  Humphrey  Marshall,  at  Middle  Creek,  near  Prestonburg, 
on  the  10th.  Gen.  George  B.  Crittenden,  at  the  head  of 
another  Rebel  force,  about  12,000  strong,  had  issued  his 
proclamation  to  the  people  of  Kentucky  on  the  6th,  from  his 
headquarters  at  Mill  Spring,  a  point  near  the  south  bank  of 
the  Tennessee  river,  where  that  stream,  making  a  wide  sweep, 
bends  farthest  northward  into  the  State.  It  was  in  this  vicin 
ity  that  a  brilliant  victory  was  gained  on  the  19th  of  January, 
by  our  forces  under  command  of  Gen.  George  H.  Thomas. 
This  achievement,  utterly  routing  the  rebel  force,  with  severe 
loss,  including  that  of  Gen.  Zollicoffer,  killed,  and  penetrating 
the  extended  line  of  the  Rebels  opposed  to  Gen.  Buell,  was 
hailed  as  the  promise  of  more  stirring  days.  On  the  occasion 
of  receiving  this  news,  the  Secretary  of  War  issued  the  follow 
ing  order : 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  January  22,  1862. 

The  President,  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy, 
has  received  information  of  a  brilliant  victory  achieved  by  the 
United  States  forces  over  a  large  body  of  armed  traitors  and 
rebels  at  Mill  Spring,  in  the  State  of  Kentucky. 

He  returns  thanks  to  the  gallant  officers  and  soldiers  who 
won  that  victory,  and  when  the  official  reports  shall  be  received, 
the  military  skill  and  personal  valor  displayed  in  battle  will  be 
acknowledged  and  rewarded  in  a  fitting  manner. 

The  courage  that  encountered  a/id  vanquished  the  greatly 
superior  numbers  of  the  Rebel  force,  pursued  and  attacked  them 
in  their  intrenchments,  and  paused  not  until  tlje  enemy  was 
completely  routed,  merits  and  receives  commendation. 

The  purpose  of  this  war  is  to  attack,  pursue  and  destroy  a 
rebellious  enemy,  and  to  deliver  the  country  from  danger  men 
aced  by  traitors.  Alacrity,  daring,  courageous  spirit  and  patri 
otic  zeal,  on  all  occasions  and  under  every  circumstance,  are 
expected  from  the  Arnw  of  the  United  States. 
21 


322  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

In  the  prompt  and  spirited  movements  and  during  battle  of 
Mill  Spring,  the  nation  will  realize  its  hopes,  and  the  people 
of  the  United  States  will  rejoice  to  honor  every  soldier  and 
officer  who  proves  his  courage  by  charging  with  the  bayonet 
and  storming  intrenchments,  or  in  the  blaze  of  the  enemy's 
fire. 

By  order  of  the  President. 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  War. 

These  words  of  cheer,  following  acts  so  successful,  reassured 
despondent  hearts,  and  turned  all  eyes  toward  new  scenes  of 
hope. 

The  Rebel  line  from  Columbus,  on  the  Mississippi,  to  Bowl 
ing  Green,  on  Green  river,  as  will  be  seen  from  a  map  of  that 
region,  was  penetrated  by  the  Cumberland  and  Tennessee 
rivers,  running  in  a  northerly  and  nearly  parallel  direction, 
about  ten  miles  apart,  from  the  boundary  between  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee,  into  the  Ohio  river,  cutting  off  a  triangle  com 
prising  seven  or  eight  counties  in  the  south-western  part  of  the 
former  State.  To  secure  their  line  against  the  gunboats,  which 
were  now  making  their  appearance  on  the  Western  rivers,  the 
Rebels  had  constructed  a  fort  near  the  State  line,  on  the  Ten 
nessee,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Panther  Island,  called 
Fort  Henry.  At  a  point  nearly  on  the  same  parallel,  on  the 
Cumberland,  eastward,  near  Dover,  in  Tennessee,  was  another 
work  named  Fort  Donelson.  These  points  are  about  ninety 
miles  distant  from  the  mouths  of  the  respective  rivers. 

Gen.  Grant,  almost  simultaneously  with  the  movement  on 
Mill  Spring,  had  planned  an  attack  on  Fort  Henry,  with  a 
cooperating  gunboat  fleet  under  Com.  Foote.  This  movement 
was  authorized  by  Gen.  Halleck,  there  being  signs  of  intended 
reenforcenients  to  the  rebel  left.  Although  the  roads  were  in 
very  bad  condition,  and  movements  of  infantry  and  artillery 
were  difficult,  the  high  water  in  the  Tennessee  was  specially 
favorable  for  the  execution  of  that  portion  of  the  movement 
under  the  charge  of  Com.  Foote. 

On  the  6th  of  February,  the  gunboats  Essex,  Carondelet, 
Cincinnati,  St.  Louis,  Conestoga,  Tyler  and  Lexington, 
advanced  to  the  attack  on  Fort  Henry,  opening  a  rapid  and 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  323 

heavy  fire,  replied  to  by  the  guns  of  the  fort.  After  an  hour 
and  a  quarter  the  latter  were  silenced,  the  fort  was  surrendered, 
and  Gen.  Tilghman,  with  his  staff  and  sixty  men,  gave  them 
selves  up  as  prisoners.  The  remainder  of  the  garrison  escaped, 
the  force  sent  forward  by  Grant,  under  Gen.  McClernand, 
owing  to  the  state  of  the  roads  or  other  causes,  not  having 
arrived  in  season  to  participate  in  the  action.  This  engage 
ment  first  thoroughly  tested  the  gunboats,  and  proved  their 
great  value. 

Gen.  Grant  lost  no  time  in  dispatching  about  15,000  men 
from  Fort  Henry,  to  invest  Fort  Donelson.  The  gunboats, 
meanwhile,  had  returned  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee,  and 
made  their  way  up  the  Cumberland,  together  with  sixteen 
transports  loaded  with  fresh  troops,  arriving  on  the  14th.  The 
three  divisions  engaged  were  under  the  command  of  Gens.  C. 
F.  Smith,  McClernand,  and  Lewis  Wallace.  The  infantry  and 
batteries  having  taken  position,  the  gunboats  opened  fire  on  the 
fort  at  about  two  o'clock  on  that  day,  with  less  decisive  effect 
than  at  Fort  Henry.  The  St.  Louis  became  seriously  disabled, 
and  Gen.  Grant,  making  a  complete  investment  of  the  fort, 
and  strengthening  his  position,  was  designing  to  wait  for 
the  gunboats  to  renew  the  attack.  On  the  following  morning, 
however,  the  enemy  within  the  fort,  lately  heavily  reenforced, 
attacked  our  extreme  right,  under  McClernand,  which  rested 
on  Dover,  and  brought  on  a  general  and  severe  engagement, 
which  had  apparently  almost  resulted  in  a  disastrous  repulse  of 
our  forces.  The  right  was  seasonably  reenforced,  and  after  a 
hardly  contested  fight,  lasting  until  dark,  in  which  both  sides 
suffered  heavily,  the  Rebels  were  driven  back  within  their  forti 
fications.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  16th,  a  white  flag  was 
raised  by  the  Rebel  Gen.  Buckner,  asking  an  armistice  for  the 
purpose  of  agreeing  upon  terms  of  capitulation.  In  reply, 
Gen.  Grant  sent  the  following  memorable  note  : 

HEADQUARTERS  ON  THE  FIELD,  FORT  DONELSON,     j 

February  16,  1862.  f 

To  GEN.  S.  B.  BUCKNER— Sir :  Yours  of  this  date,  pro 
posing  an  armistice  and  the  appointment  of  commissioners  to 


324  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

settle  on  the  terms  of  capitulation,  is  just  received.     No  terms, 
except  unconditional  and  immediate  surrender,  can  be  accepted. 
I  propose  to  move  immediately  on  your  works. 

I  am,  very  respectfully;  your  obedient  servant, 

U.  S.  GRANT, 
Brigadier  General  Commanding. 

Gens.  Floyd  and  Pillow,  with  a  portion  of  the  Rebel  force, 
had  escaped  during  the  night.  Gen.  Buckner,  and  about 
15,000»men,  were  unconditionally  surrendered  as  prisoners  of 
war,  and  20,000  stand  of  arms,  with  a  large  amount  of  stores, 
fell  into  the  hands  of  Gen.  Grant.  A  victory  so  complete  and 
substantial  was  hailed  with  joy  by  the  Government  and 
by  loyal  men  every-where,  and  gave  its  hero  at  once  a  promi 
nent  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

Finding  his  right  and  left  flanks  thus  completely  turned  by 
Thomas  and  Grant,  the  enemy  evacuated  Bowling  Green  on  the 
15th,  rapidly  falling  back  south  of  the  Cumberland  river. 
Clarksville  and  Nashville,  Tenn.,  were  promptly  occupied  by 
our  forces.  This  succession  of  triumphs,  exciting  grateful 
enthusiasm  throughout  the  loyal  portion  of  the  nation,  caused 
a  corresponding  humiliation  and  despondency  in  the  Rebel 
States.  The  border  line  of  the  Rebellion,  in  the  West, 
this  side  of  the  Mississippi,  was  thereby  contracted  a  long  dis 
tance  southward,  leaving  Kentucky  free,  and  promising  a 
speedy  restoration  of  Tennessee  under  loyal  sway. 

The  forts  on  Roanoke  Island,  on  the  coast  of  North  Car 
olina,  were  captured  by  a  joint  expedition  under  Gen.  Burnside 
and  Com.  Goldsborough,  on  the  8th  of  February,  after  two 
days'  fighting,  in  which  the  losses  were  comparatively  small. 
Over  two  thousand  prisoners,  forty  guns,  and  three  thousand 
small  arms,  were  captured. 

In  Missouri,  Gen.  Price  had  fallen  back  from  point  to  point, 
on  the  approach  of  our  forces  under  Gen.  Curtis.  He  finally 
retired  from  the  State,  taking  up  his  headquarters  at  Cross 
Hollows,  in  Arkansas,  during  the  latter  part  of  February.  On 
the  23d  of  that  month  Gen.  Curtis  had  advanced  in  pursuit,  as 
far  as  Fayetteville,  Ark.,  on  the  White  river,  in  the  north 
western  part  of  that  State. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  325 

The  evacuation  of  Columbus,  Kentucky,  on  the  27th  of 
February,  as  a  necessary  result  of  Grant's  capture  of  Fort 
Donelson,  and  the  dispersion  of  the  main  force  of  the  Rebels 
in  Missouri,  invited  the  attempt  to  repossess  the  Mississippi, 
hitherto  blockaded  by  the  Rebels.  The  importance  of  this 
possession,  not  alone  for  its  commercial  consequence  to  the 
North-west,  but  also  from  military  considerations,  was  too  ob 
vious  to  escape  the  notice  of  a  Western  President.  Three  Il 
linois  regiments  occupied  Columbus  on  the  3d  of  March,  a 
gunboat  fleet  having  accompanied  the  transports  which  con 
veyed  this  force.  On  the  same  day,  an  engagement,  indecisive 
in  its  results,  was  fought  by  forces  under  Gen.  Pope,  with 
Rebels,  under  Gen.  Jeff.  Thompson,  near  New  Madrid.  It 
soon  became  evident  that,  in  retreating  from  Columbus,  the 
Rebels  had  occupied  Island  Number  Ten,  in  the  Mississippi 
river,  several  miles  below,  and  a  little  distance  above  New 
Madrid.  This  w"as  the  beginning  of  the  memorable  siege  of 
that  place,  ultimately  captured,  with  a  large  number  of  prison 
ers  and  valuable  property,  on  the  8th  day  of  April. 

On  the  6th,  7th  and  8th  of  March  was  fought  one  of  the 
most  important  engagements  of  the  war  at  Pea  Ridge,  in  Ar 
kansas,  near  the  Missouri  line.  Gen.  Curtis,  as  already 
seen,  had  driven  the  Rebels  across  the  Missouri  border,  and 
had  occupied  Fayetteville,  Arkansas,  on  the  23d  of  February, 
the  opposing  forces  retiring  beyond  the  Boston  Mountains, 
which  divide  the  valley  of  White  river,  on  the  north,  from 
that  of  the  Arkansas  river,  in  the  center  of  the  State.  Cur 
tis  soon  after  withdrew  toward  Missouri,  his  main  force  being 
concentrated  at  a  place  called  Sugar-creek  Hollow,  with  a  rear 
guard,  under  Gen.  Sigel,  at  Bentonville. 

The  forces  under  Gen.  Curtis  comprised  four  divisions — 
the  First  under  command  of  Col.  Osterhaus,  the  Second 
under  Gen.  Asboth,  the  Third  under  Col.  Jeff.  C.  Da 
vis,  and  the  Fourth  led  by  Col.  Carr.  The  Rebel  forces 
were  now  united  under  Gen.  Earl  Van  Dorn,  who  had  as 
sumed  command  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Department,  with 
his  headquarters  at  Little  Rock,  on  the  29th  of  January. 
There  were  under  him  in  this  engagement  probably  ten  thou- 


326  LIFE    Or   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

sand  Missouri  troops,  under  Gen.  Price ;  from  twelve  to 
fifteen  thousand  men  from  Arkansas,  Louisiana  and  Texas, 
under  Gen.  McCulloch,  and  about  five  or  six  thousand 
Choctaw,  Cherokee,  Chickasaw  and  other  Indians,  with  two 
white  regiments — in  all  about  seven  thousand — under  Albert 
Pike.  One  Rebel  account  states  that  Yan  Dorn's  force  in  this 
expedition  was  reckoned  as  high  as  thirty-five  thousand.  The 
Union  force  did  not  much  exceed  one-third  of  that  number. 

Confident  in  their  numerical  strength,  and  believing,  as  they 
admitted,  that  their  force  was  at  least  double  that  under  Cur 
tis,  the  Rebels  advanced  with  the  hope  of  annihilating  our 
army.  Coming  up  with  Sigel's  force  at  Bentonville,  on  the 
morning  of  the  6th  of  March,  they  compelled  that  General  to 
fall  back  toward  the  main  army — a  movement  which  he  ex 
ecuted  with  scarcely  any  loss,  having  sent  forward  his  trains, 
while  a  well-managed  battery  protected  his  retreat,  inflicting 
severe  injury  upon  the  enemy  whenever  he  approached  within 
shelling  distance.  A*march  of  ten  miles  brought  Sigel's  force 
to  the  west  end  of  Pea  Ridge,  a  range  of  high  ground  just 
beyond  Sugar  Creek,  where  the  main  army  of  Curtis  lay.  It 
was  now  night,  and  Curtis,  who  had  all  day  been  busily  pre 
paring  to  meet  the  enemy,  made  his  disposition  for  the  event 
ful  morrow.  His  force  in  the  hollow  had  fronted  to  the  south, 
and  Sigel,  with  Osterhaus'  division,  now  occupied  a  position 
about  three  miles  to  the  west.  The  Rebel  forces  crossed  the 
creek  still  further  west,  and  occupied  the  higher  ground  north 
ward  and  directly  in  the  rear,  his  two  main  bodies  also  sepa 
rated  by  about  three  miles  distance — the  troops  under  Price 
opposite  Curtis,  and  those  under  McCulloch  and  Mclntosh 
over  against  Sigel.  A  change  of  front  was  promptly  made, 
bringing  the  armies  face  to  face — Curtis  commanding  the 
right,  now  moved  to  higher  ground  two  miles  northward,  and 
Sigel  the  left. 

The  enemy  attacked  our  right  on  the  morning  of  the  7th, 
and  the  battle  was  fiercely  maintained  throughout  the  day, 
with  severe  loss  on  both  sides.  The  area  fought  over  did  not 
exceed  three-fourths  of  a  mile  in  diameter.  Our  right  was 
finally  driven  back  for  nearly  a  mile,  the  enemy  encamping  on 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  327 

the  field  they  had  thus  won.  McCulloch,  meanwhile,  on  the 
left,  had  in  the  morning  begun  a  movement  south-eastwardly, 
to  form  a  junction  with  Price,  so  as  to  surround  Curtis,  and 
cut  off  all  retreat.  Sigel  endeavored  to  check  this  detected 
movement  by  sending  forward  three  pieces  of  flying  artillery, 
with  a  cavalry  support,  to  delay  McCulloch's  advance  until 
his  infantry  could  come  up.  An  overwhelming  force  of  Rebel 
cavalry  bore  down  upon  this  detachment,  dispersing  it  and 
capturing  our  guns,  while  McCulloch's  infantry  gained  shelter 
in  a  wood  beyond  a*  large  open  field.  This  wood  and  field  be 
came  the  scene  of  a  prolonged  contest  between  Osterhaus  and 
McCulloch.  The  timely  arrival  of  Davis  with  reinforcements 
turned  the  tide,  and  the  enemy  was  utterly  routed,  with  heavy 
loss,  McCulloch  and  Mclntosh  being  among  the  killed. 

The  position  which  had  been  gained  by  Van  Dora's  left  was 
naturally  a  strong  one,  cutting  off  our  retreat,  and  here  he 
concentrated  his  entire  forces.  On  that  chilly  night  the  men 
of  Curtis'  army,  looking  forward  to  the  coming  day,  might  well 
have  been  disheartened.  Their  ultimate  defeat  must  have 
seemed  almost  certain.  With  sunrise  the  batteries  of  Price 
reopened,  and  with  terrible  effect  on  the  extreme  right,  held 
by  Carr's  division,  and  now  supported  by  Davis.  The  position 
of  the  enemy  being  clearly  disclosed,  Sigel,  with  quick  insight 
and  prompt  action,  skillfully  disposed  his  batteries  so  as  to 
bear  directly  in  the  face  of  the  enemy's  right,  causing  great 
destruction  to  the  latter,  with  little  loss  to  himself.  His  thirty 
pieces  silenced  battery  after  battery  of  the  enemy,  making  ter 
rible  havoc.  For  more  than  two  hours,  with  admirable  tact  and 
unslackened  activity,  this  cannonading  was  kept  up,  batteries 
and  infantry  approaching  nearer  and  nearer  the  concentrated 
foe,  until  at  length  Curtis  ordered  his  infantry  to  charge  the 
enemy  in  his  last  shelter  of  the  woods,  and,  after  a  short  but 
deadly  struggle,  the  Rebel  forces  gave  way  and  scattered  in 
confusion  and  utter  rout.  The  total  loss  of  Curtis,  mostly  on 
the  7th,  is  stated  at  1,312  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing. 
The  losses  of  Van  Dorn  were  manifestly  much  greater,  but 
they  are  not  accurately  known. 

With  this  victory,  followed  six  days  later  by  the  capture  of 


328  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

New  Madrid  by  Gen.  Pope,  the  conflict  in  Missouri  was  sub 
stantially  brought  to  an  end.  The  war  was  now  transferred 
into  Arkansas,  and  from  a  contest  on  the  part  of  the  Rebels  to 
force  an  unwilling  people  into  fellowship  with  a  confederacy  of 
traitors,  it  had  now  become  a  movement  of  the  Union  armies — 
ere  long  to  prove  successful — for  restoring  peace,  order  and 
law,  under  the  constitutional  Government,  in  a  State  tempora 
rily  overborne  by  the  tide  of  Secessionism. 

Soon  after  the  occupation  of  Nashville,  on  the  25th  of  Feb 
ruary,  Gen.  Buell  concentrated  his  army,  ftfr  the  most  part,  at 
and  near  that  city.  On  the  llth  of  March,  an  order  of  the 
President  placed  the  forces  of  Gens.  Halleck,  Hunter  and 
Buell,  under  the  chief  command  of  Halleck  alone,  consolida 
ting  in  one  the  respective  departments  of  the  two  first-named 
commanders,  together  with  so  much  of  that  of  Gen.  Buell  "  as 
lies  west  of  a  north  and  south  line  indefinitely  drawn  through 
Knoxville,"  the  whole  to  be  called  the  Department  of  the  Mis 
sissippi.  The  troops  under  Buell  were  mostly  from  Ohio, 
Indiana  and  Kentucky.  Among  his  Generals  commanding 
divisions  were  A.  McD.  McCook,  George  H.  Thomas,  Ormsby 
M.  Mitchell,  Wm.  Nelson  and  Thos.  L.  Crittenden. 

An  expedition  under  Gen.  Grant  was  speedily  organized,  to 
proceed  up  the  Tennessee  river,  the  enemy  having  taken  up 
his  defensive  line  with  the  Charleston  and  Memphis  Rail 
road  as  a  base.  Grant's  new  "  Army  of  the  Tennessee,"  was 
mainly  composed  of  troops  from  Illinois,  Ohio,  Indiana  and 
Iowa,  with  regiments  from  several  other  States.  Numerous 
steamboats  were  employed  for  the  transportation  of  these 
forces,  which  were  accompanied  by  two  gunboats.  The  divi 
sions  into  which  Grant's  army  was  organized,  each  with  its 
proportion  of  infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery,  were  commanded, 
respectively,  by  Gens.  W.  T.  Sherman,  C.  F.  Smith,  B.  M. 
Prentiss,  S.  A.  Hurlbut,  J.  A.  McClernand  and  L.  Wallace. 

On  the  5th  of  March,  Gen.  Beauregard,  having  tarried 
awhile  at  Richmond,  after  leaving  Centreville  about  the  1st  of 
February,  assumed  command  of  the  Rebel  "  Army  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,"  with  his  headquarters  first  at  Jackson,  Tenn.,  on  the 
Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad.  The  Rebel  forces,  under  the  sub- 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  329 

ordinate  commands  of  Bragg,  Polk,  Cheatham,  and  others, 
were  chiefly  in  camp  at  Corinth,  Miss.,  "with  detachments  at 
several  points  on  the  railroads.  This  place  is  at  the  junction 
of  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  and  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  Rail 
roads,  in  an  uneven  country,  and  not  far  from  the  line  dividing 
the  States  of  Tennessee  and  Mississippi. 

Gen.  Grant  landed  his  forces  at  Savannah,  Tenn.,  a  small 
place  on  the  Tennessee  river,  about  one  hundred  and  seventy 
miles  above  Fort  Henry,  and  about  twenty-five  miles  from  the 
Mississippi  State  line.  His  original  force  was  increased  by  a 
considerable  body  of  infantry  from  Ohio.  As  many  as  eighty- 
two  steamers,  laden  with  troops,  had  arrived  at  Savannah  by 
the  13th  of  March.  These  "  invaders "  were  received  with 
enthusiastic  demonstrations  of  joy  by  the  inhabitants  of  that 
part  of  Tennessee  through  which  they  passed. 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  Gen.  Grant  in  person,  the  army 
was  advanced  seven  miles  up  the  river  to  Pittsburg  Landing. 
Gen.  Buell  was  ordered  by  Halleck  to  effect  a  junction  with 
Grant.  Little  alacrity,  however,  was  shown  by  Buell  in  com 
plying  with  this  order,  so  manifestly  requiring  prompt  execu 
tion  in  view  of  the  greatly  superior  Rebel  force  known  to  be  in 
front  of  Grant.  It  was  not  until  the  28th  of  March  that  Buell 
left  Nashville.  On  the  30th,  the  rear  of  his  army  was  at 
Columbia,  but  eighty-two  miles  distant  from  Savannah.  This 
distance  was  passed  over  by  leisurely  marches,  averaging  less 
than  twelve  miles  a  day,  while  Beauregard  was  putting  in  exe 
cution  his  well-devised  plan  for  attacking  Grant  in  overwhelm 
ing  force  before  Buell  should  come  to  his  support. 

On  the  3d  of  April,  Gen.  Johnston  issued  a  brief  address  to 
the  Army  of  the  Mississippi,  to  inspirit  them  in  executing  the 
purpose  formed,  "  to  offer  battle  to  the  invaders,"  and  the 
Rebel  forces  were  put  in  motion  toward  Pittsburg  Landing. 
Orders  were  at  the  same  time  issued,  dividing  the  army  into 
three  corps,  the  first  to  be  commanded  by  Polk,  the  second  by 
Bragg,  and  the  third  by  Hardee.  John  C.  Breckinridge  was 
given  the  command  of  a  reserve  division.  The  chief  command 
seems  to  have  been  jointly  held  by  Johnston  and  Beauregard, 
until  the  former  fell,  early  during  the  first  day's  engagement. 


330  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Before  six  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Sunday,  the  6th  day 
of  April,  a  party  of  the  Rebels  attacked  Grant's  left — that  offi 
cer  being  then  absent  at  Savannah,  superintending  prepara 
tions  for  receiving  and  crossing  over  the  anxiously-expected 
forces  of  Buell.  At  eight  o'clock  the  enemy  advanced  in 
strong  force,  and  captured  Gen.  Prentiss,  with  two  thousand 
prisoners.  Hurlbut  came  to  the  support  of  the  retreating  di 
vision  of  Prentiss,  and  temporarily  checked  the  enemy's  ad 
vance.  Part  of  Sherman's  force,  on  the  right  of  Prentiss,  was 
routed,  and  a  heavy  column  was  thrown  against  McClernand's 
division  in  the  center,  which,  before  noon,  was  driven  back 
ward  to  the  line  of  Hurlbut.  The  fight  was  bravely  main 
tained,  and  the  force  attacking  McClernand  was  once  tempora 
rily  driven  back  for  some  distance ;  but  the  whole  of  our 
army  was  compelled  gradually  to  give  way.  Only  the  mcst 
invincible  courage  of  the  men,  with  cool  and  determined  lead 
ership,  could  save  the  army  now  from  utter  defeat.  The  divi 
sion  commanded  by  Gen.  W.  H.  L.  Wallace,  (in  the  absence 
of  Gen.  0.  F.  Smith,)  on  the  right,  had,  with  that  of  Hurlbut 
on  the  left,  occupied  positions  next  the  river,  and  on  these, 
with  one  of  Sherman's  brigades  on  the  extreme  left,  now  fell 
the  weight  of  the  Rebel  advance.  Four  times  attempts  were 
made  by  the  Rebels  to  charge  on  the  gallant  forces  of  Wal 
lace,  but  each  time  volleys  of  musketry  and  the  fire  of  well- 
directed  artillery,  drove  back  the  assailants  with  terrible 
slaughter.  Hurlbut's  division  was  driven  back,  at  length,  from 
its  camp  to  the  shelter  of  woods  beyond.  Here,  with  their 
raking  fire  across  the  open  fields,  they  three  times  repulsed  the 
advancing  enemy.  The  right  of  this  division  was  further  sup 
ported  by  forces  rallied  from  the  broken  divisions.  Mean 
while  Gen.  L.  Wallace,  who  was  at  Crump's  Landing,  five  miles 
below,  was  anxiously  looked  for,  in  the  overwhelming  odds 
against  the  remaining  divisions,  but  unfortunately,  though  or 
dered  up,  he  failed  to  reach  the  scene  of  action  until  nightfall. 
Finally,  Hurlbut's  division  was  compelled  to  retire,  and  at 
length  that  of  Wallace,  who  fell,  mortally  wounded.  The 
whole  army  was  now  compressed  into  a  comparatively  small 
area,  near  the  Landing ;  many  guns  had  been  lost  j  thousands 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  331 

of  prisoners  taken ;  and  one  more  determined  attack  seemed 
sufficient  to  drive  the  men  pell-mell  into  the  river,  adequate 
means  for  transporting  them  across  the  river  being  wanting. 
Now  it  was  that  the  field  batteries  were  collected  and  skillfully 
put  in  position,  by  Col.  Webster,  Grant's  Chief  of  Artillery, 
preparatory  to  the  expected  onset.  The  Rebel  advance  drew 
the  destructive  fire  of  twenty-two  guns,  with  that  of  the  two 
gunboats  at  the  mouth  of  Lick  Creek.  Staggered  by  this  ter 
rible  hail,  the  enemy  were  kept  in  check  until  night  closed 
upon  the  bloody  field. 

Beauregard  joyously  announced  to  his  superiors  at  Puch- 
mond  "  a  complete  victory,"  with  "  the  loss  on  both  sides 
heavy,  including  our  commander-in-chief,  Albert  Sidney  John 
ston,  who  fell  gallantly  leading  his  troops  into  the  thickest  of 
the  fight."  As  the  vaunting  author  of  this  dispatch  soon 
learned,  however,  to  his  cost,  the  announcement  of  victory  was 
premature.  Another  day  entirely  changed  the  face  of  events. 

Before  the  conflict  of  Sunday  had  fairly  closed,  Gen.  Nel 
son's  division  of  Buell's  army  appeared  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  river,  and  both  those  officers  in  person.  During  the  night, 
the  divisions  of  Crittenden  and  McCook  also  arrived ;  while 
Gen.  L.  Wallace,  of  Grant's  army,  took  position,  about  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  on  the  extreme  right. 

Thus  reenforced,  Grant  assumed  the  offensive,  ordering  an 
advance  at  dawn.  The  enemy  was  now  forced  back,  from 
point  to  point,  all  along  his  line,  the  fight  continuing  without 
intermission  from  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  five  in  the 
evening.  At  the  latter  hour  the  whole  field  had  been  regained, 
and  the  defeated  Rebels  put  to  flight.  Our  troops  were  too 
weary  with  the  two  days'  hard  conflict  to  make  an  effective 
pursuit.  On  the  next  day,  Gen.  Beauregard  sent  a  flag  of 
truce  from  his  headquarters  at  Monterey,  asking  u  permission 
to  send  a  mounted  party  to  the  battle-field  of  Shiloh,  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  decent  interment "  to  his  dead.  To 
this  Gen.  Grant  replied,  on  the  9th,  saying  that,  owing  to  the 
warmth  of  the  weather,  he  had  deemed  it  advisable  to  have  all 
the  dead  of  both  parties  buried  immediately,  and  that  this  waa 
"now  accomplished." 


332  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Geri.  Grant  estimated  his  loss  in  killed  and  wounded 
at  5,000.  There  was  the  further  loss  of  about  3,000  prisoners 
taken  on  Sunday,  making  a  total  of  8,000.  Gen.  Beauregard, 
in  his  official  report,  conceded  a  Rebel  loss  of  1.728  killed, 
8,012  wounded,  and  959  missing — an  aggregate  of  10,699. 

The  numbers  engaged  under  Gen.  Grant,  on  the  first  day, 
were  about  40,000,  many  of  whom  were  raw  troops  but  recently 
arrived.  Nearly  30,000  fresh  troops  participated  in  the  battle 
on  the  7th.  The  Rebel  force,  consisting  of  three  entire  army 
corps,  and  a  reserve  division,  may  be  estimated  at  not  far  from 
70,000. 

Gen.  Halleck  soon  after  took  the  field  in  person,  and  pre 
pared  for  an  advance  on  the  enemy's  stronghold  at  Corinth,  to 
which  place  Beauregard  retired  with  his  army,  directly  after 
the  defeat  at  Shiloh. 

On  the  22d  of  March,  the  President  constituted  two  new 
military  departments — the  first  called  the  Department  of  the 
Gulf,  comprising  all  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  west  of 
Peasacola  harbor,  and  so  much  of  the  Gulf  States  as  should 
be  occupied  by  the  commander,  Maj.  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler;  and 
the  second,  including  the  States  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia 
and  Florida,  with  the  forces  heretofore  under  Gen.  T.  W. 
Sherman,  to  be  under  the  command  of  Maj.  Gen.  David 
Hunter. 

A  joint  expedition  under  Com.  Farragut  and  Gen.  Butler, 
to  capture  and  occupy  New  Orleans,  and  to  cooperate  thence 
with  the  movements  from  Cairo  downward  to  reopen  the 
Mississippi  river,  had  been  organized  in  the  autumn  of  1861. 
Gen.  Butler's  forces  were  to  rendezvous  at  Ship  Island,  for 
which  place  the  command  of  Gen.  Phelps  sailed  from  Fortress 
Monroe  on  the  27th  of  November,  arriving  on  the  3d  of  De 
cember.  During  this  latter  month,  two  gunboats  of  Farragut 
had  some  skirmishing  with  Rebel  gunboats  in  Mississippi 
Sound;  and  in  January  another  considerable  installment  of 
Butler's  force  arrived  at  Ship  Island.  A  mortar  fleet,  under 
Com.  D.  D.  Porter,  was  also  added  to  the  naval  portion  of  the 
expedition.  Com.  Farragut  left  Hampton  Roads  in  the 
steamer  Hartford,  on  the  3d  of  February,  to  assume  command 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  333 

of  the  squadron  which  was  to  operate  against  New  Orleans,  and 
arrived  at  Ship  Island  on  the  20th.  The  chief  obstacles  to  his 
intended  advance,  after  crossing  the  bar,  were  Forts  St.  Philip 
and  Jackson,  on  the  Mississippi  river,  seventy-five  miles 
below  New  Orleans.  These  works  were  so  formidable,  and  the 
preparations  to  receive  the  "Northern  armada"  so  thorough, 
that  the  Eebels  were  entirely  confident  of  success  in  repelling 
all  attacks.  That  part  of  Farragut's  fleet  which  crossed  the 
bar  consisted  of  the  steam  sloops  Hartford,  24  guns,  (flag 
ship);  Richmond,  26 ;  Pensacola,  24  ;  Brooklyn,  24  ;  Missis 
sippi,  12  ;  Iroquois,  9  ;  Oneida,  9  ;  the  sailing  sloop-of-war 
Portsmouth,  17 ;  the  gunboats  Varuna,  12 ;  Cayuga,  9 ;  and 
eight  others  of  4  guns  each.  Com.  Porter's  mortar  fleet  con 
sisted  of  twenty  schooners,  mounting  one  large  mortar,  with 
two  small  guns,  and  was  accompanied  by  the  Harriet  Lane, 
(flag  ship,)  the  Miami,  and  three  other  steamers  carrying  five 
or  six  guns  each.  No  part  of  either  fleet  was  iron-clad. 

Much  time  was  consumed  in  getting  these  vessels  over  the 
bar  at  the  mouths  of  the  Mississippi.  The  bombardment 
commenced  on  the  18th  of  April,  the  mortar  boats  leading, 
supported  by  the  gunboats,  which  made  occasional  approaches 
to  the  forts,  drawing  their  fire.  The  bombardment  con 
tinued  for  six  days  with  no  material  result  apparent,  except 
the  breaking  of  a  heavy  rifled  gun  on  Fort  St.  Philip.  By  a 
bold  movement,  begun  at  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the 
24th,  a  portion  of  Farragut's  fleet,  after  a  gallant  fight,  suc 
ceeded  in  overcoming  all  obstructions  and  passing  the  forts. 
With  nine  of  his  vessels,  Com.  Farragut  appeared  before  New 
Orleans  on  the  25th.  Forts  St.  Philip  and  Jackson  capitu 
lated  on  the  28th.  Gen.  Butler  was  at  hand  with  his  forces — 
the  Eebel  Gen.  Lovell  made  a  precipitate  retreat  into  the  inte 
rior  of  the  State,  and  the  city  was  surrendered,  Gen.  Butler 
taking  possession  on  the  1st  day  of  May. 

For  a  time,  the  cheering  and  substantial  results  recited 
in  this  chapter  were  claimed,  by  many,  as  triumphs  due 
to  a  "  grand  plan  "  of  the  young  Gencral-in-chief;  while  others 
as  confidently  pointed  out  their  inconsistency  with  an  alleged 
scheme  which  involved  "  thunder  around  the  whole  horizon," 


334  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

when  once  the  spell  of  silence  should  be  broken.  Scarcely 
the  faintest  echo,  in  fact,  unless  at  Roanoke  Island,  where  a  vic 
tory  had  been  gained  in  February,  responded  to  the  reverbera 
tions  at  Mill  Spring,  Fort  Henry,  Fort  Donelson,  Pea  Ridge, 
Shiloh  and  New  Orleans.  All  mystery  on  this  subject  was  dis 
pelled  by  the  subsequent  disclosure  that,  as  early  as  January, 
the  President  had  substantially  revoked  the  broader  authority 
given  to  a  dilatory  General-in-chief,  who  had  caused  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  to  waste  in  idleness  six  months  that  had  been  ex 
pected  to  bring  forth  a  decisive  campaign,  and  who  had  opposed 
the  movements  so  brilliantly  executed  in  the  West,  as  well  as 
the  Southern  expeditions,  one  of  which  restored  New  Orleans  and 
the  passes  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Government.  In  the  West 
and  Southwest,  we  have  seen  that  ample  results,  even  in  the 
worst  season  of  the  year,  followed  this  wise  policy  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln.  How  the  President's  order  for  active  movements  was 
carried  into  effect  by  the  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac,  will  appear  in  the  pages  immediately  following. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  335 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Military  Events  in  the  East. — The  Peninsular  Campaign. 

THE  fortifications  around  Washington^  commenced  by  Gen. 
J.  Gr.  Barnard,  Chief  Engineer  under  McDowell,  and  contin 
ued  by  the  same  officer  under  McClellan,  had  been  essentially 
completed  before  the  close  of  September,  1861.  In  an  order 
issued  on  the  30th  of  that  month,  the  commanding  General 
designated  the  names  by  which  the  thirty-two  principal  works 
should  be  respectively  known.  From  this  time  onward  a  large 
portion  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  no  longer  needed  on 
merely  defensive  duty.  In  a  communication  addressed  to  the 
Secretary  of  War  in  the  latter  part  of  October,  Gen.  McClellan 
estimated  the  number  of  troops  required  for  the  protection  of 
Washington  at  35,000,  with  a  further  force  of  23,000,  to  be 
distributed  on  the  Upper  and  Lower  Potomac,  and  at  Bal 
timore  and  Annapolis.  The  main  purpose  of  this  vast  army, 
raised,  equipped  and  disciplined  at  such  a  cost,  was  manifestly 
something  quite  beyond  what  58,000  men  alone  amply  sufficed 
to  accomplish.  To  destroy  the  Rebel  army  before  Washing 
ton,  and  to  occupy  Richmond,  were,  in  the  minds  alike  of  mil 
itary  men  and  civilians,  the  prime  objects  to  be  effected  by  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac. 

October,  November,  December,  passed  without  result.  The 
commanding  General  admits  his  consciousness  of  the  anxiety 
no  less  of  the  people  than  of  the  President  for  active  operations 
duying  these  pleasant  months,  on  the  part  of  an  army  sustained 
at  a  cost  of  millions  daily.  Gen.  McClellan's  official  statement 
gives  his  entire  force  on  the  1st  of  December  as  198,213,  of  whom 
169,452  were  present  for  duty,  and  on  the  first  of  January, 
1862,  as  219,707,  of  whom  191,480  were  "effective."  After 
deducting  the  58,000  deemed  necessary  for  defensive  pur 
poses — and  most  of  these  might  also  have  been  employed  in  a 
direct  movement  on  Manassas — there  thus  remained  an  effective 


S36  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

army  of  111,452  at  the  former  date,  and  of  133.480  at  the 
Batter,  for  an  aggressive  movement.  Beauregard,  who  had  .hig 
Headquarters  at  Centreville,  until  he  was  transferred  to  another 
command,  on  the  30th  of  January,  certainly  had  at  no  time  a 
force  in  McClellan's  front  exceeding  one-half  the  number  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac. 

Gen.  McClellan  records  no  surprising  fact,  therefore,  when 
he  states  that  "about  the  middle  of  January,  1862,  upon 
recovering  from  a  severe  illness,"  he  "found  that  excessive 
anxiety  for  an  immediate  movement  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac  had  taken  possession  of  the  minds  of  the  Administration." 

More  than  six  months  having  elapsed  since  the  command  of 
this  army  had  devolved  upon  Gen.  McClellan,  without  the  de 
velopment  of  either  a  particular  plan  or  a  general  purpose  of 
attacking  the  enemy,  under  circumstances  the  most  favorable, 
and  an  unexpected  quiescence  having  followed  his  appoint 
ment  as  General-in-chief,  the  President  at  length  issued  his 
"  General  War  Order,  No.  1,"  as  follows  : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     ) 
January  27,  1862.  j 

President's  General  "War  Order,  No.  1.] 

ORDERED,  That  the  22d  day  of  February,  1862,  be  the  day 
for  a  general  movement  of  the  land  and  naval  forces  of  the 
United  States  against  the  insurgent  forces. 

That  especially  the  Army  at  and  about  Fortress  Monroe,  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  the  Army  of  Western  Virginia,  the 
Army  near  Mumfordsville,  Kentucky,  the  Army  and  Flotilla  at 
Cairo,  and  a  Naval  force  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  be  ready  for  a 
movement  on  that  day. 

That  all  other  forces,  both  land  and  naval,  with  their 
respective  commanders,  obey  existing  orders  for  the  time,  and 
be  ready  to  obey  additional  orders  when  duly  given. 

That  the  Heads  of  Departments,  and  especially  the  Secreta 
ries  of  War  and  of  the  Navy,  with  all  their  subordinates,  and 
the  General-in-chief,  with  all  other  commanders  and  subordi 
nates  of  land  and  naval  forces,  will  severally  be  held  to  their 
strict  and  full  responsibilities  for  the  prompt  execution  of  this 
order. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

This  mandate,  communicated  to  high  officers  immediately 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  337 

concerned,  was  not  made  public  until  the  lltli  of  March  fol 
lowing.  In  it,  the  President  fully  resumed  his  constitutional 
position  as  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  prac 
tically  dispensing  with  the  services  of  Gen.  McClellan  as  a 
11  Lieutenant,"  in  the  discharge  of  those  high  duties,  as  was 
more  formally  announced  at  a  later  day,  on  the  publication  of 
this  general  order. 

After  thus  directing  Gen.  McClellan's  efforts  more  particu 
larly  to  the  management  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  the 
President  soon  found  it  expedient  to  concentrate  that  officer's 
thoughts  upon  some  definite  plan — which  had  evidently  been 
not  very  clearly  before  his  mind  hitherto — f6r  rendering  this 
great  force  of  practical  service  to  the  Government.  Conse 
quently,  four  days  later,  the  following  order  was  communicated 
to  McClellan : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     ") 
January  31,  1862.  J 

ORDERED,  That  all  the  disposable  force  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  after  providing  safely  for  the  defense  of  Washington, 
be  formed  into  an  expedition  for  the  immediate  object  of  seiz 
ing  and  occupying  a  point  upon  the  railroad  south-westward 
of  what  is  known  as  Manassas  Junction ;  all  details  to  be  in 
the  discretion  of  the  Commander-in-chief,  and  the  expedition 
to  move  before,  or  on,  the  twenty-second  day  of  February  ne^t. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Immediately  after  receiving  this  order,  Gen.  McClellan  pre 
pared  a  long  letter  to  Mr.  Stanton,  (dated  January  31,  1862,) 
in  which  he  set  forth  his  objections  to  this  movement,  and 
vehemently  urged  the  substitution  of  a  plan  of  advance  upon 
Richmond  by  the  Lower  Rappahannock,  with  Urbana  as  a 
base.  He  insists  that  a  movement  by  Manassas  must  be 
delayed  on  account'  of  the  bad  condition  of  the  roads,  and  that 
this  difficulty  would  be  removed  by  taking  the  route  he  pro 
poses,  over  a  more  sandy  soil,  and  in  a  latitude  in  which  the 
season  is  two  or  three  weeks  earlier.  "  This  movement,  if 
adopted,"  he  says,  "will  not  at  all  expose  the  city  of  Washing 
ton  to  danger.  The  total  force  to  be  thrown  upon  the  new 
line  would  be  (according  to  circumstances)  from  110,000  to 
22 


338  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

140,000.  I  hope  to  use  the  latter  number  by  bringing  fresh 
troops  into  "Washington,  and  still  leaving  it  quiu,  safe."  The 
maximum  number  here  stated  would  still  leave  more  than 
60,000  for  the  defense  of  "Washington,  without  additional 
"fresh  troops."  Gen.  McClellan  closes  this  letter  with  the 
following  earnest  appeal : 

In  conclusion,  I  would  respectfully  but  Srinly  advis.?  that 
I  may  be  authorized  to  undertake  at  once  ibe  movement  by 
Urbana.  I  believe  that  it  can  be  carried  into  execution  so 
nearly  simultaneously  with  the  final  advance  of  Buell  and 
Halleck,  that  the  columns  will  support  each  other,  I  will 
stake  my  life,  my  reputation,  on  the  result, — more  than  that,  I 
will  stake  upon  it  the  success  of  our  cause.  I  hope  bat  little 
from  the  attack  on  Manassas.  My  judgment  is  against  it. 
Foreign  complications  may  entirely  change  the  state  of  'affairs, 
and  render  very  different  plans  necessary.  In  that  event,  I 
will  be  ready  to  submit  to  them. 

On  the  3d  of  February,  President  Lincoln  addressed  to  Gen. 
McClellan  the  following  memorable  letter,  having  reference  to 
the  Urbana  plan,  scarcely  more  than  alluded  to  by  McClellan 
in  his  final  report,  and  seemingly  as  unceremoniously  aban 
doned,  after  serving  a  purpose,  as  it  had  been  zealously  impro 
vised  : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     ") 
February  3,  1862.  } 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  You  and  I  have  distinct  and  different 
plans  for  a  movement  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac ;  yours  to 
be  done  by  the  Chesapeake,  up  the  Rappahannock  to  Urbana, 
and  across  land  to  the  terminus  of  the  railroad  on  the  York 
river ;  mine  to  move  directly  to  a  point  on  the  railroad  south 
west  of  Manassas. 

If  you  will  give  satisfactory  answers  to  the  following  ques 
tions,  I  shall  gladly  yield  my  plan  to  yours  : 

1st.  Does  not  your  plan  involve  a  greatly  larger  expendi 
ture  of  time  and  money  than  mine  ? 

2d.  Wherein  is  a  victory  more  certain  by  your  plan  than 
mine? 

3d.  Wherein  is  a  victory  more  valuable  by  your  plan  than 
mine? 

4th.  In  fact,  would  it  not  be  less  valuable  in  this;  that  it 
would  break  no  great  line  of  the  enemy's  communication^ 
while  mine  would  ? 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  339 

5th.  In  case  of  disaster,  would  not  a  retreat  be  more  diffi 
cult  by  your  plan  than  mine  ? 

Yours,  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

MA j. -GEN.  MC€LELLAN. 

These  plain  test  questions  were  never  directly  met.  In  a 
long  letter  of  the  same  date,  however,  addressed  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  War,  arguing  the  merits  of  the  two  plans,  Gen-  McClel- 
lan  avers  that  he  u  substantially  answered''  the  President's 
inquiries.  The  subject  remained  for  some  time  under  con 
sideration,  the  President's  order  not  withdrawn,  but  its  exe 
cution  suspended,  while  McClellan  at  length  proceeded  to  the 
work  of  opening  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  under 
urgent  pressure  from  his  superiors. 

On  the  2Gth  of  February,  he  announced,  from  Sandy  Hook, 
that  Loudon  and  Bolivar  Heights,  and  also  Maryland 
Heights,  had  been  occupied  by  our  troops,  and  that  G.  W. 
Smith  was  expected  at  Winchester  with  15,000  Rebels.  After 
incurring  much  cost  and  delay  in  the  construction  of  canal 
boats  to  be  used  in  crossing  the  Upper  Potomac,  he  now 
found,  on  proceeding  to  use  them,  a  considerable  force  intended 
for  Winchester  being  already  under  orders,  that,  as  he  ex 
pressed  it  in  a  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  Feb.  27th, 
"the  lift-lock"  was  "too  small"  to  permit  the  boats  to  pass 
up  to  their  destination.  Mr.  Stanton  sent  this  laconic  reply, 
under  the  same  date:  "Gen.  McClellan  — If  the  lift-lock  is 
not  big  enough,  why  can  not  it  be  made  big  enough  ?  Please 
answer  immediately."  The  response  was,  that,  to  do  this,  the 
entire  masonry  must  be  destroyed  and  rebuilt.  Consequently, 
the  boats,  long  patiently  waited  for,  were  summarily  dispensed 
with,  and  the  marching  orders  countermanded.  At  the  same 
time,  for  reasons  satisfactory  to  himself,  McClellan  revoked  an 
order  he  had  given  to  Hooker,  for  a  movement  toward  silencing 
the  Rebel  batteries  on  the  Potomac,  which  had  also  been  earn 
estly  pressed  by  the  Administration.  His  plan  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  as  stated  Feb.  28,  was  chiefly  "  to  occupy  Charlestown 
and  Bunker  Hill,  so  as  to  cover  the  rebuilding  of  the  railway," 
making  the  following  objections  to  the  desired  advance  upon 


340  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Winchester  and  thorough  occupation  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley: 
(f  We  could  not  supply  and  move  to  Winchester  for  many  days, 
and  had  I  moved  more  troops  here,  they  would  have  been  at 
a  loss  for  food  on  the  Virginia  side."  McClellan  soon  after 
returned  to  Washington,  and  began  the  movement  on  Manas- 
sas,  as  required  by  the  President's  order  of  January  31st — a 
full  month  having  now  intervened. 

Events  in  the  Yalley,  for  some  time  to  come,  may  here  be 
briefly  summed  up.  Charlestown  was  occupied  in  force  by 
Gen.  Banks  on  the  28th  of  February,  and  Martinsburg  on  the 
3d  of  March.  Col.  Geary  occupied  Leesburg  on  the  2d.  Stone 
wall  Jackson  evacuated  Winchester  on  the  llth,  and  was  pur 
sued  by  Gen.  Shields  (who  had  succeeded  the  lamented  Gen. 
Lander,)  until  overtaken  near  New  Market  on  the  19th,  within 
supporting  distance  of  the  Rebel  force  under  Joe  Johnston, 
(who  had  taken  full  command,  in  that  quarter,  when  Beaure- 
gard  left  for  the  West,  the  last  of  January.)  Shields  retreated 
rapidly  to  Winchester,  on  the  20th.  On  the  22d,  by  order  of 
Gen.  McClellan,  the  forces  of  Gen.  Banks,  now  constituting  the 
Fifth  Corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  were  nearly  all,  with 
the  exception  of  Shields'  division,  withdrawn  to  the  vicinity  of 
Manassas.  On  the  same  evening,  the  Rebels,  under  Jackson 
and  Longstreet,  supposed  to  be  10,000  strong,  attacked  the 
place,  and  were  gallantly  repulsed  by  Shields,  whose  division 
numbered  less  than  8,000.  After  this  battle,  Gen.  Banks, 
having  returned  to  the  Yalley,  followed  up  the  retreating 
enemy,  successively  occupying  Strasburg,  Woodstock,  and  (on 
the  26th  of  March)  Harrisonburg.  The  Rebel  forces  now 
retired  from  that  region,  and  the  Yalley  was  comparatively 
quiet  for  nearly  two  months  following. 

On  the  28th  of  February,  McClellan  returned  to  Washing 
ton.  The  results  at  Harper's  Ferry,  as  well  as  the  delay  in 
raising  the  blockade  of  the  Lower  Potomac,  had  been  far  from 
satisfactory  to  the  President.  The  day  fixed  for  a  general 
movement  had  passed,  and  the  plan  of  advancing  on  Richmond 
by  the  Chesapeake,  if  acquiesced  in,  was  manifestly  impracti 
cable,  unless-  by  the  roundabout  way  of  Annapolis,  until  the 
Potomac  had  first  been  cleared  of  the  Rebel  batteries.  Mean* 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  341 

while,  as  early  as  the  15th  of  February,  measures  had  been 
taken  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  secure  with  promptness  the 
necessary  transportation  by  water  for  the  forces  to  be  moved. 
This  fact  indicates  the  determination  of  the  Administration  to 
acquiesce  in  a  plan  on  which  the  Commanding  General  was 
ready  to  stake  so  much,  rather  than  to  insist  on  a  movement 
much  preferred,  yet  which  could  hardly  be  expected  to  suc 
ceed  under  the  reluctant  generalship  of  one  who  felt  no  confi 
dence  in  its  success,  and  who  would  show  no  alacrity  in  its 
execution. 

With  all  that  had  been  accomplished  in  the  way  of  organi 
zation,  discipline,  and  general  preparation,  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  had  still  remained  without  distribution  into  Army 
Corps.  The  President,  sustained  by  the  best  military  authori 
ties  and  advisers,  if  not  by  the  universal  practice  in  modern 
warfare,  had  desired  such  organization  to  be  made.  This  Gen, 
McClellan  had  failed  to  attend  to,  and  it  was  not  until  he  was 
on  the  eve  of  a  movement  toward  Manassas,  with  a  manifest 
purpose  not  to  perfect  his  organization,  that  President  Lincoln 
issued  the  following  peremptory  order : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     ] 
March  8,  1862.  f 

President's  General  War  Order,  No.  2.] 

ORDERED,  I.  That  the  Major-General  commanding  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  proceed  forthwith  to  organize  that  part 
of  said  army  destined  to  enter  upon  active  operations,  (inclu 
ding  the  reserve,  but  excluding  the  troops  to  be  left  in  the 
fortifications  about  Washington,)  into  four  army  corps,  to  be 
commanded  according  to  seniority  of  rank,  as  follows  : 

First  Corps,  to  consist  of  four  divisions,  and  to  be  com 
manded  by  Maj.-Gen.  I.  McDowell. 

Second  Corps,  to  consist  of  three  divisions,  and  to  be  com 
manded  by  Brig.-Gen.  E.  V.  Surnner. 

Third  Corps,  to  consist  of  three  divisions,  and  to  be  com 
manded  by  Brig.-Gen.  S.  P.  Heintzelman. 

Fourth  Corps,  to  consist  of  three  divisions,  and  to  be  com 
manded  by  Brig.-Gen.  E.  D.  Keyes. 

II.  That  the  divisions  now  commanded  by  the  officers  above 
assigned  to  the  command  of  Corps,  shall  be  embraced  in  and 
form  part  of  their  respective  Corps. 


342  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

III.  The  forces  left  for  the  defense  of  Washington  will  be 
placed  in  command  of  Brig. -Gen.  James  S.  Wadsworth,  who 
shall  also  be  Military  Governor  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

IY.  That  this  order  be  executed  with  such  promptness  and 
dispatch,  as  not  to  delay  the  commencement  of  the  operations 
already  directed  to  be  undertaken,  by  the  Army  of  the  Po 
tomac. 

V.  That  the  Fifth  Army  Corps,  to  be  commaded  by  Maj.- 
Gen.  N.  P.  Banks,  will  be  formed  from  his  own  and  Gen. 
Shields',  late  Gen.  Lander's,  division. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN; 

To  the  execution  of  this  order,  the  Commanding  General 
interposed  such  obstacles  as  were  in  his  power,  without  positive 
refusal.  On  the  9th  of  March,  having  taken  the  field,  he  tele 
graphed  to  Secretary  Stanton  from  Hall's  Hill,  the  headquar 
ters  of  Fitz  John  .Porter,  that  "  in  the  arrangements  for 
to-morrow  it  is  impossible  to  carry  "  the  order  "  into  effect," 
and  asks  its  suspension.  The  Secretary  promptly  replied :  "  I 
think  it  is  the  duty  of  every  officer  to  obey  the  President's 
orders,  nor  can  I  see  any  reason  why  you  should  not  obey 
them  in  the  present  instance.  I  must,  therefore,  decline  to  sus 
pend  them."  McClellan,  still  at  Hall's  Hill,  telegraphs,  on 
the  10th,  that  he  "  must  suspend  movement,  or  disregard 
order,"  alleging  "military  necessity,"  and  adds:  "If  you  desire 
it,  I  will  at  once  countermand  "  marching  orders.  To  avoid 
this  alternative,  consent  was  granted  for  a  temporary  delay, 
until  the  impending  movement  should  have  been  executed. 
The  same  day,  McClellan  informed  the  Department  that  the 
troops  were  in  motion.  Centreville  was  occupied  that  evening 
without  opposition,  and  Manassas  on  the  llth,  the  only  obstacle 
to  movement  being  that  the  "  roads  are  horrible." 

Before  this  movement  actually  commenced,  the  President, 
who  had  reluctantly  yielded  his  preference  for  such  an  advance 
on  Richmond  as  would  at  the  same  time  cover  the  National 
Capital,  and  who  had  not  been  indifferent  to  the  neglect  of  his 
wishes  in  regard  to  the  opening  of  the  Potomac,  or  to  the  delays 
which  experiense  had  led  him  to  dread,  issued  the  subjoined 
general  order: 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  343 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     ) 
March  8,  1862.  J 

ORDERED,  That  no  change  of  the  base  of  operations  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  shall  be  made  without  leaving  in  and 
about  Washington  such  a  force  as,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
General-in-chief  and  the  commanders  of  army  corps,  shall 
leave  said  city  entirely  secure. 

That  no  more  than  two  army  corps  (about  fifty  thousand 
troops)  of  said  Army  of  the  Potomac  shall  be  moved  en  route 
for  a  new  base  of  operations  until  the  navigation  of  the  Poto 
mac,  from  Washington  to  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  shall  be  freed 
from  the  enemy's  batteries,  and  other  obstructions,  or  until  the 
President  shall  hereafter  give  express  permission. 

That  any  movement  as  aforesaid,  en  route  for  a  new  base  of 
operations,  which  may  be  ordered  by  the  General-in-chief,  and 
which  may  be  intended  to  move  upon  Chesapeake  Bay,  shall » 
begin  to  move  upon  the  bay  as  early  as  the  18th  of  March, 
instant,  and  the  General-in-chief  shall  be  responsible  that  it 
moves  as  early  as  that  day. 

ORDERED,  That  the  Army  and  Navy  cooperate  in  an  imme 
diate  effort  to  capture  the  enemy's  batteries  upon  the  Potomac 
between  Washington  and  the  Chesapeake  Bay. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

L.  THOMAS,  Adjutant-General. 

On  the  9th  of  March,  the  steamer  Merrimac,  which  had 
been  taken  possession  of  by  the  insurgents  at  Norfolk,  after 
the  abandonment  of  that  post  in  the  spring  of  1861,  and  con 
verted  into  a  formidable  iron-clad  vessel,  re-named  the  Vir 
ginia,  attacked  and  destroyed  the  Government  sailing  frigate3 
Cumberland  and  Congress.  The  Minnesota,  in  coming  to  their 
assistance,  ran  aground.  For  awhile,  all  the  shipping  in  the 
harbor  seemed  at  the  mercy  of  the  Rebel  monster.  But  the 
timely  arrival  of  Ericsson's  Monitor,  just  completed,  and 
hitherto  regarded  as  a  doubtful  experiment,  ended  the  work  of 
destruction,  and  caused  the  Merrimac  to  retire  within  shelter 
at  Norfolk.  These  hurried  and  startling  events  caused  great 
sensation  at  the  time,  both  in  this  country  and  abroad,  and 
have  had  a  marked  influence  in  regard  to  naval  armaments 
every-where. 

McClellan  having  now  taken  the  field,  so  that  a  supervision 
of  all  the  armies  of  the  nation  was  clearly  out  of  his  power, 


344  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  President  made  public  a  change  that  was  no  secret  to  the 
General  commanding  the  Army. of  the  Potomac,  through  the 
following  order — in  which,  also,  two  separate  departments  were 
created  in  the  West,  to  be  commanded  by  Gens.  Halleck 
and  Buell,  and  a  third  intermediate  department,  under  the 
command  of  Gen.  Fremont  : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     ) 
March  11,  1862.  j 

President's  War  Order,  No.  3.] 

Maj.-Gen.  McClellan  having  personally  taken  the  field  at 
the  head  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  until  otherwise  ordered, 
he  is  relieved  from  the  command  of  the  other  military  depart 
ments,  he  retaining  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Poto 
mac. 

ORDERED,  FURTHER,  That  the  two  departments  now  under 
the  respective  commands  of  Gens.  Halleck  and  Hunter, 
together  with  so  much  of  that  under  Gen.  Buell  as  lies  west 
of  a  north  and  south  line  indefinitely  drawn  through  Knoxville, 
Tennessee,  be  consolidated  and  designated  the  Department  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  that  until  otherwise  ordered  Maj.-Gen. 
Halleck  have  command  of  said  department. 

ORDERED,  ALSO,  That  the  country  west  of  the  Department 
of  the  Potomac  and  east  of  the  Department  of  the  Mississippi 
be  a  military  department,  to  be  called  the  Mountain  Depart 
ment,  and  that  the  same  be  commanded  by  Maj.-Gen.  -Fre 
mont. 

That  all  the  Commanders  of  Departments,  after  the  receipt 
of  this  order  by  them  respectively,  report  severally  and  directly 
to  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  that  prompt,  full  and  frequent 
reports  will  be  expected  of  all  and  each  of  them. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Gen.  McClellan  telegraphed  to  the  Secretary  of  War  from 
Fairfax  Court  House,  on  the  13th  of  March,  that  a  council  of 
the  commanders  of  army  corps  had  "  unanimously  agreed  upon 
a  plan  of  operations,"  which  Gen.  McDowell  would  lay  before 
him.  To  this  the  Secretary,  on  the  same  day,  replied  :  "What 
ever  plan  has  been  agreed  upon,  proceed  at  once  to  execute, 
without  losing  an  hour  for  any  approval." 

The  plan — which,  in  answer  to  a  question  of  Mr.  Stanton, 
Gen.  McClellan  stated  that  "  the  council,  together  with  him 
self,"  were  unanimous  in  forming — was  given  in  these  words  : 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  345 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC,     ) 
FAIRFAX  COURT  HOUSE,  March  13,  1862.  j 
A  council  of  the  Generals  commanding  army  corps,  at  the 
headquarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  were  of  the  opinion — 

I.  That  the  enemy  having  retreated  from  Manassas  to  Gor- 
donsville,  behind  the  Rappahannock  and  Rapidan,  it   is  the 
opinion  of  the  Generals  commanding  army  corps  that  the  ope 
rations  to  be  carried  on  will  be  best  undertaken  from  Old  Point 
Comfort,  between  the  York  and  James  rivers  :  Provided, 

1st.  That   the  enemy's  vessel,  Merrimac,  can  be  neutralized. 

2d.  That  the  means  of  transportation,  sufficient  for  an  im 
mediate  transfer  of  the  force  to  its  new  base,  can  be  ready  at 
at  Washington  and  Alexandria  to  move  down  the  Potomac  ;  and, 

3d.  That  a  naval  auxiliary  force  can  be  had  to  silence,  or  aid 
in  silencing,  the  enemy's  batteries  on  the  York  river. 

4th.  That  the  force  to  be  left  to  cover  Washington  shall  be 
such  as  to  give  an  entire  feeling  of  security  for  its  safety  from 
menace.  (Unanimous.) 

II.  If  the  foregoing  can  not  be,  the  army  should  then  be 
moved  against  the  enemy,  behind  the  Rappahannock,  at  the 
earliest   possible  moment,   and  the   means  for  reconstructing 
bridges,  repairing  railroads,  and  stocking  them  with  materials 
sufficient  for  supplying  the  army,  should  at  once  be  collected, 
for  both  the   Orange  and  Alexandria  and  Acquia  and  Rich 
mond  Railroads.     (Unanimous.) 

NOTE. — That  with  the  forts  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Poto 
mac  fully  garrisoned,  and  those  on  the  left  bank  occupied,  a 
covering  force  in  front  of  the  Virginia  line  of  twenty- five  thou 
sand  men  would  suffice.  (Keyes,  Heintzelman  and  McDowell.) 
A  total  of  forty  thousand  men  for  the  defense  of  the  city  would 
suffice.  (Surnner.) 

The  scheme  having  been  promptly  submitted  to  the  Presi 
dent,  the  following  dispatch  was  immediately  returned : 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  March  13,  1862. 

The  President  having  considered  the  plan  of  operations 
agreed  upon  by  yourself  and  the  commanders  of  army  corps, 
makes  no  objection  to  the  same,  but  gives  the  following  direc 
tions  as  to  its  execution : 

1.  Leave  such  force  at  Manassas  Junction  as  shall  make  it 
entirely  certain  that  the  enemy  shall  not  repossess  himself  of 
that  position  and  line  of  communication. 

2.  Leave  Washington  entirely  secure. 

3.  Move  the  remainder   of  the  force  down   the  Potomac, 
choosing  a  new  base  at  Fortress  Monroe,  or  any-where  between 


346  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

here  and  there,  or,  at  all  eveuts,  move  such  remainder  of  the 
army  at  once  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy  by  some  route. 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  War. 
Maj.-Gen.  GEORGE  B.  McCLELLAN. 

McClellan  replied  that  this  would  "  be  at  once  carried  into 
effect." 

Transportation  was  rapidly  provided,  under  the  direction  of 
the  War  Department,  this  work  having  really  commenced  as 
early  as  the  middle  of  February,  and  the  other  preparations 
for  departure,  on  the  part  of  the  force  intended  for  the  Penin 
sula,  were  soon  in  readiness.  The  following  statement  of  the 
numerical  strength  of  this  portion  of  the  Army,  on  the  1st  of 
April,  is  taken  from  the  official  report  of  the  Adjutant  Gen 
eral  : 

First   Corps,  under  General  I.  McDowell,     -     -  38,454 

Second     "         "             "        E.  Y.  Sumner,      -  31,037 

Third,      «         "             "        S.  P.  Heintzelman,  38,854 

Fourth,    "         "             "        E.  D.  Keyes,     -     -  37,910 

Regular  Infantry, 4,765 

Regular  Cavalry, 3,141 

Artillery  Reserve, 3,116 

Provost  Guards,  U.  S.  Engineer  forces,  and  Head 
quarters  Cavalry  escort, 1,144 


Total, 158,419 

From  the  same  authority,  it  appears  that  the  total  force  left 
(according  to  the  intention  of  Gen.  McClellan)  under  command 
of  Brig. -Gen.  James  S.  Wadsworth,  now  appointed  Military 
Governor  of  the  District  of  Washington,  was  22,410,  of  whom 
less  than  20,000  were  present  for  duty.  How  far  this  number 
fell  short  of  all  McClellan's  previous  estimates  of  the  necessary 
force  for  the  defense  of  the  city,  need  not  be  suggested  to  the 
reader  of  the  preceding  pages.  Gen.  Wadsworth  promptly 
called  the  attention  of  the  War  Department  to  this  striking 
deficiency.  The  plan  of  the  Peninsular  movement  as  submit 
ted  for  Executive  approval,  the  special  order  of  the  President 
consenting  to  this  plan,  on  condition  that  the  capital  should  be 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  347 

rendered  secure,  and  the  letter  of  Gen.  Wadsworth  on  this  sub 
ject,  were  referred  to  Adj. -Gen.  Thomas  and  Maj.-Gen.  E.  A. 
Hitchcock,  who  were  required  to  report  whether  the  President's 
order,  in  this  matter,  had  been  carried  out.  Those  officers, 
after  full  consideration,  reported  that  the  force  proposed  to  be 
left,  in  execution  of  that  order,  was  "entirely  inadequate." 
They  further  said : 

In  view  of  the  opinion  expressed  by  the  council  of  the  com 
manders  of  army  corps  of  the  force  necessary  for  the  capital, 
though  not  numerically  stated,  and  of  the  force  represented  by 
Gen.  McClellan  as  left  for  that  purpose,  we  are  of  opinion 
that  the  requirement  of  the  President  that  this  city  shall  be 
left  entirely  secure,  not  only  in  the  opinion  of  the  General-in- 
chief,  but  that  of  the  commanders  of  all  the  army  corps,  also, 
has  not  been  fully  complied  with. 

Meanwhile,  the  movement  of  troops  from  Alexandria  to 
Fortress  Monroe  had  commenced.  Gen.  Hamilton's  division, 
of  the  Third  Corps,  embarked  on  the  17th  of  March,  and  waa 
followed  by  Fitz  John  Porter's  division,  of  the  same  corps,  on 
the  22d.  Other  troops  followed  at  intervals,  as  transports  were 
ready.  Gen.  McClellan  himself  left  Alexandria  on  the  1st  of 
April,  and  reached  Fortress  Monroe  the  next  day. 

There  still  remained  two  army  corps  which  had  not  yet 
been  transferred  to  the  Peninsula,  when  the  report  of  Gens. 
Thomas  and  Hitchcock  was  made.  The  only  remedy  for 
McClellan's  intended  disregard  alike  of  the  conditions  of  his 
own  plan  and  of  the  President's  requirement,  respecting  the 
force  to  be  left  at  Washington  and  in  its  vicinity,  was  such  as 
the  President  applied  in  the  first  part  of  the  following  order, 
the  wisdom  of  which  was  soon  fully  demonstrated : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     ) 
April  3,  1862.  } 

The  Secretary  of  War  will  order  that  one  or  the  other  of 
the  corps  of  Gen.  McDowell  and  Gen.  Sumner  remain  in  front 
of  Washington  until  further  orders  from  the  Department,  tc 
operate  at,  or  in  the  direction  of,  Manassas  Junction,  or  other 
wise  as  the  occasion  may  require ;  that  the  other  corps,  not  so 
ordered  to  remain,  go  forward  to  Gen.  McClellan  as  speedily 
as  possible ;  that  Gen.  McClellan  commence  his  forward  move- 


848  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

ments  from  his  new  base  at  once,  and  that  such  incidental 
modifications  as  the  foregoing  may  render  proper,  be  also  made. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

On  the  same  day,  Gen.  McClellan  had  telegraphed  from  Fort  - 
ress  Monroe  :  u  I  expect  to  move  from  here  to-morrow  morning 
on  Yorktown,  where  a  force  of  some  15,000  of  the  Rebels  are 
in  intrenched  position,  and  I  think  it  quite  possible  they  will 
attempt  to  resist  us."  On  the  4th,  he  said  :  "  Our  advance  is 
at  Cockestown,  within  five  miles  of  Yorktown.  .  .  .  I  expect  to 
fight  to-morrow,  as  I  shall  endeavor  to  cut  the  communication 
between  Yorktown  and  Richmond."  At  the  same  time  Gen. 
Wool,  telegraphing  the  departure  of  these  forces  for  York- 
town,  expressed  a  decided  opinion  that  no  serious  resistance 
would  be  encountered  there.  It  is  probable,  from  the  informa 
tion  since  obtained,  that  when  the  movement  commenced,  the 
Rebel  force  under  Magruder  was  less  than  10,000.  It  is  cer 
tain  that  the  intrenchments  were  by  no  means  so  formidable  as 
to  justify  the  loss  of  time  requisite  for  a  siege,  not  only  wast 
ing  precious  days,  but  wearing  out  as  many  lives  in  the 
trenches  as  would  have  been  sacrificed  in  carrying  the  works 
by  assault.  Such,  at  least,  appears  to  have  been  the  opinion 
of  the  President,  who  did  not  imagine  for  a  moment,  when  his 
order  above  quoted  was  given,  that  a  purpose  to  sit  down  before 
Yorktown,  until  the  enemy  had  time  to  concentrate  a  strong 
force  there,  was  entertained  by  the  Corrmanding  General. 

Carrying  out  the  policy  of  his  order  of  April  3d,  the  Presi 
dent,  as  indicated  by  an  order  issued  from  the  War  Department 
on  the  following  day,  created  two  new  military  departments, 
including  the  spheres  of  operation  and  the  troops  left  behind 
by  McClellan  on  his  withdrawal  to  the  Peninsula.  The 
Department  of  the  Shenandoah  embraced  that  portion  of  Vir 
ginia  and  Maryland  lying  between  the  Mountain  Department 
and  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  was  put  under  the  command  of  Maj.- 
Gen.  Banks.  The  Department  of  the  Rappahannock  com. 
prised  that  portion  of  Virginia  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge  to  the 
Potomac  and  the  Fredericksburg  and  Richmond  Railroad, 
together  with  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the  country  between 
the  Potomac  and  the  Patuxent.  Gen.  McDowell  was  desig- 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  349 

nated  to  command  this  department.  The  movements  of  the 
enemy  in  the  valley,  and  the  exposed  condition  in  which 
McClellan  had  been  on  the  point  of  leaving  the  National  Capi 
tal,  in  disregard  of  instructions  and  of  the  express  conditions 
on  which  the  movement  to  the  Peninsula  was  permitted, 
showed  the  expediency  of  having  a  responsible  commander  in 
both  these  localities.  The  remoteness  of  Gen.  McClellan,  and 
his  occupation  with  other  engrossing  duties,  seemed  further  to 
require  this  change. 

If  the  President  had  not  expected  any  serious  loss  of  time 
at  Yorktown,  it  is  equally  evident,  from  official  dispatches,  that 
such  a  thought  had  found  no  place  in  the  mind  of  McClellan 
until  about  the  same  date  as  his  official  notification  of  the 
action  of  the  Administration,  just  referred  to.  His  dispatch, 
urging  a  reconsideration  of  this  action,  was  prefaced  by  repre 
sentations  of  the  numbers  and  preparations  of  the  enemy,  not 
very  closely  agreeing  with  those  previously  given,  yet  at  least 
such  as  to  afford  cogent  reasons  for  an  unhesitating  advance. 

This  significant  paper  is  subjoined : 

'•• 

[Received  8.30  A.  M.,  April  6.] 

NEAR  YORKTOWN,  7J  P.  M.,  April  5. 
A.  LINCOLN,  President :  The  enemy  are  in  large  force  along 
our  front,  and  apparently  intend  making  a  determined  resist 
ance.  A  reconnoissance  just  made  by  Gen.  Barnard  shows  that 
their  line  of  works  extend  across  the  entire  Peninsula  from 
Yorktown  to  Warwick  river.  Many  of  them  are  very  formid 
able.  Deserters  say  they  are  being  reenforced  daily  from 
Richmond  and  from  Norfolk.  Under  these  circumstances,  I 
beg  that  you  will  reconsider  the  order  detaching  the  First  Corps 
from  my  command.  In  my  deliberate  judgment  the  success  of 
our  cause  will  be  imperiled  by  so  greatly  reducing  my  force 
when  it  is  actually  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  and  active  ope 
rations  have  commenced.  Two  or  three  of  my  divisions  have 
been  under  fire  of  artillery  most  of  the  day.  I  am  now  of  the 
opinion  that  I  shall  have  to  fight  all  the  available  force  of  the 
Rebels  not  far  from  here.  Do  not  force  me  to  do  so  with 
diminished  numbers,  but  whatever  your  decision  may  be  I  will 
leave  nothing  undone  to  obtain  success.  If  you  can  not  leave 
me  the  whole  of  the  First  Corps,  I  urgently  ask  that  I  may  not 
lose  Franklin  and  his  division. 

G.  B.  MCCLELLAN,  Major- Gen  oral. 


350  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

To  this  dispatch  the  following  reply  was  promptly  sent : 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON  CITY,     | 

April  6,  1862.  J 

Maj.-Gen.  GEO.  B.  McCLELLAN :  The  President  directs 
me  to  say  that  your  dispatch  to  him  has  been  received.  Sum- 
ner's  corps  is  on  the  road  to  you,  and  will  go  forward  as  fast 
as  possible.  Franklin's  division  is  now  on  the  advance  toward 
Mauassas.  There  are  no  means  of  transportation  here  to  send 
it  forward  in  time  to  be  of  service  in  your  present  operations. 
Telegraph  frequently,  and  all  in  the  power  of  the  Government 
shall  be  done  to  sustain  you  as  occasion  may  require. 
EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  War. 

Magruder,  who  commanded  the  Rebel  force  near  Yorktown, 
fully  appreciated  the  element  of  time  in  this  campaign,  and 
undoubtedly  maneuvered  with  some  skill  to  put  his  adversary 
on  a  cautious  policy.  In  general  orders  to  be  read  to  his  troops, 
on  the  4th  of  April,  he  said  :  "  The  enemy  is  before  us — our 
works  are  strong — our  cause  is  good — we  fight  for  our  homes, 
and  must  be  careful.  Every  hour  we  hold  out,  brings  us 
reinforcements."  Instead  of  availing  himself  of  his  over 
whelming  superiority  of  numbers,  by  a  resolute  attack,  McClel- 
lan  paused  to  discuss  still  further  the  conduct  of  the  Admin 
istration  as  to  matters  far  away  from  the  immediate  sphere  of 
his  labors,  and  to  beg  for  reinforcements.  On  the  6th,  he  sent 
the  following  dispatch,  (received  in  Washington  at  3  o'clock 
P.  M.)  : 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC. 

A.  LINCOLN,  President:  The  order  forming  new  Depart 
ments,  if  rigidly  enforced,  deprives  me  of  the  power  of  order 
ing  up  wagons  and  troops  absolutely  necessary  to  enable  me 
to  advance  to  Richmond.  I  have  by  no  means  the  transporta 
tion  I  must  have  to  move  my  army  even  a  few  miles.  I 
respectfully  request  that  I  may  not  be  placed  in  this  position,  but 
that  my  orders  for  wagon  trains,  ammunition,  and  other  mate 
rial  that  I  have  prepared  and  necessarily  left  behind,  as  well 
as  Woodbury's  brigade,  may  at  ouce  be  complied  with.  The 
enemy  is  strong  in  my  front,  and  I  have  a  most  serious  task 
before  me,  in  the  fulfillment  of  which  I  need  all  the  aid  the 


LIFE   OF   ABRA.HAM   LINCOLN.  351 

Government  can  give  me.  I  again  repeat  the  urgent  request 
that  Gen.  Franklin  and  his  division  may  be  restored  to  my 
command. 

G.  B.  McCLELLAN,  Major-General. 

To  this  the  President  replied : 

WASHINGTON,  April  6,  1862. 

Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN,  Fortress  Monroe :  Yours  of  11  A, 
M.  to-day  received.  The  Secretary  of  War  informs  me  that 
the  forwarding  of  transportation,  ammunition,  and  Woodbury's 
brigade,  under  your  orders,  is  not,  and  will  not  be,  interfered 
with.  You  now  have  over  one  hundred  thousand  troops  with 
you,  independent  of  Gen.  Wool's  command.  I  think  you  had 
better  break  the  enemy's  line  from  Yorktown  to  Warwick  river 
at  once.  They  will  probably  use  time  as  advantageously  as 
you  can.  A.  LINCOLN. 

In  disregarding  this  pointed  advice  —  from  one  who  was 
entitled  to  command  —  a  grave,  though  still  not  irretrievable, 
error  of  the  campaign,  was  committed  at  the  outset.  Gen. 
Burnside  had  done  at  Newbern,  on  the  14th  of  the  previous 
month,  what  was  incomparably  more  difficult,  in  carrying  tho 
works  of  the  enemy,  when  manned  by  numbers  fully  equal  to 
his  own.  His  forces,  too,  were  largely  made  up  of  raw  recruits. 
The  Army  of  the  Potomac,  after  eight  months  spent  in  its  for 
mation  and  discipline,  was  deemed  by  its  commander  inadequate 
to  force  its  way  through  the  line  of  fortifications  at  Yorktown, 
though  so  many  times  more  numerous  than  the  enemy.  Ma- 
gruder  gained  the  opportunity  which  he  craved.  Davis  ordered 
Johnston  and  Beauregard  to  advance  from  Corinth,  on  the  3d 
of  April,  to  crush  the  army  of  Grant  at  Pittsburg  Landing — 
little  dreaming  then,  as  may  well  be  supposed,  that  nearly 
three  months  would  elapse  before  their  presence  would  be 
indispensable  at  Richmond.  The  slow  processes  of  a  regular 
siege  began  in  front  of  the  little  army  of  Magruder.  Thou 
sands  sickened  and  died  in  the  trenches.  The  nation  grew 
weary  of  the  same  disheartening  news,  day  by  day,  and  week 
after  week.  Finally,  the  siege  batteries  were  prepared  to 
begin ;  and  the  enemy,  though  now  strengthened  by  all  the  aid 
that  thirty  days  could  bring,  was  found  to  have  deserted  his 


352  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

works  the  moment  an  earnest  attack  was  believed  to  be  immi 
nent. 

To  the  President's  dispatch  of  April  6,  Gen.  McClellan  had 
little  else  to  reply  than  by  extravagant  representations  of  the 
enemy's  strength,  with  a  corresponding  disparagement  of  his 
own,  followed  by  complaining  entreaties  for  reinforcements 
that  could  not  be  furnished.  In  this  response,  he  also  said : 
"  Under  the  circumstances  that  have  been  developed  since  we 
arrived  here,  I  feel  fully  impressed  with  the  conviction  that 
here  is  to  be  fought  the  great  battle  that  is  to  decide  the  exist 
ing  contest." 

So  persistent  was  McClellan  in  these  complaints  and 
demands,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  felt  constrained  to  address  to  him 
the  following  frank  and  kindly  letter,  plainly  rehearsing  the 
facts  and  reasons  of  the  case,  and  again  pointedly  indicating 
the  grand  necessity  of  the  hour : 

WASHINGTON,  April  9,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  Your  dispatches,  complaining  that  you  are 
not  properly  sustained,  while  they  do  not  offend  me,  do  pain 
me  very  much. 

Blenker's  division  was  withdrawn  from  you  before  you  left 
here,  and  you  know  the  pressure  under  which  I  did  it,  and,  as 
I  thought,  acquiesced  in  it  —  certainly  not  without  reluctance. 

After  you  left,  I  ascertained  that  less  than  twenty  thousand 
unorganized  men,  without  a  single  field  battery,  were  all  you 
designed  to  be  left  for  the  defense  of  Washington  and  Manassas 
Junction,  and  part  of  this  even  was  to  go  to  Gen.  Hooker's 
old  position.  General  Banks'  corps,  once  designed  for  Manas 
sas  Junction,  was  diverted  and  tied  up  on  the  line  of  Win 
chester  and  Strasburgh,  and  could  not  leave  it  without  again 
exposing  the  Upper  Potomac  and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad.  This  presented,  or  would  present,  when  McDowell 
and  Sumner  should  be  gone,  a  great  temptation  to  the  enemy 
to  turn  back  from  the  Rappahannock  and  sack  Washington. 
My  implicit  order  that  Washington  should,  by  the  judgment 
of  all  the  commanders  of  army  corps,  be  left  entirely  secure, 
had  been  neglected.  It  was  precisely  this  that  drove  me  to 
detain  McDowell. 

I  do  not  forget  that  I  was  satisfied  with  your  arrangement 
to  leave  Banks  at  Manassas  Junction :  but  when  that  arrange 
ment  was  broken  up,  and  nothing  was  substituted  for  it,  of 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  353 

course  I  was  constrained  to  substitute  something  for  it  myself, 
And  allow  me  to  ask,  do  you  really  think  I  should  permit  the 
line  from  Richmond,  via  Manassas  Junction,  to  this  city,  to  be 
entirely  open,  except  what  resistance  could  be  presented  by  lesa 
than  twenty  thousand  unorganized  troops  ?  This  is  a  question 
which  the  country  will  not  allow  me  to  evade. 

There  is  a  curious  mystery  about  the  number  of  troops  now 
with  you.  When  I  telegraphed  you  on  the  6th,  saying  yon 
had  over  a  hundred  thousand  with  you,  I  had  just  obtained 
from  the  Secretary  of  War  a  statement  taken,  as  he  said,  from 
your  own  returns,  making  one  hundred  and  eight  thousand 
then  with  you  and  en  route  to  you.  You  now  say  you  will 
have  but  eighty-five  thousand  when  all  en  route  to  you  shall 
have  reached  you.  How  can  the  discrepancy  of  twenty-three 
thousand  be  accounted  for? 

As  to  General  Wool's  command,  I  understand  it  is  doing  for 
you  precisely  what  a  like  number  of  your  own  would  have  to 
do  if  that  command  was  away. 

I  suppose  the  whole  force  which  has  gone  forward  for  you 
is  with  you  by  this  time.  And  if  so.  I  think  it  is  the  precise 
time  for  you  to  strike  a  blow.  By  delay,  the  enemy  will  rela 
tively  gain  upon  you — that  is,  he  will  gain  faster  by  fortifica 
tions  and  reinforcements  than  you  can  by  reinforcements  alone. 
And  once  more  let  me  tell  you,  it  is  indispensable  to  you  that 
you  strike  a  blow.  I  am  powerless  to  help  this.  You  will  do 
me  the  justice  to  remember  I  always  insisted  that  going  down 
t\ie  bay  in  search  of  a  field,  instead  of  fighting  at  or  near 
Manassas,  was  only  shifting,  and  not  surmounting,  a  difficulty ; 
that  we  would  find  the  same  enemy,  and  the  same  or  equal 
intrenchments,  at  either  place.  The  country  will  not  fail  to 
note,  is  now  noting,  that  the  present  hesitation  to  move  upon 
an  intrenched  enemy  is  but  the  story  of  Manassas  repeated. 

I  beg  to  assure  you  that  I  have  never  written  you  or  spoken 
to  you  in  greater  kindness  of  feeling  than  now,  nor  with  a 
fuller  purpose  to  sustain  you,  so  far  as,  in  my  most  anxious 
judgment,  I  consistently  can.  But  you  must  act. 

Yours,  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN. 

Gen.  McClellan,  in  the  early  part  of  that  report,  in  which  he 
has  given  his  own  rhetorical  coloring  to  his  operations,  as  a 
military  commander,  quotes,  without  contradiction  or  objection. 
the  following  statement  of  Mr.  Tucker,  Assistant  Secretary  of 
War,  showing  that  he  had  landed  at  Fortress  Monroe,  by  the 
6th  day  of  April,  (having  received  the  final  order  as  early  aft 
23 


354  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  28th  of  Febraary),  121,500  men  for  McClellan,  with  a  num 
ber  of  wagons  and  animals  manifestly  well  proportioned  to  these 
numbers : 

In  thirty-seven  days  from  the  time  I  received  the  order 
in  Washington  (and  most  of  it  was  accomplished  in  thirty 
days),  these  vessels  transported  from  Perry ville,  Alexandria, 
and  Washington  to  Fort  Monroe  (the  place  of  departure 
having  been  changed,  which  caused  delay)  one  hundred  and 
twenty -one  thousand  five  hundred  men,  fourteen  thousand  five 
hundred  and  ninety-two  animals,  one  thousand  one  hundred 
and  fifty  wagons,  forty-four  batteries,  seventy-four  ambu 
lances,  besides  pontoon  bridges,  telegraph  materials,  and  the 
enormous  quantity  of  equipage,  etc.,  required  for  an  army  of 
such  magnitude. 

And  yet  McClellan  telegraphed  to  the  President  on  the  7th 
of  April :  "  My  entire  force  for  duty  only  amounts  to  85,000." 
Six  days  later,  before  receiving  reinforcements,  McClellan  him 
self  reported  his  force  (as  officially  certified  by  Adj. -Gen. 
Thomas,)  to  be  117,721,  of  whom  100,970  were  present  for 
duty.  In  addition  to  this  was  the  considerable  force  of  Gen. 
Wool,  on  which  he  was  authorized  to  draw  at  will.  McDowell's 
command,  also,  so  far  as  practicable,  was  put  in  a  position  for 
at  once  sustaining  him  and  covering  Washington. 

To  Gen.  McClellan's  earnest  appeal  for  Gen.  Franklin's  di 
vision,  on  the  10th  of  April,  Secretary  Stanton  replied  on  the 
following  day,  granting  this  request.  At  the  same  date,  McClel 
lan  telegraphed  :  "  Nothing  is  left  undone  to  enable  us  to  attack 
with  the  least  possible  delay.  *  *  There  shall  not  be  a  moment's 
unnecessary  delay  in  any  of  the  operations  here."  On  the  12th, 
he  sends  thanks  for  the  promised  reinforcements,  and  adds  :  "  I 
am  confident  as  to  results  now."  On  the  13th,  he  says  :  "Our 
work  is  progressing  rapidly.  We  shall  soon  be  at  them,  and  I 
am  sure  of  the  result."  On  the  14th  :  "We  are  getting  up 
the  heavy  guns,  mortars  and  ammunition  quite  rapidly."  To 
the  President  he  telegraphed  at  the  same  date  :  "  I  have  seen 
Gen.  Franklin,  and  beg  to  thank  you  for  your  kindness  and 
consideration.  I  now  understand  the  matter,  which  I  did  not 
before." 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  355 

From  day  to  day,  liis  dispatches  continued  to  hold  out  the 
expectation  of  almost  immediate  results,  yet  nothing  of  conse 
quence  occurred  for  many  days,  save  an  unfortunate  skirmish 
at  Lee's  Mill,  on  the  16th,  in  which  35  were  killed  and  130 
wounded,  without  any  advantage  gained.  McClellan  inquiring 
tn  regard  to  the  position  of  McDowell,  the  President  sent  the 
following  reply  on  the  21st:  "Your  dispatch  of  the  19th  was 
received  that  day.  Fredericksburg  is  evacuated  and  the  bridge 
destroyed  by  the  enemy,  and  a  small  part  of  McDowell's  com 
mand  occupies  this  side  of  the  Rappahannock  opposite  the  town. 
He  purposes  moving  his  whole  force  to  that  point."  On  the 
23d,  McClellan  reported :  "  Recent  rains  have  injured  the  roads 
and  delayed  us,  but  we  are  making  progress  all  the  time."  On 
the  26th,  a  lunette  (of  the  enemy's  works)  was  carried,  and  on 
the  27th,  the  "  first  parallel  essentially  finished  without  acci 
dent,"  but  the  roads  were  "  becoming  horrid  again." 

The  total  number  of  McClellan's  force,  on  the  30th  of  April, 
as  officially  given  by  Asst.  Adj. -Gen.  Townsend,  was  130,378, 
of  whom  112,392  are  reported  as  "effective."  This  includes 
the  division  under  Gen.  Franklin,  which  had  arrived  several 
days  before,  but  still  remained  on  the  transports. 

Nearly  a  month  had  now  passed,  in  the  manner  indicated  by 
the  dispatches  above  quoted — fair  samples  of  all — when  there 
came  a  request  for  additional  guns,  which  drew  from  the  Presi 
dent  the  following  response : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     ") 
May  1,  1862.  J 

Maj.-Gen.  MCCLELLAN:  Your  call  for  Parrott  guns  from 
Washington  alarms  me — chiefly  because  it  argues  indefinite 
procrastination.  Is  any  thing  to  be  done  ? 

A.  LINCOLN. 

Two  days  later,  on  the  night  of  May  3d,  the  enemy  evacua 
ted  his  works. 

The  siege  of  Yorktown,  without  a  close  investment,  which 
was  not  attempted,  if  ever  contemplated^  could  have  no  other 
than  barren  results,  unless  the  retreating  enemy  were  promptly 
pursued.  For  this,  his  movement  was  not  soon  enough  dia- 


356  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

covered-  Here  was,  indeed,  as  the  President  had  dreaded, 
"  the  story  of  Manassas  repeated" — if  that  opinion  may  be 
hazarded  in  the  face  of  Gen.  McClellan's  positive  claim  of 
a  "brilliant  success."  His  first  announcement  of  the  evacua 
tion  was  in  the  following  dispatch  : 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC,     | 

May  4,  9  A.  M.  j 

To  the  Hon.  EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War  :  We 
have  the  ramparts.  Have  guns,  ammunition,  camp  equipage, 
etc.  We  hold  the  entire  line  of  his  works,  which  the  engineers 
report  as  being  very  strong.  I  have  thrown  all  my  cavalry 
and  horse-artillery  in  pursuit,  supported  by  infantry.  I  move 
Franklin's  division,  and  as  much  more  as  I  can  transport  by 
water,  up  to  West  Point  to-day.  No  time  shall  be  lost.  The 
gunboats  have  gone  up  York  river.  I  omitted  to  state  that 
Gloucester  is  also  in  our  possession.  I  shall  push  the  enemy 
to  the  wall. 

G.    B.    McCLELLAN, 

Major  General. 

At  1  o'clock,  on  the  same  day,  McClellan  telegraphed  as 
follows: 

Our  cavalry  and  horse-artillery  came  up  with  the  enemy's 
rear  guard  in  their  intrenchments  about  two  miles  this  side  of 
Williamsburg.  A  brisk  fight  ensued.  Just  as  my  aid  left, 
Gen.  Smith's  division  of  infantry  arrived  on  the  ground,  and  I 
presume  he  carried  his  works,  though  I  have  not  yet  heard. 

The  enemy's  rear  is  strong,  but  I  have  force  enough  up 
there  to  answer  all  purposes. 

We  have  thus  far  seventy-one  heavy  guns,  large  amounts  of 
tents,  ammunition,  etc.  All  along  the  lines  their  works  prove 
to  have  been  most  formidable,  and  I  am  now  fully  satisfied  of 
the  correctness  of  the  course  I  have  pursued. 

The  success  is  brilliant,  and  you  may  rest  assured  its  effects 
will  be  of  the  greatest  importance.  There  shall  be  no  delay 
in  following  up  the  enemy.  The  rebels  have  been  guilty  of 
the  most  murderous  and  barbarous  conduct  in  placing  torpe 
does  within  the  abandoned  works,  near  Mill  Springs,  near  the 
flag-staffs,  magazines,  telegraph-omces,  in  carpet-bags,  barrels 
of  flour,  etc. 

Fortunately  we  have  not  lost  many  men  in  this  manner. 
Some  four  or  five  have  been  killed  and  a  dozen  wounded.  I 
shall  make  the  prisoners  remove  them  at  their  own  peril. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  357 

His  dispatches  of  the  next  day  are  less  joyous  in  their  tone. 
It  is  "raining  hard,"  and  he  pronounces  the  "roads  infamous" 
and  "  horrible."  An  important  engagement  was  fought  this 
day,  of  which  he  had  apparently  gained  imperfect  knowledge 
when  sending  the  following  dispatch,  late  in  the  evening : 

BIVOUAC  IN  FRONT  OF  WILLIAMSBURG,     } 
May  5,  1862,  10  o'clock  P.  M.  j 

Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War :  After  arranging 
for  movements  up  York  river,  I  was  urgently  sent  for  here.  I 
find  Gen.  Joe  Johnston  in  front  of  me  in  strong  force,  proba 
bly  greater  a  good  deal  than  my  own. 

Gen.  Hancock  has  taken  two  redoubts  and  repulsed  Early's 
Rebel  brigade,  by  a  real  charge  with  the  bayonet,  taking  one 
Colonel  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  other  prisoners,  and  killing  at 
least  two  Colonels  and  many  privates.  His  conduct  was  bril 
liant  in  the  extreme. 

I  do  not  know  our  exact  loss,  but  fear  that  Gen.  Hooker  has 
lost  considerably  on  our  left. 

I  learn  from  the  prisoners  taken  that  the  Rebels  intend  to 
dispute  every  step  to  Richmond. 

I  shall  run  the  risk  of  at  least  holding  them  in  check  here, 
while  I  resume  the  original  plan. 

My  entire  force  is  undoubtedly  inferior  to  that  of  the  Rebels, 
who  will  fight  well ;  but  I  will  do  all  I  can  with  the  force  at 
my  disposal.  G.  B.  MCCLELLAN, 

Major-General  Commanding. 

Gen.  Stoneman  had  promptly  moved  his  cavalry  and  horse- 
artillery,  on  receiving  the  order  for  pursuit,  on  the  morning  of 
the  4th.  He  first  found  the  enemy  within  his  works,  two  miles 
east  of  \Villiamsburg,  and  being  unsustained  by  infantry,  was 
forced  to  retreat,  with  some  loss,  on  being  attacked  by  the  guns 
of  Fort  Magruder.  During  the  afternoon  and  night,  the  divi 
sions  of  Gens.  Smith  and  Hooker  arrived  on  the  ground — twelve 
or  fourteen»miles  distant  from  Yorktown — as  well  as  the  corps 
commanders,  Sumner,  Heintzelman  and  Keyes.  No  portion  of 
General  Sumner's  force  was  yet  present,  but,  as  the  senior  offi 
cer,  he  assumed  command,  and  ordered  an  attack  on  the  Rebel 
works,  in  the  evening,  by  Smith's  division.  Night,  however, 
came  on  before  the  order  could  be  executed.  During  the  night, 
Sumner  posted  Hancock's  brigade,  of  that  division,  in  a  strong 


358  LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

position  on  the  left.  Hooker's  division,  by  order  of  Gen. 
Heintzelman,  had  taken  position  on  the  Lee's  Mill  road,  coming 
near  Fort  Magruder  quite  early  in  the  morning.  At  half  past 
7  o'clock,  Hooker  began  an  attack  on  the  works  in  his 
front.  The  enemy  gathered  in  superior  force  at  this  point, 
and  the  contest  continued  for  hours,  Gen.  Heintzelman  anx 
iously  awaiting  the  appearance  of  Kearney's  division,  which 
he  had  sent  for  in  the  morning.  A  heavy  rain  had  commenced 
the  night  before,  which  continued  until  the  following  morning, 
impeding  the  movement  of  troops,  but  not  interrupting  the 
determined  purpose  to  carry  the  enemy's  works.  Hooker  had 
suffered  serious  loss,  his  ammunition  was  giving  out,  and  his 
troops  were  becoming  exhausted,  when  at  length,  after  3 
o'clock,  Gen  Kearney  arrived  with  his  men,  and  was  ordered  by 
Heintzelman  at  once  to  attack,  which  he  did  so  vigorously  as 
to  drive  the  enemy  back  at  all  points,  and  to  relieve  Hooker, 
whose  left  flank  was  in  imminent  danger. 

On  the  right,  also,  the  enemy  massed  troops  against  Han 
cock,  who  kept  up  a  gallant  fight  to  maintain  his  position, 
without  the  reenforcement  which  Gen.  Sumner  was  unwilling 
Co  hazard  his  center  by  sending  him,  until  after  the  arrival  of 
part  of  Couch's  division,  at  1  o'clock,  which  was  followed  by 
the  remainder  during  the  afternoon,  and  by  Casey's  division,  so 
that  the  entire  corps  of  Gen.  Keyes  was  finally  present,  on  the 
right  and  center.  Hancock  was  on  the  point  of  being  over 
whelmed  by  greatly  superior  numbers,  when  the  remainder  of 
Smith's  division,  and  Naglee's  brigade  from  Hooker's  division, 
were  sent  to  his  support,  under  the  orders  of  McClellan,  who 
arrived  on  the  ground,  as  he  states  in  his  report,  "  between 
4  and  5  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Meanwhile,  Gen.  Han 
cock,  feigning  to  retreat  slowly,  drew  out  the  enemy  from  their 
position,  then  turning  suddenly,  staggered  them  by  volleys  of 
musketry,  and  completed  their  rout  by  a  brilliant  bayonet 
charge,  with  a  loss  to  the  enemy  of  more  than  five  hundred, 
his  own  loss  being  but  thirty-one  men. 

The  brunt  of  the  battle  had  been  sustained  by  the  divisions 
of  Hooker  and  Kearney,  under  Gen.  Heintzelman.  The 
former  sustained  the  principal  losses  of  the  day,  which  were 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  359 

officially  stated  at  456  killed,  1,400  wounded,  and  372  missing. 
This  earnest  and  gallant  battle,  fought  almost  entirely  without 
the  knowledge  of  the  commanding  General,  illustrates  what 
was  reasonably  expected  at  the  very  outset  at  Yorktown.  It 
seems  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  it  may  have  saved  another 
month's  siege  at  Williamsburg,  where  the  position  was  perhaps 
even  more  favorable  for  defense  than  that  at  Yorktown,  and 
where  the  enemy  had  a  very  much  greater  force  than  was 
originally  at  the  latter  place.  As  a  result  of  this  battle,  the 
enemy  retired  from  Williamsburg  that  night,  and  continued  his 
retreat  up  the  Peninsula.  No  immediate  pursuit  was  attempted. 

Gen..  McClellan  was  exceedingly  dissatisfied  with  Sumner  and 
the  other  corps  commanders  for  venturing  this  engagement  in 
his  absence.  In  his  first  dispatch  he  notices  only  the  movement 
of  Hancock  as  a  success.  He  names  only  Hooker  besides,  and 
him  merely  to  refer  to  his  losses.  He  afterward  made  some 
imperfect  amends  to  Gen.  Heintzelman  and  others,  under  re 
monstrance,  but  apparently  with  grudging  reluctance,  and  even 
in  his  final  report,  after  his  resentment  had  ample  time  to  cool, 
he  stops  short  with  the  praise  of  Hancock,  giving  little  credit 
to  those  who  had  done  the  chief  work.  On  occupying  Wil 
liamsburg,  the  next  day  he  announced:  "  The  victory  is  com 
plete,"  stating  that  the  enemy  lost  heavily  in  killed. 

The  division  under  Gen.  Franklin  had  been  pushed  forward 
by  water  to  the  right  bank  of  the  Pamunkey  river,  opposite  West 
Point,  and  this  movement  was  sustained  by  the  divisions  of 
Gens.  Sedgwick,  Porter  and  "Richardson,  also  transported  in 
steamers.  Franklin  landed  his  troops  on  the  morning  of  the 
7th,  and  Dana's  brigade  (of  Sedgwick's  division)  arrived  soon 
after.  These  forces  were  attacked  at  9  o'clock  in  the  morning 
by  a  formidable  Rebel  force,  and  the  battle  lasted  until  3 
j'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  enemy  was  finally  repulsed. 
Meanwhile,  time  had  been  gained  for  the  main  Rebel  force  to 
retreat  unmolested,  and  with  security  to  its  trains.  Franklin 
made  a  successful  defense,  only,  instead  of  accomplishing  any 
aggressive  results.  His  total  loss  is  reported  as  194,  including 
a  large  proportion  of  officers. 

Communication  between  Williamsburg  and  West  Point  was 


360  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

fully  opened  on  the  10th.  "  Movements  were  difficult  and 
slow."  In  the  mean  time,  Norfolk  had  been  taken  by  Gen. 
Wool,  and  the  Merrimac  finally  "  neutralized."  At  this  period, 
the  President  and  Secretary  of  War — as  well  as  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  who  had  accompanied  Gen.  Wool  in  his 
advance  on  Norfolk — were  on  a  visit  at  Fortress  Monroe.  It 
was  while  here  that  the  Secretary  of  War  received  the  follow 
ing  dispatch  from  Gen.  McClellan,  dated  May  9  : 

To  Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War:  I  respectfully 
ask  permission  to  reorganize  the  Army  Corps.  I  am  not  will 
ing  to  be  held  responsible  for  the  present  arrangement,  expe 
rience  having  proved  it  to  be  very  bad,  and  it  having  nearly 
resulted  in  a  most  disastrous  defeat.  I  wish  rather  to  return 
to  the  organization  by  divisions,  or  else  to  be  authorized  to 
relieve  incompetent  commanders  of  Army  Corps.  Had  I  been 
one-half  hour  later  on  the  field  on  the  5th,  we  would  have  been 
routed  and  would  have  lost  every  thing.  Notwithstanding  my 
positive  orders,  I  was  informed  of  nothing  that  had  occurred, 
and  I  went  to  the  field  of  battle  myself  upon  unofficial  infor 
mation  that  my  presence  was  needed  to  avoid  defeat.  I  found 
there  the  utmost  confusion  and  incompetency,  the  utmost  dis 
couragement  on  the  part  of  the  men.  At  least  a  thousand  lives 
were  really  sacrificed  by  the  organization  into  corps.  I  have 
too  much  regard  for  the  lives  of  my  comrades,  and  too  deep 
an  interest  in  the  success  of  our  cause,  to  hesitate  for  a  moment. 
I  learn  that  you  are  equally  in  earnest,  and  I  therefore  again 
request  full  and  complete  authority  to  relieve  from  duty  with 
this  army,  commanders  of  corps  or  divisions  who  find  them 
selves  incompetent.  G-.  B.  MCCLELLAN, 

Major-General  Commanding. 

Secretary  Stanton  replied,  in  substance  :  The  President 
directs  me  to  say  that  you  "  may  temporarily  suspend  that 
organization  in  the  army  now  under  your  immediate  command, 
and  adopt  any  you  see  fit  until  further  orders.  He  also  writes 
you  privately."  The  President's  letter,  thus  referred  to,  is  as 
follows : 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  VIRGINIA,     ) 
FORT  MONROE,  VA.,  May  9,  1862.  j 

Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN — My  Dear  Sir:  I  have  just  assisted 
the  Secretary  of  War  in  framing  the  part  of  a  dispatch  to  you 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  361 

relating  to  Army  Corps,  which  dispatch,  of  course,  will  have 
reached  you  long  before  this  will.  I  wish  to  say  a  few  words 
to  you  privately  on  this  subject.  I  ordered  the  Army  Corps 
organization  not  only  on  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  twelve 
generals  whom  you  had  selected  and  assigned  as  generals  of 
divisions,  but  also  on  the  unanimous  opinion  of  every  military 
man  I  could  get  an  opinion  from,  and  every  modern  military 
book,  yourself  only  excepted.  Of  course,  I  did  not  on  my  own 
judgment  pretend  to  understand  the  subject.  I  now  think  it 
indispensable  for  you  to  know  how  your  struggle  against  it  is 
received  in  quarters  which  we  can  not  entirely  disregard.  It  is 
looked  upon  as  merely  an  effort  to  pamper  one  or  two  pets,  and 
to  persecute  and  degrade  their  supposed  rivals.  I  have  had  no 
word  from  Sumner,  Heintzelman,  or  Keyes  —  the  commanders 
of  these  corps  are,  of  course,  the  three  highest  officers  with  you  : 
but  I  am  constantly  told  that  you  have  no  consultation  or  com 
munication  with  them ;  that  you  consult  and  communicate  with 
nobody  but  Gen.  Fitz  John  Porter,  and  perhaps  Gen.  Franklin. 
I  do  not  say  these  complaints  are  true  or  just ;  but  at  all  events, 
it  is  proper  you  should  know  of  their  existence.  Do  the  com 
manders  of  corps  disobey  your  orders  in  any  thing  ? 

When  you  relieved  Gen.  Hamilton  of  his  command  the  other 
day,  you  thereby  lost  the  confidence  of  at  least  one  of  your 
best  friends  in  the  Senate.  And  here  let  me  say,  not  as  appli 
cable  to  you  personally,  that  Senators  and  Representatives 
speak  of  me  in  their  places  as  they  please  without  question,  and 
that  officers  of  the  army  must  cease  addressing  insulting  letters 
to  them  for  taking  no  greater  liberty  with  them. 

But  to  return.  Are  you  strong  enough  —  are  you  strong 
enough  even  with  my  help — to  set  your  foot  upon  the  necks  of 
Sumner,  Heintzelman  and  Keyes  all  at  once  ?  This  is  a  prac 
tical  and  very  serious  question  to  you. 

The  success  of  your  army  and  the  cause  of  the  country  are 
the  same,  and  of  -course  I  only  desire  the  good  of  the  cause. 
Yours  truly,  '  A.  LINCOLN. 

Gen.  McClellan  did  not  conclude  to  make  the  changes  which 
he  had  pronounced  so  indispensable.  On  the  contrary,  avail 
ing  himself  of  the  President's  permission,  he  soon  after  created 
two  new  corps — the  "  Fifth  Provisional  Corps,"  formed  of  the 
divisions  of  Porter  and  Sykes,  the  former  taken  from  the  corps 
of  Heintzelman,  and  the  latter  Eegulars,  to  be  commanded  by 
Gen.  Fitz  John  Porter ;  and  the  "  Sixth  Provisional  Corps," 
consisting  of  Franklin's  division,  from  McDowell's  corps,  and 


362  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Smith's  division,  from  Keyes'  corps,  to  be  commanded  by  Gen. 
W.  B.  Franklin. 

The  headquarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  reached  the 
White  House  on  the  16th  of  May,  and  three  days  later  with 
the  corps  of  Franklin  and  Fitz  John  Porter,  had  advanced  to 
Tunstall's  Station,  five  miles  nearer  Kichinond.  Complaints 
of  the  roads  and  requests  for  reinforcements  were  not  forgot 
ten  in  the  official  dispatches  of  this  period  ;  nor  had  the  Presi 
dent  schooled  himself  to  perfect  patience  with  the  slow  advance 
up  the  Peninsula,  when  he  thought  that  not  a  moment's  unne 
cessary  delay  should  occur  in  "pushing  the  enemy  to  the 
wall."  On  the  14th,  Gen.  McClellan,  being  detained  by  bad 
roads,  took  occasion  to  send  a  long  dispatch,  representing  his 
wants  and  opinions,  to  which  the  President,  on  the  15th,  sent 
the  following  reply : 

Your  long  dispatch  of  yesterday  is  just  received.  I  will 
answer  more  fully  soon ;  will  say  now  that  all  your  dispatches 
to  the  Secretary  of  War  have  been  promptly  shown  to  me.  I 
have  done  and  shall  do  all  I  could  and  can  to  sustain  you.  I 
hoped  that  the  opening  of  James  river  and  putting  Wool  and 
Burnside  in  communication  with  an  open  road  to  Richmond  or 
to  you,  had  effected  something  in  that  direction.  I  am  still 
not  willing  to  take  all  our  force  off  the  direct  line  between 
Richmond  and  here. 

On  the  20th  of  May,  the  advance  reached  the  Chickahominy 
river,  and  found  Bottom's  Bridge,  across  that  stream,  as  well  as 
the  railroad  bridge,  a  mile  above,  destroyed  by  the  enemy. 
The  position  was  occupied,  and  the  reconstruction  of  the 
bridges  commenced.  The  river  being  fordable  at  this  time, 
Casey's  division  was  sent  across  the  river  and  ordered  to  throw 
up  defenses.  Gen.  Heintzelman's  entire  corps  was  also  thrown 
across,  in  support.  The  center  and  right  were  advanced  to  the 
left  bank  of  the  river.  On  the  24th,  the  extreme  right  occu 
pied  Mechanicsville,  and  one  of  the  brigades  (Naglee's)  of 
Heintzelman's  corps  drove  the  enemy  from  the  Seven  Pines,  on 
the  Bottom's  Bridge  road,  the  left  of  the  army  advancing  to 
that  position.  The  distance  from  the  Chickahominy  at  Bot 
tom's  Bridge  to  Eichmond  is  about  twice  as  great  as  the  dis- 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  363 

tance  to  Richmond  from  the  same  stream  at  Mechanicsville. 
The  entire  line  now  extended  from  the  latter  point  to  Seven 
Pines,  about  half  way  from  the  river  to  Richmond,  the  Chick- 
ahominy  flowing  between  the  left  and  the  right  and  center. 
This  stream,  here  about  forty  feet  in  width,  is  subject  to  sud 
den  variations  in  volume,  heavy  rains  causing  it  to  overflow 
the  bottom-lands  on  each  side,  and  rendering  it  impassable 
except  by  bridges — all  of  which,  in  this  vicinity,  had  been 
destroyed  by  the  enemy.  The  Meadow  Bridge  was  north  of 
Richmond,  near  the  Virginia  Central  railroad,  and  a  short 
distance  above  the  bridge  at  Mechanicsville.  The  third,  fol 
lowing  down  the  stream  six  or  seven  miles,  was  called  New 
Bridge,  and  was  a  less  distance  above  the  York  river  railroad 
bridge.  Between  Bottom's  Bridge  and  Mechanicsville,  McClel- 
lan  determined  to  construct  as  many  as  eleven  new  bridges. 

The  Rebel  line  of  defenses,  within  which  the  enemy  had 
retired,  commenced  nearly  opposite  Drewry's  Bluff,  on  the 
James  river,  and  bending  in  a  northeasterly  direction,  across 
the  York  river  railroad,  to  the  Chickahominy,  very  nearly  fol 
lowed  up  the  right  bank  of  that  stream.  The  diameter  of  this 
semi-circular  line  was  about  seven  miles,  from  the  center  at 
Richmond.  The  main  body  of  the  enemy,  it  appears,  was 
encamped  on  the  New  Bridge  road.  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston 
was  still  in  command. 

By  instructions  from  the  "War  Department,  issued  on  the  17th 
of  May,  Gen.  McDowell,  to  be  reenforced  by  Shields'  division, 
had,  been  directed  to  establish  a  communication,  as  soon  as 
possible,  between  his  left  and  McClellan's  right.  Correspond 
ing  directions  were  sent  to  Gen.  McClellan.  A  gunboat  expe 
dition  up  the  James  river  had  meanwhile  been  repulsed  at  Fort 
Darling,  and  the  attempt  to  approach  Richmond  by  that  means 
had  been  effectually  abandoned.  On  the  21st,  McClellan  tele 
graphed  the  following,  with  many  other  matters,  to  the  Presi 
dent: 

I  am  not  sure  that  I  fully  comprehend  your  orders  of  the  17th 
instant,  addressed  to  myself  and  Gen.  McDowell.  If  a  junction 
is  effected  before  we  occupy  Richmond,  it  must  necessarily  be 
east  of  the  railroad  to  Fredericksburg  and  within  my  depart- 


364  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

ment.  This  fact,  my  superior  rank,  and  the  express  language 
of  the  sixty-second  article  of  war,  will  place  his  command 
under  my  orders,  unless  it  is  otherwise  specially  directed  by 
your  Excellency ;  and  I  consider  that  he  will  be  under  my  com 
mand,  except  that  I  am  not  to  detach  any  portion  of  his  forces, 
or  give  any  orders  which  can  put  him  out  of  position  to  cover 
Washington.  If  I  err  in  my  construction,  I  desire  to  be  at 
once  set  right.  Frankness  compels  me  to  say,  anxious  as  I  am 
for  an  increase  of  force,  that  the  march  of  McDowell's  column 
upon  Richmond  by  the  shortest  route  will,  in  my  opinion, 
uncover  Washington,  as  to  any  interposition  by  it,  as  com 
pletely  as  its  movement  by  water.  The  enemy  can  not  advance 
by  Fredericksburg  on  Washington.  Should  they  attempt  a 
movement,  which  to  me  seems  utterly  improbable,  their  route 
would  be  by  Gordonsville  arid  Manassas. 

The  President  replied  as  follows,  under  date  of  May  22 : 

Your  long  dispatch  of  yesterday  is  just  received.  You  will 
have  just  such  control  of  Gen.  McDowell  and  his  forces  as  you 
therein  indicate.  McDowell  can  reach  you  by  land  sooner  than 
he  could  get  aboard  of  boats,  if  the  boats  were  ready  at  Frede 
ricksburg,  unless  his  march  shall  be  resisted,  in  which  case  the 
force  resisting  him  will  certainly  not  be  confronting  you  at 
Kichmond.  By  land  he  can  reach  you  in  five  days  after  start 
ing ;  whereas  by  water  he  would  not  reach  you  in  two  weeks, 
judging  by  past  experience.  Franklin's  single  division  did  not 
reach  you  in  ten  days  after  I  ordered  it.  A.  LINCOLN. 

How  the  purpose  above  indicated  came  necessarily  to  be 
changed,  will  best  appear  from  the  two  following  dispatches  : 

MAY  24,  1862. 

I  left  Gen.  McDowell's  camp  at  dark  last  evening.  Shields' 
command  is  there,  but  it  is  so  worn  that  he  can  not  move  before 
Monday  morning,  the  26th.  We  have  so  thinned  our  line  to 
get  troops  for  other  places,  that  it  was  broken  yesterday  at 
Front  Royal,  with  a  probable  loss  to  us  of  one  regiment 
infantry,  two  companies  cavalry,  putting  Gen.  Banks  in  some 
peril. 

The  enemy's  forces,  under  Gen.  Anderson,  now  opposing 
Gen.  McDowell's  advance,  have,  as  their  line  of  supply  and 
retreat,  the  road  to  Richmond. 

If,  in  conjunction  with  McDowell's  movement  against  Ander 
son,  you  could  send  a  fo'-ce  from  your  right  to  cut  off  the  ene 
my's  supplies  from  Ricnmond,  preserve  the  railroad  bridge 


LIFE   OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  3G5 

across  the  two  forks  of  the  Pamunkey  and  intercept  the  enemy's 
retreat,  you  will  prevent  the  army  now  opposed  to  you  from 
receiving  an  accession  of  numbers  of  nearly  15,000  men ;  and 
if  you  succeed  in  saving  the  bridges,  you  will  secure  a  line  of 
railroad  for  supplies  in  addition  to  the  one  you  now  have.  Can 
you  not  do  this  almost  as  well  as  not,  while  you  are  building 
the  Chickahominy  bridges  ?  McDowell  and  Shields  both  say 
they  can,  and  positively  will,  move  Monday  morning.  I  wish 
you  to  move  cautiously  and  safely. 

You  will  have  command  of  McDowell,  after  he  joins  you, 
precisely  as  you  indicated  in  your  long  dispatch  to  us  of  the 
21st.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Maj.-Gen.  G.  B.  McCLELLAN. 

McClellan,  in  his  report,  erroneously  gives  a  later  dispatch 
(dated  May  24)  as  the  President's  response  on  this  occasion. 

Intelligence  received  at  a  later  hour  on  the  same  day,  caused 
the  President  to  suspend  the  order  in  regard  to  Gen.  McDowell's 
movement,  as  the  subjoined  dispatch  indicated  to  McClellan : 

MAT  24,  1862. 

In  consequence  of  Gen.  Banks'  critical  position,  I  have  been 
compelled  to  suspend  Gen.  McDowell's  movements  to  join  you. 
The  enemy  are  making  a  desperate  push  upon  Harper's  Ferry, 
and  we  are  trying  to  throw  Gen.  Fremont's  force  and  part  of 
Gen.  McDowell's  in  their  rear.  A.  LINCOLN. 

To  this,  Gen.  McClellan  replied  :  "  I  will  make  my  calcula 
tions  accordingly." 

The  next  dispatch  clearly  sets  forth  the  situation  of  affairs 
at  the  time : 

WASHINGTON,  May  25,  1862. 

Your  dispatch  received.  Gen.  Banks  was  at  Strasburg 
with  about  six  thousand  men,  Shields  having  been  taken  from 
him  to  swell  a  column  for  McDowell  to  aid  you  at  Richmond, 
and  the  rest  of  his  force  scattered  at  various  places.  On  the 
23d,  a  Rebel  force  of  seven  to  ten  thousand  fell  upon  one  regi- 
men't  and  two  companies  guarding  the  bridge  at  Port  Royal, 
destroying  it  entirely ;  crossed  the  Shenandoah,  and  on  the  24th, 
yesterday,  pushed  on  to  get  north  of  Banks  on  the  road  to 
Winchester.  Gen.  Banks  ran  a  race  with  them,  beating  them 
into  Winchester  yesterday  evening.  This  morning  a  battle 
ensued  between  the  two  forces,  in  which  Gen.  Banks  was  beaten 
back  into  full  retreat  toward  Martinsburg,  and  probably  ia 


3GG  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

broken  up  into  a  total  rout.  Geary,  on  the  Manassas  Gap  rail 
road,  just  now  reports  that  Jackson  is  now  near  Front  Royal 
with  ten  thousand  troops,  following  up  and  supporting,  as  I 
understand,  the  force  now  pursuing  Banks.  Also,  that  another 
force  of  ten  thousand  is  near  Orleans,  following  on  in  the  same 
direction.  Stripped  bare,  as  we  are  here,  I  will  do  all  we  can  to 
prevent  them  crossing  the  Potomac  at  Harper's  Ferry  or  above. 
McDowell  has  about  twenty  thousand  of  his  forces  moving  back 
to  the  vicinity  of  Port  Royal ;  and  Fremont,  who  was  at  Frank 
lin,  is  moving  to  Harrisonburg  ;  both  these  movements 
intended  to  get  in  the  enemy's  rear. 

One  more  of  McDowell's  brigades  is  ordered  through  here 
to  Harper's  Ferry;  the  rest  of  his  forces  remain  for  the  present 
at  Fredericksburg.  We  are  sending  such  regiments  and  dribs 
from  here  and  Baltimore  as  we  can  spare  to  Harper's  Ferry, 
supplying  their  places  in  some  sort,  calling  in  militia  from  the 
adjacent  States.  We  also  have  eighteen  cannon  on  the  road  to 
Harper's  Ferry,  of  which  arm  there  is  not  a  single  one  at  that 
point.  This  is  now  our  situation. 

If  McDowell's  force  was  now  beyond  our  reach,  we  should 
be  entirely  helpless.  Apprehensions  of  something  like  this, 
and  no  unwillingness  to  sustain  you,  has  always  been  my  reason 
for  withholding  McDowell's  forces  from  you. 

Please  understand  this,  and  do  the  best  you  can  with  the 
forces  you  have.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN. 

Later,  on  the  same  day,  the  President  sent  the  following  : 

WASHINGTON,  May  25,  1862. 

Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN  :  The  enemy  is  moving  north  in  suffi 
cient  force  to  drive  Banks  before  him — in  precisely  what  force 
we  can  not  tell.  He  is  also  threatening  Leesburg  and  Geary  on 
the  Manassas  Gap  railroad,  from  both  north  and  south,  in  pre 
cisely  what  force  we  can  not  tell.  I  think  the  movement  is  a 
general  and  concerted  one,  such  as  could  not  be  if  he  was  act 
ing  upon  the  purpose  of  a  very  desperate  defense  of  Rich 
mond.  I  think  the  time  is  near  when  you  must  either  attack 
Richmond  or  give  up  the  job,  and  come  to  the  defense  of 
Washington.  Let  me  hear  from  you  instantly. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

On  the  same  day,  McClellan  replied  :  "  Telegram  received 
Independently  of  it,  the  time  is  very  near  when  I  shall  attack 
Richmond.  The  object  of  the  movement  is  probably  to  pre- 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  36T 

vent  reinforcements  being  sent  to  me I  Lave  two  corps 

across  the  Chickahominy,  within  six  miles  of  Richmond;  the 
others  on  this  side  at  other  crossings  within  the  same  distance, 
and  ready  to  cross  when  bridges  are  completed." 

Gen.  Stoneman  was  sent  out  with  a  small  cavalry  force  to  cut 
the  Virginia  Central  railroad  between  the  Chickahominy  and 
Hanover  Court  House.  This  is  the  eastern  one  of  two  lines 
of  railroad  from  Richmond,  both  of  which  meet  at  Hanover 
Junction,  several  miles  beyond  the  Court  House.  The  other 
extends  nearly  due  north  from  Richmond  to  Fredericksburg  and 
Acquia  Creek.  Both  roads  cross  the  South  Anna  river  a  few 
miles  south  of  their  junction,  and  at  no  great  distance  apart. 
To  have  destroyed  both  the  South  Anna  bridges  of  these  roads 
would  have  cut  the  enemy's  direct  communications  with  the 
forces  in  the  Valley,  and  with  those  resisting  McDowell's  ad 
vance  southward.  In  cutting  only  one  of  these  roads,  several 
miles  south  of  the  South  Anna,  very  little  was  effected.  The 
President  anxiously  telegraphed,  on  the  26th  :  "  Can  you  not 
cut  the  Acquia  Creek  railroad  also  ?  What  impression  have 
you  as  to  the  intrenched  works  for  you  to  contend  with  in 
front  of  Richmond  ?  Can  you  get  near  enough  to  throw  shells 
into  the  city?"  McClellan  replied  (on  the  same  day)  that  he 
had  "  cut  the  Virginia  Central  railroad  in  three  places,  between 
Hanover  Court  House  and  the  Chickahominy,"  and  would  "try 
to  cut  the  other."  To  the  other  questions  of  the  President,  he 
replied  :  "  I  do  not  think  Richmond  intrenchments  formidable  ; 
but  am  not  certain.  Hope  very  soon  to  be  within  shelling 
distance.  Have  railroad  in  operation  from.  White  House  to 
Chickahominy.  Hope  to  have  Chickahominy  bridge  repaired 
to-night.  Nothing  of  interest  to-day."  Later,  he  telegraphed 
as  follows : 

CAMP  NEAR  NEW  BRIDGE,      ") 
May  26,  1862,  7.30  P.  M.  } 

Have  arranged  to  carry  out  your  last  orders.  We  are  quietly 
closing  in  upon  the  enemy,  preparatory  to  the  last  struggle. 
Situated  as  I  am,  I  feel  forced  to  take  every  possible  precaution 
against  disaster,  and  to  secure  my  flanks  against  the  probably 
superior  force  in  front  of  me.  My  arrangements  for  to-morrow 


368  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

are  very  important,  and  if  successful,  will  leave  me  free  to 
strike  on  the  return  of  the  force  detached. 

G.  B.  McCLELLAN,  Major- General. 
His  Excellency,  A.  LINCOLN,  President. 

On  the  27th,  Fitz  John  Porter,  with  the  Fifth  Corps,  was  sent 
to  disperse  a  Rebel  force  near  Hanover  Court  House,  threat 
ening  the  communications  of  our  army,  and  in  a  position  to 
reenforce  Jackson  or  to  interfere  with  any  southward  move 
ment  of  McDowell.  This  force  was  Branch's  division,  esti 
mated  to  have  been  about  nine  thousand  strong.  Porter's 
corps,  without  needing  the  aid  of  Sykes'  division  of  Regulars, 
sent  to  his  support  on  the  28th,  broke  up  the  Rebel  camp,  and 
dispersed  Branch's  force.  The  result  was  thus  announced  by 
the  Commanding:  General : 


*o 


Porter's  action  of  yesterday  was  truly  a  glorious  victory  ;  too 
much  credit  can  not  be  given  to  his  magnificent  division  and  it? 
accomplished  leader.  The  rout  of  the  rebels  was  complete : 
not  a  defeat,  but  a  complete  rout.  Prisoners  are  constantly 
coming  in ;  two  companies  have  this  moment  arrived  with 
excellent  arms. 

The  President,  after  receiving  this  and  other  glowing  dis 
patches  on  the  subject,  as  well  as  repeated  demands  for  ree'n- 
forcements  on  the  ground  that  all  the  Rebel  forces  were  con 
centrating  at  Richmond,  sent  the  following  : 

WASHINGTON,  May  28,  1862. 

I  am  very  glad  of  Gen.  F.  J.  Porter's  victory  ;  still,  if  it  was 
a  total  rout  of  the  enemy,  I  am  puzzled  to  know  why  the  Rich 
mond  and  Fredericksburg  railroad  was  not  seized  again,  as  you 
say  you  have  all  the  railroads  but  the  Richmond  and  Frede- 
ncksburg.  I  am  puzzled  to  see  how,  lacking  that,  you  can  have 
any,  except  the  scrap  from  Richmond  to  West  Point.  The 
scrap  of  the  Virginia  Central,  from  Richmond  to  Hanovei 
Junction,  without  more,  is  simply  nothing.  That  the  whole 
of  the  enemy  is  concentrating  on  Richmond,  I  think,  can  not 
be  certainly  known  to  you  or  me.  Saxton,  at  Harper's  Ferry, 
informs  us  that  large  forces,  supposed  to  be  Jackson's  and 
Ewell's,  forced  his  advance  from  Charlestown  to-day.  Gen. 
King  telegraphs  us  from  Fredericksburg  that  contrabands  give 
certain  information  that  fifteen  thousand  left  Hanover  Juno- 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  369 

tion  Monday  morning  to  reenforce  Jackson.  I  am  painfully 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  struggle  before  you,  and 
shall  aid  you  all  I  can  consistently  with  my  view  of  due  regard 
to  all  points.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN. 

On  the  29th,  Gen.  Marcy  (chief  of  McClellan's  staff)  sent 
the  following  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War : 

A  detachment  from  Gen.  F.  J.  Porter's  command,  under 
Major  Williams,  Sixth  Cavalry,  destroyed  the  South  Anna 
railroad  bridge  at  about  9  A.  M.  to-day ;  a  large  quantity  of 
Confederate  public  property  was  also  destroyed  at  Ashland  this 
morning. 

The  President  replied : 

WASHINGTON,  May  29,  1862. 

Your  dispatch  as  to  the  South  Anna  and  Ashland  being 
seized  by  our  forces  this  morning  is  received.  Understanding 
these  points  to  be  on'the  Richmond  and  Fredericksburg  rail 
road,  I  heartily  congratulate  the  country,  and  thank  Gen. 
McClellan  and  his  army  for  their  seizure. 

A.  LINCOLN. 
Gen.  E.  B.  MARCY. 

The  President  had  previously  telegraphed" to  Gen.  McDowell, 
on  the  28th  :  "  If  Porter  effects  a  lodgment  on  both  railroads, 
near  Hanover  Court  House,  consider  whether  your  force  in 
Fredericksburg  should  not  push  through  and  join  him." 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  any  collateral  operation  which,  at 
this  juncture,  could  have  had  more  positive  results,  than  a  thor 
ough  breaking  of  the  enemy's  communication  with  Jackson, 
by  destroying  the  South  Anna  bridges  and  otherwise.  After 
receiving  the  President's  congratulations,  however,  on  the  sup 
posed  accomplishment  of  this  object,  the  Commanding  Gene 
ral  telegraphed  as  follows  —  clearly  implying  that  Porter's 
movement  had  really  effected  little  in  that  direction,  as  the 
event  proved : 


HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC, 

May  30,  1862. 
From  the  tone  of  your  dispatches,  and  the  President's,  t  do 


62.} 
b's,I 


S70  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

not  think  you  at  all  appreciate  the  value  and  magnitude  of 
Porter's  victory.  It  has  entirely  relieved  my  right  flank, 
which  was  seriously  threatened  ;  routed  and  demoralized  a  con 
siderable  portion  of  the  Rebel  forces  ;  taken  over  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  prisoners ;  killed  and  wounded  large  num 
bers  ;  one  gun,  many  small  arms,  and  much  baggage  taken.  It 
was  one  of  the  handsomest  things  in  the  war,  both  in  itself  and 
in  its  results.  Porter  has  returned,  and  my  army  is  again  ^ell 
in  hand.  Another  day  will  make  the  probable  field  of  battle 
passable  for  artillery.  It  is  quite  certain  that  there  is  nothing 
in  front  of  McDowell  at  Fredericksburg.  I  regard  the  burn 
ing  of  South  Anna  bridges  as  the  least  important  result  of 
Porter's  movement. 

G.  B.  McCLELLAN,  Major-General. 
Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 

On  the  29th,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  telegraphed  :  "  I  think  we 
shall  be  able,  within  three  days,  to  tell  you  certainly  whether 
any  considerable  force  of  the  enemy,  Jackson  or  any  one  else, 
is  moving  on  Harper's  Ferry  or  vicinity.  Take  this  expected 
development  into  your  calculation."  On  the  31st,  McClellan 
said  in  a  dispatch:  "A  contraband  reports  that  Beauregard 
arrived  in  Richmond  day  before  yesterday  with  troops,  and 

amid   great  excitement Roads  again  frightful.     Need 

more  ambulances.-"  At  the  same  date,  the  President  sent  the 
following  important  information  : 

A  circle  whose  circumference  shall  pass  through  Harper's 
Ferry,  Front  Royal  and  Strasburg,  and  whose  center  shall  be 
a  little  north-east  of  Winchester,  almost  certainly  has  within 
it  this  morning  the  forces  of  Jackson,  Ewell  and  Edward  John 
son  ;  quite  certainly  they  were  within  it  two  days  ago.  Some 
part  of  their  forces  attacked  Harper's  Ferry  at  dark  last  even 
ing.  Shields,  with  McDowell's  advance,  retook  Front  Royal  at 
11  A.  M.  yesterday,  with  a  dozen  of  our  own  prisoners  taken 
there  a  week  ago,  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  enemy,  etc.  .  . 
Shields  at  Front  Royal  reports  a  rumor  of  still  an  additional 
force  of  the  enemy,  supposed  to  be  Anderson's,  having  entered 
the  Valley  of  Virginia.  This  last  may  or  may  not  be  true. 
Corinth  is  certainly  in  the  hands  of  Gen.  Halleck. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac,  as  officially  reported  on  the  31st 
of  May,  numbered  127,166,  of  which  force  98,008  were  pres- 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  371 

ent  for  duty.  To  this  was  added  the  force  of  Gen.  "Wool,  now 
Dut  under  Gen.  McClellan's  command,  numbering  14,007  in 
the  aggregate,  11,514  being  "  effective."  Total,  141,173,  with 
109,522  present  for  duty.  Gen.  Sigel  was  also  ordered  to 
report,  with  his  command,  to  Gen.  McClellan ;  but  the  order 
was  subsequently  countermanded,  and  this  force  sent  to  Har 
per's  Ferry.  McCall's  division  was  ordered  to  him  on  the  6th 
of  June,  and  he  received  many  other  regiments  from  time  to 
time. 

An  £rder  of  the  War  Department,  June  1,  extended  tho 
Department  of  Virginia  to  include  that  part  of  the  State  south 
of  the  Rappahannock  and  east  of  the  railroad  from  Frede- 
ricksburg  to  Richmond,  Petersburg,  and  Weldon,  under  com 
mand  of  Maj.-Gen.  McClellan.  Gen.  Wool  was  assigned  to 
the  command  of  the  Middle  Department,  succeeding  Gen. 
Butler,  with  directions  to  report  to  Gen.  McClellan  for 
orders'. 

Despite  the  diversion  of  a  portion  of  his  force  for  operations 
in  the  Valley,  the  Rebel  General  in  command  at  Richmond 
now  boldly  assumed  the  aggressive  against  McClellan. 

Taking  advantage  of  a  sudden  rise  of  the  Chickahominy, 
before  the  entire  completion  of  the  bridges,  Johnston  attacked 
our  left  in  heavy  force  near  Seven  Pines  and  Fair  Oaks,  on 
the  31st  of  May,  having  skillfully  made  his  combinations  with 
a  view  to  cut  off  the  corps  of  Heintzelman  and  Keyes.  The 
attack  commenced  about  1  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Casey's 
division,  in  the  advance,  was  driven  backward,  after  stoutly 
contesting  the  field  for  hours,  while  Heintzelman's  two  divi 
sions  were  brought  up  in  support.  The  enemy,  attempting  to 
force  his  way  between  these  troops  and  Bottom's  Bridge,  was 
kept  in  check  until  about  6  o'clock.  Gen.  Sumner  came  up  at 
that  hour  with  Sedgwick's  division,  followed  by  Richardson's, 
having  crossed  on  the  imperfect  bridge  which  they  had  con 
structed,  and  appeared  suddenly  on  the  left  flank  of  Johnston's 
force,  opening  a  destructive  fire  with  his  batteries,  which 
stopped  the  enemy's  advance.  Then,  by  a  gallant  bayonet  charge, 
led  by  Sumner  in  person,  the  Rebels  were  driven  back  with 
great  slaughter,  beyond  Fair  Oaks  Station.  What  had  been 


372  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

almost  a  crushing  defeat,  would  have  been  turned  into  a  bril 
liant  victory,  had  our  remaining  troops  been  brought  into 
action,  and  might  probably  have  given  us  possession  of  Rich 
mond. 

This  great  opportunity  escaped  the  Commanding  General. 
As  Prince  de  Joinville,  his  friend  and  volunteer  aid  during 
this  campaign,  informs  us  :  "  It  was  not  until  7  o'clock  in  the 
evening  that  the  idea  of  securing  all  the  bridges  without  delay, 
and  causing  the  whole  army  to  cross  at  daybreak  to  the  right 
bank  of  the  Chickahominy,  was  entertained.  It  was  now  too 
late.  Four  hours  had  been  lost,  and  the  opportunity  —  that 
moment  so  fleeting,  in  war  as  in  other  circumstances  —  had 
gone."  • 

The  river  rose  rapidly  during  the  night,  sweeping  away  all 
the  bridges.  The  enemy  renewed  the  attack  in  the  morning, 
knowing  that  our  left  and  center  were  now  completely  isolated 
from  the  remainder  of  their  comrades,  the  corps  of  Porter  and 
Franklin.  The  troops  of  Sumner,  Heintzelman  and  Keyes  fought 
with  desperate  courage,  sustaining  themselves  against  the  con 
centrated  strength  of  the  enemy,  until  nearly  noon,  when  the 
latter  retired,  leaving  his  dead  unburied,  and  many  of  his 
wounded  on  the  field.  Both  sides  had  suffered  severely  in  the 
battles  of  Saturday  and  Sunday.  The  Government  loss  is  stated 
as  about  5,000  and  the  Rebel  loss  about  8,000. 

The  situation  of.  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  now  full  of 
interest — its  opportunities  clearly  to  be  seen.  The  whole  force 
which  could  be  sent  against  it  from  Richmond  had  been  beaten 
by  one-half  of  this  army.  Jackson,  with  a  force^estimated  at 
25,000,  was  now  fighting  with  Banks,  and  Fremont  and 
McDowell  were  endeavoring  to  close  in  about  him.  In  relation 
to  reported  reinforcements  to  Johnston,  McClellan  telegraphed, 
on  the  3d :  "I  am  satisfied  that  Beauregard  is  not  here."  At 
the  same  time,  he  was  fully  aware  that  the  forces  of  Beaure 
gard  and  Bragg  had  evacuated  Corinth  on  the  30th  of  May,  and 
were  now  partly  disposable  for  active  service  wherever  they 
were  most  needed.  Every  day's  delay  was  now  an  advantage 
to  the  enemy.  To  wait  for  reinforcements  was  to  wait  for  his 
adversary  to  gather  in  every  scattered  regiment,  and  to  hasten 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  373 

the  arrival  of  Jackson  and  Beauregard.  To  pause  for  pleasant 
weather  and  good  roads,  was  to  postpone  action  indefinitely. 
He  was  already  almost  within  shelling  distance  of  Richmond. 
His  supplies  came  with  regularity  by  water  to  White  House, 
and  thence  by  railroad  to  his  lines.  And  yet,  with  almost 
daily  dispatches  about  rains  and  bad  roads,  with  continual 
appeals  for  more  men,  which  he  knew  could  not  be  granted  to 
any  great  extent,  and  with  repeated  assurances  of  what  he  was 
just  going  to  do,  nearly  an  entire  month  wore  away,  at  this 
critical  and  most  favorable  juncture,  without  result. 

On  the  3d  of  June,  he  says  :  "  The  next  leap  will  be  the  last 
one."  The  Government  and  the  country  expected  it  to  be  taken 
at  once.  But  on  the  5th,  comes  an  argument  for  more  troops. 
Five  new  regiments,  and  McCall's  division,  from  McDowell's 
command,  are  promptly  granted  him.  On  the  8th,  he  says : 
"  I  shall  be  in  perfect  readiness  to  move  forward  to  take  Rich 
mond  the  moment  McCall  reaches  here,  and  the  ground  will 
admit  the  passage  of  artillery."  On  the  same  day,  McDowell 
informs  him :  "  For  the  third  time  I  am  ordered  to  join  you, 
and  this  time  I  hope  to  get  through."  Having  thus  the  long- 
sought  forces  of  McDowell  apparently  within  his  grasp,  he 
improves  the  occasion  to  call  for  more,  telegraphing  as  follows, 
on  the  llth :  "I  have  again  information  that  Beauregard  has 
arrived,  and  that  some  of  his  troops  are  to  follow  him."  He 
asks,  therefore,  that  reinforcements  may  be  sent  him  from 
Halleck's  army.  He  laments  that  he  is  the  victim  of  an  "  ab 
normal  season,"  and  adds :  "  I  am  completely  checked  by  the 
weather."  At  the  same  date  (despite  the  weather)  he  reports 
that  "  McCall's  troops  have  commenced  arriving." 

On  the  12th,  he  reports :  "  Another  good  day.  All  quiet 
this  morning.  I  move  headquarters  to-day  across  the  river." 
On  the  14th :  "  I  hope  two  days  more  will  make  the  ground 
practicable."  On  the  15th :  "  Another  rain  set  in  about  3  P. 
M.  to-day."  On  the  18th  he  thinks  reinforcements  for  Jack 
son*  had  gone  from  Richmond.  Mr.  Lincoln  replies,  stating 

*  The  battles  of  Cross  Keys  and  Port  Republic,  in  which  Gen.  Fre 
mont  failed  to  arrest  the  retreat  ofStonewall  Jackson,  had  been  fought 
on  the  8th  and  9th  of  June. 


374  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

circumstances  by  which  this  opinion  is  "corroborated,"  adding  i 
"  If  this  is  true,  it  is  as  good  as  a  re-enforcement  to  you  of  an 
equal  force.  I  could  better  dispose  of  things,  if  I  could  know 
about  what  day  you  can  attack  Richmond."  McClellan  replies, 
the  same  day :  "A  general  engagement  may  take  place  any 

hour We  shall  await  only  a  favorable  condition  of  the 

earth  and  sky,  and  the  completion  of  some  necessary  prelimi 
naries." 

On  the  19th,  the  President  suggests  that  the  reported  re -en 
forcement  of  Jackson  may  be  a  mere  ruse.  McClellan  replies, 
on  the  20th  :  "  I  have  no  doubt  that  Jackson  has  been  re-en 
forced  from  here.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  Gen.  R.  S. 
Ripley  has  recently  joined  Lee's  army,*  with  a  brigade  or  divi 
sion  from  Charleston.  Troops  have  arrived  recently  from 
Goldsboro.  There  is  not  the  slightest  reason  to  suppose  the 
enemy  intends  evacuating  Richmond.  He  is  daily  increasing 

his  defenses I  would  be  glad  to  have  permission  to  lay 

before  your  Excellency,  by  letter  or  telegraph,  my  views  as  to 
the  present  state  of  military  affairs  throughout  the  whole 
country.  In  the  mean  time,  I  would  be  pleased  to  learn  the 
disposition,  as  to  numbers  and  position,  of  the  troops  not  under 
my  command,  in  Virginia  and  elsewhere." 

To  this  singular  dispatch,  the  President  sent  the  following 
reply : 

"WASHINGTON,  June  21,  1862,  6  P.  M. 

Your  dispatch  of  yesterday,  2  P.  M.,  was  received  this 
morning.  If  it  would  not  divert  too  much  of  your  time  and 
attention  from  the  army  under  your  immediate  command,  I 
would  be  glad  to  have  your  views  as  to  the  present  state  of 
military  affairs  throughout  the  whole  country,  as  you  say  you 
would  be  glad  to  give  them.  I  would  rather  it  should  be  by 
letter  than  by  telegraph,  because  of  the  better  chance  of 
secrecy.  As  to  the  numbers  and  positions  of  the  troops  not 
under  your  command,  in  Virginia  and  elsewhere,  even  if  I 
could  do  it  with  accuracy,  which  I  can  not,  I  would  rather  not 
transmit  either  by  telegraph  or  letter,  because  of  the  chances 

*Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee  had  been  assigned  to  the  command  of  the 
Rebel  forces  at  Richmond,  on  the  3d  of  June,  superseding  Johnston, 
who  had  been  wounded  at  Fair  Oaks. 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  375 

of  its  reaching  the  enemy.  I  would  be  very  glad  to  talk  with 
you,  but  you  can  not  leave  your  camp,  and  I  can  not  well  leave 
here.  A.  LINCOLN,  President. 

Maj.-Gen.  GEORGE  B.  MCCLELLAN. 

In  his  final  report,  Gen.  McClellan  makes  the  following 
statement :  "  All  the  information  I  could  obtain,  previous  to 
the  24th  of  June,  regarding  the  movements  of  Gen.  Jackson, 
led  to  the  belief  that  he  was  at  Gordonsville,  where  he  was 
receiving  re-enforcements  from  Richmond  via  Lynchburg  and 
Staunton ;  but  what  his  purposes  were,  did  not  appear  until  the 
date  specified,"  etc.  Entertaining  this  opinion,  it  may  well  be 
asked,  in  passing,  how  happened  it  that  he  so  vehemently 
urged,  again  and  again,  the  withdrawal  of  all  troops  from 
before  Washington,  leaving  an  entirely  inadequate  garrison 
within  the  city  itself,  in  order  to  transfer  all  to  the  Peninsula  ? 
Such,  on  the  one  hand,  is  his  confession  ;  such,  on  the  other, 
was  his  demand.  That  Jackson  was  prepared  for  any  "  pur 
pose  "  that  best  suited  the  occasion  —  that  he  would  have 
attacked  Washington  had  McDowell's  army  been  withdrawn, 
as  McClellan  desired,  or  that  he  would  have  invaded  Maryland 
by  way  of  the  Valley,  as  Lee  has  since  done — can  admit  of  no 
rational  doubt.  Both  those  movements  were  defeated  by  the 
wise  forecast  of  the  President,  and  by  his  persistence  in  adhe 
ring  to  the  policy  so  clearly  marked  out,  with  the  approval  of 
all  the  leading  generals,  at  the  outset  of  the  Peninsular  move 
ment.  When  McClellan  admits  his  inability  to  discern  th3 
intentions  of  Jackson,  more  than  a  month  after  the  latter  left; 
Richmond,  he  at  once  puts  at  rest  all  cavils  in  regard  to  the 
opinions  of  those  who  assumed  some  other  purpose  possible 
than  that  finally  developed.  But  what  solution  can  be  given 
of  his  own  inaction  during  all  this  period  of  Jackson's  known 
absence  ?  And  how  will  he  even  give  a  plausible  look  to  his 
eagerness  to  withdraw  McDowell,  and  to  leave  to  Jackson  an 
unobstructed  route  to  the  National  Capital  ? 

But  the  "  purposes  "  of  Jackson,  hitherto  so  uncertain,  were 
discovered  on  the  24th  of  June,  and  thus  reported  : 


376  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  TUS  POTOMAC,     ^ 
June  24,  1862,  12  P.  M.  j 

A  very  peculiar  case  of  desertion  has  just  occurred  from  the 
enemy.  The  party  states  that  he  left  Jackson,  Whiting,  and 
Ewell,  (fifteen  brigades,)  at  Gordonsville,  on  the  21st ;  that 
they  were  moving  to  Frederickshall,  and  that  it  was  intended 
to  attack  my  rear  on  the  28th.  I  would  be  glad  to  learn,  at 
your  earliest  convenience,  the  most  exact  information  you  have 
as  to  the  position  and  movements  of  Jackson,  as  well  as  the 
sources  from  which  your  information  is  derived,  that  I  may  the 
better  compare  it  with  what  I  have. 

G.  B.  McCLELLAN,  Major-General. 

The  reply  was  as  follows  : 

WASHINGTON,  June  25,  1862. 

We  have  no  definite  information  as  to  the  numbers  or  posi 
tion  of  Jackson's  force.  Gen.  King  yesterday  reported  a 
deserter's  statement  that  Jackson's  force  was,  nine  days  ago, 
forty  thousand  men.  Some  reports  place  ten  thousand  Rebels 
under  Jackson,  at  Gordonsville ;  others,  that  his  force  is  at 
Port  Republic,  Harrisonburg,  and  Luray.  Fremont  yesterday 
reported  ru.raors  that  Western  Virginia  was  threatened ;  and 
Gen.  Kelley,  that  Ewell  was  advancing  to  New  Creek,  where 
Fremont  has  his  depots.  The  last  telegram  from  Fremont' 
contradicts  this  rumor.  The  last  telegram  from  Banks  says 
the  enemy's  pickets  are  strong  in  advance  at  Luray ;  the  peo 
ple  decline  to  give  any  information  of  his  whereabouts.  Within 
the  last  two  days  the  evidence  is  strong  that  for  some  purpose 
the  enemy  is  circulating  rumors  of  Jackson's  advance  in 
various  directions,  with  a  view  to  conceal  the  real  point  of 
attack.  Neither  McDowell,  who  is  at  Manassas,  nor  Banks 
and  Fremont,  who  are  at  Middletown,  appear  to  have  any  accu 
rate  knowledge  of  the  subject. 

A  letter  transmitted  to  the  department  yesterday,  pur 
ported  to  be  dated  at  Gordonsville  on  the  14th  instant, 
stated  that  the  actual  attack  was  designed  for  Washington 
and  Baltimore,  as  soon  as  you  attacked  Richmond,  but 
that  the  report  was  to  be  circulated  that  Jackson  had  gone 
to  Richmond,  in  order  to  mislead.  .  This  letter  looked  very 
much  like  a  blind,  and  induces  me  to  suspect  that  Jackson's 
real  movement  is  now  toward  Richmond.  It  came  from  Alex 
andria,  and  is  certainly  designed,  like  the  numerous  rumors 
put  afloat,  to  mislead.  I  think,  therefore,  that  while  the  warn 
ing  of  the-  de5erter  to  you  may  also  be  a  blind,  that  it  could  not 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  377 

safely  be  disregarded.     I  will  transmit  to   you   any  further 
information  on  this  subject  that  may  be  received  here. 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 
Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN. 

On  the  25th,  McClellan  began  to  advance  his  left,  prepara 
tory,  he  says,  to  a  general  forward  movement.  In  the  evening 
of  the  same  day,  he  reported  :  "  The  affair  is  over,  and  we  have 
gained  our  point  fully,  and  with  but  little  loss,  notwithstanding 
the  strong  opposition."  An  hour  and  a  half  earlier,  he  had  tele 
graphed  :  "On  our  right,  Porter  has  silenced  the  enemy's  bat 
teries  in  his  front." 

The  blow  which  the  wily  deserter  had  announced  to  be  struck 
by  Jackson  on  the  28th,  fell  two  days  earlier.  Only  an  hour 
after  announcing  the  success  of  his  preliminary  movement  on 
the  25th,  McClellan  reported  that  he  had  "information  confirm 
ing  the  supposition  that  Jackson's  advance  is  at  or  near  Han 
over  Court  House,  and  that  Beauregard  arrived,  with  strong 
reinforcements,  in  Richmond  yesterday."  The  desponding 
side  of  his  temper,  and  an  impulse  to  protect  himself  from  the 
extreme  effects  of  an  apprehended  fall,  appear  in  the  following 
paragraph  of  this  dispatch  : 

I  regret  my  great  inferiority  in  numbers,  but  feel  that  I  am 
in  no  way  responsible  for  it,  as  I  have  not  failed  to  represent 
repeatedly  the  necessity  of  re-enforcements,  that  this  was  the 
decisive  point,  and  that  all  the  available  means  of  the  Govern 
ment  should  be  concentrated  here.  I  will  do  all  that  a  general 
can  do  with  the  splendid  army  I  have  the  honor  to  command, 
and,  if  it  is  destroyed  by  overwhelming  numbers,  can  at  least 
die  with  it  and  share  its  fate.  But  if  the  result  of  the  action 
which  will  probably  occur  to-morrow,  or  within  a  short  time, 
is  a  disaster,  the  responsibility  can  not  be  thrown  on  my  shoul 
ders  ;  it  must  rest  where  it  belongs. 

Secretary  Stanton  replied : 

WASHINGTON,  June  25, 1862,  11.20  P.  M. 
Your  telegram  of  fifteen  minutes  past  6  has  just  been 
received.  The  circumstances  that  have  hitherto  rendered  it 
impossible  for  the  Government  to  send  you  any  more  reenforce- 
ments  than  has  been  done,  have  been  so  distinctly  stated  to  you 
by  the  President,  that  it  is  needless  for  me  to  repeat  them. 


378  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Every  effort  has  been  made  by  the  President  and  myself  to 
strengthen  you.  King's  division  has  reached  Falmouth ; 
Shield  s  division  and  Ricketts'  division  are  at  Manassas.  The 
President  designs  to  send  a  part  of  that  force  to  aid  you  as 
speedily  as  it  can  be  done. 

E.  M.  STANTON,  Secretary  of  War. 

Maj.-Gen.  G.  B.  McCLELLAN. 

The  President  sent  the  following  dispatch  on  the  same 
subject  : 

WASHINGTON,  June  26,  1862. 

Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN:  Your  three  dispatches  of  yester 
day  in  relation  to  the  affair,  ending  with  the  statement  that  you 
completely  succeeded  in  making  your  point,  are  very  gratifying. 

The  later  gne,  of  6.15  P.  M.,  suggesting  the  probability  of 
your  being  overwhelmed  by  two  hundred  thousandj  and  talking 
of  where  the  responsibility  will  belong,  pains  me  very  much. 
I  give  you  all  I  can,  and  act  on  the  presumption  that  you  will 
do  the  best  you  can  with  what  you  have,  while  you  continue, 
ungenerously  I  think,  to  assume  that  I  could  give  you  more 
if  I  would.  I  have  omitted,  and  shall  omit,  no  opportunity  to 
send  you  reinforcements  whenever  I  possibly  can. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

P.  S.  Gen.  Pope  thinks  if  you  fall  back,  it  would  be  much 
better  toward  York  river  than  toward  the  James.  *As  Pope 
now  has  charge  of  the  Capitol,  please  confer  with  him  through 
the  telegraph.  A.  LINCOLN. 

The  aggregate  number  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  on  the 
20th  of  June,  was  156,838.  The  campaign  had  now  extended 
into  the  season  when  disease  could  not  fail  to  be  prevalent,  in 
the  low,  swampy  region  now  occupied  by  the  Government 
troops.  The  effective  men  numbered  115,102. 

From  the  evening  of  the  26th,  when  Jackson  attacked  his 
right,  and  threatened  his  communications  by  the  Pamunkey 
river,  Gen.  McClellan  states  that  "  every  energy  of  the  army 
was  bent"  to  the  end  of  "an  immediate  change  of  base  across 
the  Peninsula."  The  Rebel  Gen.  D.  H.  Hill  had  gone  out 
from  Richmond  with  his  command  that  day,  over  Meadow 
Bridge,  to  form  a  junction  with  Jackson,  who  was  approaching 
by  way  of  Ashland  and  Hanover  Court  House.  At  about  3 
o'clock  P.  M.,  Hill  attacked  McCall,  at  Mechanicsville,  and 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  379 

was  finally  repulsed,  with  great  loss.  Gen.  McClellan  tele 
graphed  :  "  Victory  to-day  complete,  and  against  great  odds. 
I  almost  begin  to  think  we  are  invincible."  During  the  night, 
the  baggage  of  the  Fifth  Corps  (Porter's)  was  sent  across  to 
the  west  side  of  the  Chickahominy,  and  preparations  were 
made  to  start  the  trains  next  day,  for  James  river.  Orders 
were  at  the  same  time  sent  to  the  White  House  for  the  removal 
of  all  the  stores  possible  from  that  vicinity,  by  water,  up  the 
James  river,  to  meet  the  retreating  army,  and  to  destroy  what 
ever  supplies  could  not  be  thus  reshipped.  These  orders  were 
promptly  executed.  Gen.  Stoneman,  with  his  cavalry  force, 
having  been  cut  off,  made  a  successful  retreat  to  the  White 
House. 

McCall  was  to  fall  back  and  unite  with  the  rest  of  Porter's 
corps,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Chickahominy,  to  hold  the 
bridges  at  Games'  Mill,  giving  time  for  the  main  army  to  exe 
cute  its  intended  movement.  This  position  was  to  have  been 
maintained  until  the  night  of  the  27th,  when  Porter's  force 
was  to  cross,  destroying  the  bridges.  Hill,  however,  attacked 
McCall  at  dawn  with  great  vigor,  compelling  him  to  retire 
further  down  the  stream,  leaving  the  bridge  at  Mechanicsville 
to  the  enemy.  A  large  part  of  the  Ptebel  force  was  now  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  river,  and  expeditiously  concentrated  for 
the  destruction  of  Porter's  forces  at  Games'  Mill,  near  the  New 
Bridge.  Porter's  left  at  length  gave  way,  under  the  fierce  and 
overwhelming  onset  of  the  enemy,  and  the  center  was  thrown 
into  confusion,  with  imminent  danger  of  utter  rout.  Reen- 
forcements  were  hurried  across  from  the  south  bank  of  the 
river,  and  saved  the  day.  Meagher's  Irish  brigade,  fighting 
with  unsurpassed  gallantry,  and  French's  brigade,  with  like 
heroic  conduct,  came  to  the  support  of  Porter's  broken  divi 
sions,  and  held  the  enemy  in  check  until  night  closed  the  con 
flict.  This  battle  was  one  of  the  most  sanguinary  of  the  cam 
paign,  resulting  in  defeat,  but  it  gained  time  for  starting  the 
trains  and  troops  through  White  Oak  Swamp.  It  had  also 
drawn  out  Lee's  forces  from  Richmond,  so  as  to  prevent  any 
immediate  interference  with  the  retreat  from  that  quarter. 

It  was  not  until  the  28th,  that  Lee  became  fully  aware  of 


380  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 

the  purpose  of  McClellan  to  withdraw  his  army  to  the  Jamew 
river.  The  single  road  by  whioh  this  movement  was  to  bo 
made  was  exposed,  at  different  points,  to  an  advance  of  the 
enemy  from  Richmond,  by  the  several  roads  leading  from  the 
city.  There  was  no  degree  of  security  until  the  rear  had 
passed  through  the  Swamp,  and  on  emerging  therefrom  the 
danger  would  be  soon  renewed.  The  corps  of  Sumner  and 
Franklin  were  stationed  at  Fair  Oaks  on  Sunday,  the  29th, 
(Heintzelman  meanwhile  retiring,)  and  having  protected  the 
trains,  which  were  now  well  on  their  way,  (a  large  amount  of 
property  which  could  not  be  transferred  having  been  destroyed,) 
began  to  fall  back.  The  enemy,  perceiving  the  movement, 
promptly  attacked  the  retiring  forces,  about  2  o'clock  P.  M., 
and  they  made  a  stand  not  far  from  Savage's  Station.  The 
Rebel  masses,  brought  up  within  a  short  distance  of  our  artil 
lery,  now  in  position,  were  repulsed  with  great  loss,  and  their 
repeated  attacks  were  successfully  repelled.  During  the  night, 
Sumner  and  Franklin  fell  back  to  the  White  Oak  Swamp 
bridge.  On  the  morning  of  the  30th,  the  last  of  the  troops 
had  followed  the  trains  across  that  bridge.  Franklin  remained 
to  dispute  the  passage  of  the  Rebels  at  this  point,  while  Heint 
zelman,  with  the  four  divisions  of  Hooker,  Sedgwick,  Kearney 
and  McCall,  took  position  at  Charles  City  Cross  Roads,  where 
several  roads  leading  from  Richmond  intersect.  Jackson's 
corps  crossed  the  Chickahominy  early  on  Monday  morning, 
following  up  the  retreating  army  by  the  Williamsburg  road. 
The  forces  of  Longstreet,  A.  P.  Hill,  Magruder  and  Huger 
went  out  the  Charles  City  road  with  the  expectation  of 
intercepting  our  forces  at  that  point.  Jackson  had  come  close 
upon  the  position  held  by  Franklin  at  the  White  Oak  Swamp, 
a  little  before  noon ;  but  the  rear  of  our  army  had  already 
crossed  and  destroyed  the  bridge.  An  artillery  engagement 
followed,  lasting  until  night,  with  severe  losses  on  both  sides. 
Two  brigades  of  Sumner's  corps  participated  in  this  action. 
Further  pursuit  from  this  direction  was  not  attempted. 

Toward  night,  on  the  same  day,  the  forces  of  Longstreet 
and  others  (commanded  by  Gen.  A.  P.  Hill,  the  former  being 
absent,)  attacked  the  force  under  Ileintzelman,  who  was  aided 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  381 

by  part  of  Sumner's  corps.  The  enemy  was  repulsed  with 
great  slaughter  and  thrown  into  confusion.  In  vain  were  fresh 
troops  massed  against  the  well-managed  batteries  and  heavy 
musketry  fire  of  our  forces.  After  a  desperate  conflict,  in 
which  the  fate  of  the  whole  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  at  stake, 
and  with  all  the  strength  the  Rebels  could  bring  upon  the 
field,  a  decisive  victory  was  gained  for  the  Government.  This 
has  been  called  the  battle  of  Glendale. 

The  corps  of  Keyes  and  Porter  had  meanwhile  moved  for 
ward,  in  advance  of  the  remaining  troops,  toward  James  river, 
near  Turkey  Bend,  to  open  communication  with  the  gunboats. 
The  rear  of  the  trains  had  reached  Malvern  Hill  while  the 
action  at  Glendale  was  going  on.  The  transports  from  the  White 
House  arrived  almost  simultaneously.  During  the  night,  the 
corps  of  Sumner,  Heintzelman  and  Franklin  fell  back  to  the 
vicinity  of  this  point.  Here  was  an  elevated  open  table-land, 
a  mile  and  a  half  in  length  by  three-fourths  of  a  mile  in 
breadth,  crossed  by  several  intersecting  roads.  The  troops 
were  massed  on  this  hill  for  a  final  encounter,  most  of  the 
artillery  being  placed  in  position — including  ten  siege  guns  at 
the  very  summit.  Porter's  corps  held  the  left,  Heiutzelman 
and  Sumner  the  center,  and  Keyes  the  right,  the  line  curving 
backward  nearly  to  the  river.  The  left  flank  was  protected 
by  the  gunboats  under  command  of  Com.  Rodgers,  which  took 
part  in  the  action,  and  on  the  right  the  roads  were  barricaded. 

Thus  disposed,  after  the  losses  incurred  during  a  weari 
some  retreat  of  seventeen  miles,  fighting  by  day  and  march 
ing  by  night,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  compelled 
to  grapple  with  the  collected  forces  of  the  enemy.  Before 
10  o'clock  in  the  morning,  Rebel  skirmishers,  with  artil 
lery,  appeared  all  along  the  left  wing.  About  2  o'clock  a 
column  was  seen  in  front  of  Heintzelman,  beyond  the  range 
of  his  artillery,  moving  toward  the  right,  but  it  disappeared 
without  making  an  attack.  An  hour  later,  the  divisions  of 
Kearney  and  Couch,  on  the  left  center,  were  fiercely  assailed 
with  artillery  and  musketry.  The  fire  was  returned  with  such 
effect  as  to  drive  back  the  assailants  in  disorder,  our  forcea 
advancing  several  hundred  yards  to  a  stronger  position.  This 


382  LIFE   OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

action  occupied  about  an  hour.  The  enemy  renewed  the  attack 
on  the  left  about  six  o'clock,  with  artillery,  advancing  his  in 
fantry  columns  to  storm  the  hill.  These  were  swept  away  by 
our  batteries,  and  each  successive  attacking  party  shared  the 
same  fate,  until  the  field  was  covered  with  the  wounded  and 
dead.  Not  only  artillery  fire,  but  also  volleys  of  musketry  and 
bayonet  charges,  met  the  persistent  assailants,  who  advanced, 
column  after  column,  only  to  be  crushed  and  scattered. 
Night  ended  the  terrible  struggle — the  Stars  and  Stripes 
floating  in  grand  triumph  over  the  field  made  ghastly  with 
the  Rebel  masses,  fallen  in  the  vain  attempt  to  overwhelm 
a  gallant  army  that  six  days  before  had  seemed  their  easy 
prey. 

Instead  of  improving  the  advantage  gained,  to  drive  into 
Richmond  an  enemy  whose  strength,  as  now  shown  by  repeated 
trials,  had  been  greatly  overrated,  and  who  was  disheartened  by 
continued  defeat,  the  commanding  General  withdrew  his  forces 
from  their  strong  position,  retiring  to  Harrison's  Landing. 
This  was  effected  during  the  next  two  days,  with  no  serious 
attempt  at  molestation  from  the  enemy.  Gen.  McClellan  states 
the  entire  number  of  his  killed,  wounded  and  missing  during 
these  seven  days,  at  15,249. 

Thus  ended  the  Peninsular  campaign — adding  three  disas 
trous  months  of  unmasterly  activity  to  the  eight  months  of 
dreamy  indecision  before  Washington.  It  was  no  fault  of  the 
army.  It  was  from  no  lack  of  support  by  the  Government. 
It  was  due  to  no  combination  of  untoward  events.  The  posi 
tive  successes  at  Williamsburg,  at  Fair  Oaks,  at  Savage's  Station, 
at  Glendale,  and  at  Malvern  Hill,  show  that  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  could  win  victories,  even  against  great  supposed 
odds  in  numbers  and  in  position,  when  courageously  led  to  the 
fight. 

In  adopting  a  route  to  Richmond  by  the  Lower  Chesapeake, 
against  the  better  judgment  of  the  President,  Gen.  McClellan 
had  expressed  his  readiness  to  stake  his  reputation,  his  life 
and  the  cause  itself,  on  the  success  of  his  plan.  He  was  fur 
nished  all  needful  means,  and  every  available  man,  consistently 
with  his  own  opinions  as  to  the  necessary  security  of  Washing 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  383 

ton,  and  with  the  express  conditions  agreed  to  by  himself  in. 
undertaking  the  work.  He  sadly  failed  in  his  efforts  to  employ 
those  men  and  means  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  end 
desired 

The  military  record  of  the  campaign  has  a  singular  same 
ness.  "When  occasionally  his  roads  are  good,  he  can  not  move 
without  reinforcements.  When  his  reinforcements  come,  he 
has  to  wait  for  better  roads.  Thus  time  passes — the  month  of 
April,  before  an  army  originally  one-eighth  as  large  as  his  own  ; 
much  of  May  and  June  by  the  sickly  Chickahominy,  his  men 
not  unfit  for  duty  engaged  in  throwing  up  intrenchments,  to  be 
abandoned  on  the  first  attack.  Day  'after  day,  he  is  only 
waiting  for  something  just  on  the  point  of  being  gained, 
when  his  final  advance  and  assault  are  to  commence.  But 
perfect  readiness  never  comes  ;  and  at  last,  the  enemy,  con 
centrating  all  his  strength,  himself  attacks,  and  puts  upon  its 
defense,  an  army  that  was  confidently  led  forth  for  aggres 
sive  war. 

A  month  wasted  at  Yorktown,  without  plausible  palliation  ; 
tardy  pursuit,  after  the  unintended  battle,  resulting  in  victory 
at  Williamsburg ;  unaccountable  hesitation  and  slackness  on 
the  Chickahominy  ;  utter  neglect  to  use  the  known  absence 
of  Jackson,  or  to  anticipate  the  arrival  of  Beauregard  after 
the  evacuation  of  Corinth ;  insured  an  otherwise  impossible 
discomfiture.  Never  did  the  result  of  a  campaign  more  bit 
terly  disappoint  public  hope.  The  worst  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
had  foreseen  from  the  adoption  of  the  Peninsular  plan  had 
happened,  and  even  a  loss  of  the  entire  army  was  now  dreaded. 
Every  advantage  supposed  by  Gen.  McClellan  to  be  attainable 
by  this  route  to  Richmond  had  been  thrown  away.  The  cause 
had  suffered  a  vastly  greater  blow  than  at  Bull  Bun.  The  nation 
was  more  depressed ;  the  Administration  more  painfully  em 
barrassed,  than  by  any  previous  calamity.  The  worst  effects 
upon  the  cause,  abroad  and  at  home,  were  to  be  apprehended 
from  this  unfortunate  issue  of  a  jrrand  military  plan. 


384  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Campaign  of  the  Army  of  Virginia. — Withdrawal  of  the  Army  of  tha 
Potomac  from  the  Peninsula. — First  Invasion  of  Maryland. — McClel- 
lan  Superseded. 

GEN.  FREMONT,  commanding  the  Mountain  Department, 
and  Gen.  Banks,  commanding  the  Department  of  the  Shenan- 
doah,  having  failed  to  cooperate  effectively  in  carrying  out  the 
President's  order  intended  to  entrap  Jackson  in  his  bold  ope 
rations  in  the  Valley,  and  the  subsequent,  movements  of  Gen- 
McDowell,  in  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Rappahan- 
nock,  having  also  been  unable  to  render  decisive  aid  in  this 
work,  it  became  manifest  that  a  reorganization  of  the  forces  in 
question,  under  one  head,  had  become  necessary.  Some  time 
before  the  final  catastrophe  at  Richmond,  it  had  also  become 
apparent  that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  instead  of  accomplish 
ing  its  object,  was  rather  in  danger  of  being  itself  sacrificed. 
Meanwhile,  the  capture  of  New  Madrid,  the  occupation  of 
Corinth,  and  the  rapid  advance  of  our  forces  down  the  Missis 
sippi,  taking  possession  of  Fort  Pillow  on  the  5th  of  June,  and 
of  Memphis  on  the  6th,  and  passing  with  little  opposition  to 
Vicksburg,  (before  which  our  fleet  appeared  on  the  25th,)  had 
not  only  secured  substantial  results,  but  had  also  awakened  a 
desire  for  similar  leadership  in  the  East. 

Few  events  of  the  war,  thus  far,  had  evinced  better  general 
ship  than  the  operations  at  New  Madrid  and  Island  Number 
Ten,  in  which  Maj.-Gen.  John  Pope  was  the  hero.  Aside  from 
Gen.  Grant,  still  needed  with  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  no 
other  general,  at  this  time,  was  more  emphatically  a  rising  man  in 
the  army.  The  President  accordingly  determined  to  call  Gen. 
Pope  to  Washington,  where  he  arrived  about  the  20th  of  June. 
After  full  consultation  and  deliberation,  the  President  having 
Visited  Gen.  Scott  at  West  Point,  on  the  24th,  it  was  decided 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  385 

to  consolidate  the  three  departments  specified  above,  and  to 
organize  a  new  campaign.  In  pursuance  of  this  purpose,  the 
President  issued  his  order,  on  the  2Gth  of  June,  creating  the 
Army  of  Virginia,  under  the  command  of  Gen.  Pope,  the 
forces  under  Gen.  Fremont  to  constitute  the  First  Army  Corps, 
those  of  Gen.  Banks  the  Second  Corps,  and  those  under  Gen. 
McDowell  the  Third  Corps,  each  to  be  commanded  by  those 
officers  respectively.  At  the  time  of  this  action,  the  critical 
condition  of  McClellan's  army  seemed  to  impose  the  necessity 
of  positive  measures  for  protecting  Washington  and  holding 
the  approach  into  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  by  the  Shenan- 
doah  Valley,  from  the  first  foreseen,  as  since  demonstrated,  to 
be  an  important  element  of  the  military  position. 

On  the  27th,  Gen.  Fremont  asked  to  be  relieved  from  his 
command.  This  request  was  granted,  and  his  connection  with 
the  army,  in  any  active  command,  has  never  since  been 
resumed.  Gen.  Francis  Sigel  was  soon  after  put  in  command 
of  the  First  Corps  of  the  Army  of  Virginia  in  his  stead. 

Maj.-Gen.  Halleck  was  also  called  to  Washington.  It  may 
be  safely  assumed  that  the  appointment  of  this  officer  aa 
General-in-chief  of  the  army  was  one  of  the  subjects  in  regard 
to  which  the  President  had  anxiously  desired  the  counsel  of 
Gen.  Scott,  and  about  which  there  was  a  free  interchang^  of 
views,  on  the  memorable  visit  of  the  24th  of  June.  The 
appointment  of  Gen.  Halleck  as  General-in-chief  was  officially 
announced  on  the  llth  of  July. 

On  the  28th  of  June,  the  Governors  of  seventeen  States 
united  in  an  address  to  the  President,  expressing  their  belief 
in  the  readiness  of  the  people  to  respond  to  a  call  for  more 
troops,,  and  in  the  popular  desire  for  prompt  and  vigorous 
measures  to  end  the  rebellion.  In  response,  the  following  cir 
cular  was  sent  to  each  of  the  Governors  uniting  in  this  sug 
gestion,  and  the  call  for  three  hundred  thousand  additiona. 
troops  was  at  once  published  : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     ) 
July  1,  1862.  } 

GENTLEMEN  :    Fully  concurring  in  the  wisdom  of  the  views 
expressed  to  me  in  so  patriotic  a  manner  by  you  in  the  com- 
25 


386  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

munication  of  the  28th  day  of  June,  I  have  decided  to  cal 
into  the  service  an  additional  force  of  three  hundred  thousand 
men. 

I  suggest  and  recommend  that  tj|e  troops  should  be  chieflj 

of  infantry.     The  quota  of  your  State  would  be .     I  trust 

that  they  may  be  enrolled  without  delay,  so  as  to  bring  this 
unnecessary  and  injurious  civil  war  to  a  speedy  and  satisfactory 
conclusion. 

An  order  fixing  the  quotas  of  the  respective  States  will  be 
issued  by  the  War  Department  to-morrow. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Gen.  Pope  at  once  entered  on  the  work  of  preparation  forj 
the  far  from  welcome  duties  assigned  him.  On  ascertaining 
the  condition  of  the  forces  placed  at  his  command,  he  was  pain 
fully  conscious  of  the  great  disproportion  of  the  means  at  his 
disposal  to  the  ends  that  were  desired.  In  addition  to  the 
troops  within  the  intrenchments  around  Washington,  the 
whole  effective  force  at  his  disposal  was  as  follows  :  First  Corps, 
11,500  ;  Second  Corps,  (as  reported,)  14,500  ;  and  Third  Corps, 
18,400 — making  in  all,  44,400.  Gen.  Pope  states,  however, 
that  the  Second  Corps  really  numbered  but  about  8,000,  so  that 
the  total  was  barely  33,000.  With  this  force,  the  new  Com 
manding  General  had  the  triple  task  of  defending  Washington, 
homing  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  creating  a  diversion  in 
favor  of  the  army  at  Harrison's  Landing. 

At  the  first  intelligence  of  Jackson's  onset  upon  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  by  way  of  Hanover  Court  House,  on  the  26th, 
Gen.  Pope  had  earnestly  and  repeatedly  urged  the  impolicy  of 
a  retreat  to  the  James  river,  still  further  away  from  re-enforce 
ments,  but  advised,  instead,  that  McClellan  should  make  his 
way  northward,  where  effective  support  could  be  rendered  him 
by  the  remaining  troops  in  Virginia.  This  policy  of  concen 
tration  may  have  been  impracticable,  under  the  circumstances ; 
and  at  all  events,  it  was  little  regarded  by  McClellan,  except 
upon  conditions  that  would  expose  to  the  enemy  all  the  ap 
proaches  to  Washington  and  the  Valley.  The  necessity  of  cor 
dial  cooperation  between  the  little  army  left  for  the  defense  of 
these  positions,  and  the  remnant  of  McCIellan's  force,  at  Harri 
son's  Landing,  was  obvious.  The  utter  impossibility  of  send 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  387 

ing  to  the  latter  point  any  re-enforcements  drawn  from  the 
former,  hardly  needs  to  be  stated,  and  yet  it  was  for  precisely 
the  reason  that  this  was  not  done,  that. Gen.  McClellan,  after 
his  disastrous  battle  at  Gaines'  Mill,  on  the  28th,  wrote  the 
following  letter — which,  but  for  his  deliberate  reproduction  of 
it  in  his  final  report,  might  have  been  charitably  dismissed  as 
a  mere  hasty  ebullition — received  with  a  forbearance  which, 
perhaps,  such  unanaiable  weakness  had  long  since  ceased  to 
deserve  : 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC,     } 
SAVAGE'S  STATION,  June  28,  1862,  12.20  A.  M.  j 

I  now  know  the  full  history  of  the  day.  On  this  side  of  the 
river  (the  right  bank)  we  repulsed  several  strong  attacks.  On 
the  left  bank  our  men  did  all  that  men  could  do,  all  that  sol 
diers  could  accomplish,  but  they  were  overwhelmed  by  vastly 
superior  numbers,  even  after  I  brought  my  last  reserves  into 
action.  The  loss  on  both  sides  is  terrible.  I  believe  it  will 
prove  to  be  the  most  desperate  battle  of  the  war.  The  sad 
remnants  of  my  men  behave  as  men.  Those  battalions  who 
fought  most  bravely,  and  suffered  most,  are  still  in  the  best 
order.  My  regulars  were  superb  ;  and  I  count  upon  what  are 
left  to  turn  another  battle,  in  company  with  their  gallant  com 
rades  of  the  volunteers.  Had  I  twenty  thousand  or  even  ten 
thousand  fresh  troops  to  use  to-morrow,  I  could  take  Rich 
mond  ;  but  I  have  not  a  man  in  reserve,  and  shall  be  glad  to 
cover  my  retreat  and  save  the  material  and  personnel  of  the 
army. 

If  we  have  lost  the  day,  we  have  yet  preserved  our  honor, 
and  no  one  need  blush  for  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  I  have 
lost  this  battle  because  my  force  was  too  small. 

I  again  repeat  that  I  am  not  responsible  for  this,  and  I  say 
it  with  the  earnestness  of  a  general  who  feels  in  his  heart  the 
loss  of  every  brave  man  who  has  been  needlessly  sacrificed 
to-day.  I  still  hope  to  retrieve  our  fortunes ;  but  to  do  this 
the  Government  must  view  the  matter  in  the  same  earnest  light 
that  I  do.  You  must  send  me  very  large  re-enforcements,  and 
send  them  at  once.  I  shall  draw  back  to  this  side  of  the  Chick- 
ahominy,  and  think  I  can  withdraw  all  our  material.  Please 
understand  that  in  this  battle  we  have  lost  nothing  but  men, 
and  those  the  best  we  have. 

In  addition  to  what  I  have  already  said,  I  only  wish  to  say 
to  the  President  that  I  think  he  is  wrong  in  regarding  me  as 
ungenerous  when  I  said  that  my  force  was  too  weak.  I  merely 


388  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

intimated  a  truth  which  to-day  has  been  too.  plainly  proved, 
If,  at  this  instant,  I  could  dispose  of  ten  thousand  fresh  men, 
I  could  gain  the  victory  to-morrow. 

I  know  that  a  few  thousand  more  men  would  have  changed 
this  battle  from  a  defeat  to  a  victory.  As  it  is,  the  Government 
must  not  and  can  not  hold  me  responsible  for  the  result. 

I  feel  too  earnestly  to-night.  I  have  seen  too  many  dead 
and  wounded  comrades  to  feel  otherwise  than  that  the  Govern 
ment  has  not  sustained  this  army.  If  you  do  not  so  now,  the 
game  is  lost. 

If  I  save  this  army  now,  I  tell  you  plainly  that  I  owe  no 
thanks  to  you,  or  to  any  other  persons  in  Washington. 

You  have  done  your  best  to  sacrifice  this  army. 

G.    B.    McCLELLAN. 

Hon.  E.  M.  STANTON. 

Further  communication  with  this  officer  was  interrupted 
until,  after  his  arrival  at  Harrison's  Landing,  the  following 
dispatch  was  sent  in  reply  : 

WASHINGTON,  July  1,  1862,  3.30  P.  M. 

It  is  impossible  to  re-enforce  you  for  your  present  emer 
gency.  If  we  had  a  million  of  men,  we  could  not  get  them  tc 
you  in  time.  We  have  not  the  men  to  send.  If  you  are  not 
strong  enough  to  face  the  enemy,  you  must  find  a  place  of 
Becurity,  and  wait,  rest,  and  repair.  Maintain  your  ground  if 
you  can,  but  save  the  army  at  all  events,  even  if  you  fall  back 
to  Fort  Monroe.  We  still  have  strength  enough  in  the  coun 
try,  and  will  bring  it  out.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Maj.-Gen.  G.  B.  McCLELLAN. 

Obviously,  the  chief  concern  in  regard  to  this  army  was  now 
to  preserve  it  from  further  loss — there  having  been,  in  fact, 
apprehensions  through  the  country  that  its  entire  surrender 
would  be  the  ultimate  result,  even  after  it  had  reached  its 
present  comparatively  secure  position.  Indeed,  had  the  num 
bers  under  Lee  at  all  corresponded  with  McCTellan's  estimate, 
this  danger  was  still  imminent.  The  enemy  held  one  bank  of 
the  James  river,  the  chief  security  to  our  communications 
being  in  the  fleet  of  gunboats  under  Commodore  Eodgers. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances  that  Gen.  Pope,  having 
unsuccessfully  appealed  to  the  chief  authorities  at  Washington 
to  relieve  him  from  a  command  from  which  so  little  was  to  be 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  389 

hoped,  and  in  which  his  high  military  reputation  was  staked  at 
fearful  odds,  issued  an  energetic  address  to  his  army,  with  the 
vigorous  orders  so  offensive  to  his  adversaries,  and  proceeded 
earnestly  to  the_  performance  of  the  three-fold  duties  already 
indicated,  drawing  almost  the  entire  army  of  Lee  away  from 
Richmond. 

One  of  Pope's  first  movements  was  the  sending  out  of 
cavalry  detachments  from  Fredericksburg,  to  cut  the  Virginia 
Central  railroad  at  several  points.  This  having  been  duly 
accomplished,  orders  were  given  to  Gen.  Banks,  on  the  14th  of 
July,  to  send  forward  all  his  cavalry,  with  an  infantry  support, 
to  occupy  Culpepper  Court  House,  and  to  advance  from  thence 
to  Gordonsville,  destroying  the  railroad  for  ten  or  fifteen  miles 
eastward  from  that  place.  The  cavalry  commander  failed  to 
execute  the  latter  part  of  the  order,  going  only  as  far  as  Madi 
son  Court  House — a  failure  which  cost  him  his  command. 
Jackson's  advance,  under  Ewell,  reached  Gordonsville  on  the 
16th.  Gen.  Pope  took  the  field  in  person  on  the  29th,  and 
the  main  portion  of  his  infantry  and  artillery  was  placed  in 
position,  by  the  7th  of  August,  along  the  turnpike  road  from 
Sperryville  to  Culpepper.  Gen.  Buford,  who  had  been  as 
signed  to  the  command  of  the  cavalry  in  Banks'  corps,  was 
posted  at  Madison  Court  House  with  five  regiments,  his  pick 
ets  extending  along  the  Rapidan,  from  Burnett's  Ford  to  the 
Blue  Ridge.  Gen.  Sigel  was  directed  to  send  a  brigade  of 
infantry  and  a  battery  of  artillery,  in  support  of  Buford,  to 
Robertson's  river.  Gen.  Bayard,  with  four  cavalry  regiments, 
was  posted  near  Rapidan  Station,  his  pickets  extending  east 
ward  along  the  Rapidan  to  Raccoon  Ford,  and  westward  to 
meet  those  of  Buford  at  Burnett's  Ford.  Cavalry  pickets  were 
also  stationed  along  the  Rapidan  from  Raccoon  Ford  to  the  con 
fluence  of  that  river  with  the  Rappahannock,  while  King's 
division  of  infantry  remained  opposite  Fredericksburg,  substan 
tially  completing  the  line  to  the  Potomac. 

On  the  8th,  the  enemy  was  reported  in  force  in  front  of  both 
Bayard  and  Buford,  the  former  slowly  falling  back  toward  Cul 
pepper.  Crawford's  brigade,  of  Banks'  corps,  was  sent  towaid 
Cedar  mountain,  to  support  Bayard,  and  to  aid  in  ascertaining 


390  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

tlie  namlbers  and  intentions  of  the  enemy.  On  the  9th,  Banks 
was  ordered,  with  the  remainder  of  his  corps,  to  join  the  bri 
gade  under  Crawford — Sigel  having  failed,  for  some  reason,  tc 
arrive  from  Sperryville,  to  participate  in  this  movement  as 
intended.  Ricketts'  division,  of  McDowell's  corps,  was  posted 
three  miles  in  the  rear  of  Ban-ks,  so  as  to  be  available  for  hiy 
support,  or  to  be  thrown  toward  Sperryville,  whither  Buford 
was  retreating,  reporting  a  heavy  Rebel  force  advancing  toward 
Culpepper  from  Madison  Court  House. 

During  the  day,  on  the  9th,  and  down  to  five  o'clock,  the 
enemy  did  not  appear  before  Banks,  in  any  considerable  force, 
which  led  that  officer,  contrary  to  the  intentions  of  the  com 
manding  General,  who  merely  desired  the  enemy  at  this  point 
to  be  kept  in  check,  to  advance  two  miles  to  attack.  In  reality, 
he  encountered  a  superior  force  in  a  strong  position,  his  troops 
fighting  bravely.  The  action  lasted  less  than  two  hours,  the 
Government  forces  being  gradually  driven  back  to  their  former 
position,  with  considerable  loss.  Ricketts'  division  now  came 
up  to  their  aid,  with  Gen.  Pope  at  its  head.  A  brisk  artillery 
fire  was  soon  after  commenced,  driving  back  the  enemy  to  his 
former  shelter  in  the  woods. 

Sigel  having  arrived,  his  corps  was  now  advanced  and  that 
of  Banks  withdrawn  toward  Culpepper,  to  be  put  in  condition 
after  its  fatigues  and  losses.  King  had  been  telegraphed  for 
at  Fredericksburg  on  the  8th,  and  arrived  on  the  night  of  the 
llth,  which  day  had  been  spent  by  both  parties  in  burying  the 
dead.  Pope,  now  having  numbers  about  equal  to  those  of  the 
enemy,  determined  to  bring  on  a  battle,  by  falling  on  his  line 
of  communications  at  daybreak.  But,  during  the  night,  Jack 
son  retired  hurriedly  across  the  Rapidan,  toward  Gordonsville, 
leaving  behind  many  of  his  dead  and  wounded.  Gen.  Pope 
reports  a  loss  of  about  1,800  men,  in  killed,  wounded  and 
prisoners. 

A  cavalry  force,  under  Buford  and  Bayard,  followed  the 
enemy  to  the  Rapidan,  capturing  many  stragglers.  Thereupon 
the  cavalry  resumed  its  former  position,  on  the  line  of  the 
Rapidan,  from  Raccoon  Ford  to  the  Blue  Ridge. 

On  the  14th,  Pope  had  an  accession  to  his  strength,  by  the 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  391 

arrival  of  Gen.  Reno,  with  8,000  men  from  the  forces  of  Gen. 
Burnside  (Ninth  Corps),  which  had  arrived  at  Falmouth.  The 
army  was  then  advanced,  taking  a  favorable  position,  with  its 
right,  under  Sigel,  resting  on  Robertson's  river;  the  center, 
under  McDowell,  occupying  both  flanks  of  Cedar  mountain, 
and  the  left,  under  Reno,  taking  position  near  Raccoon  Ford, 
covering  the  road  thence  to  Stevensburg  and  Culpepper  Court 
House.  The  cavalry,  meanwhile,  continued  to  operate  on  the 
communications  of  the  enemy,  who  was  receiving  heavy  ree'n- 
forcements  from  Richmond.  A  cavalry  expedition  sent  toward 
Louisa  Court  House,  on  the  16th,  captured  the  Adjutant  Gen 
eral  of  Stuart,  and,  among  other  papers,  an  autograph  letter 
from  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee  to  the'  latter,  showing  the  plans  of 
the  enemy  to  mass  an  overwhelming  force  in  Pope's  front,  and 
to  fall  upon  him  before  he  could  be  reenforced  from  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac.  Despairing  of  such  assistance  in  holding  his 
present  strong  position,  Pope  made  the  best  dispositions  in  his 
power  for  withdrawing  behind  the  Rappahannock,  which  move 
ment  was  executed  with  great  skill  and  expedition,  on  the  night 
of  the  18th,  and  during  the  day  of  the  19th. 

It  now  becomes  necessary  to  return  to  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac,  the  presence  and  cooperation  of  which  had  become  so 
essential  to  success  at  this  critical  juncture. 

During  the  first  days  of  July,  Gen.  McClellau  had  been  en 
deavoring  to  render  his  new  position  as  secure  as  possible.  It 
was  early  manifest  that  a  withdrawal  of  his  force,  to  aid  in  the 
operations  before  Washington,  did  not  accord  with  his  indi 
vidual  views.  To  the  last,  he  was  extremely  loath  to  abandon 
the  Peninsula.  On  the  4th  of  July,  McClellan  had  said,  in  a 
dispatch  to  the  President :  "Our  communication^  by  the  James 
river  are  not  secure.  There  are  points  where  the  enemy  can 
establish  themselves  with  cannon  or  musketry  and  command 
the  river,  and  where  it  is  not  certain  that  our  gunboats  caii 
drive  them  out."  At  the  same  date,  before  receiving  the  dis 
patch  just  quoted  from,  the  President,  still  anxious  in  regard 
to  the  preservation  of  McClellan's  remaining  force,  and  without 
having  definitely  determined  on  the  course  to  be  pursued  with 
regard  to  it,  wrote  him  as  follows : 


392  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,          ) 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  D.  C.,  July  4,  1862.  j 

I  understand  your  position  as  stated  in  your  letter,  and  by 
Gen.  Marcy.  To  re-enforce  you  so  as  to  enable  you  to  resume 
the  offensive  within  a  month,  or  even  six  weeks,  is  impossible. 
In  addition  to  that  arrived  and  now  arriving  from  the  Potomac 
(about  ten  thousand  men,  I  suppose),  and  about  ten  thousand 
I  hope  you  will  have  from  Burnside  very  soon,  and  about  five 
thousand  from  Hunter  a  little  later,  I  do  not  see  how  I  can 
send  you  another  man  within  a  month.  Under  these  circum 
stances,  the  defensive,  for  the  present,  must  be  your  only  care. 
Save  the  army,  first,  where  you  are,  if  you  can,  and,  secondly, 
by  removal,  if  you  must.  You,  on  the  ground,  must  be  the 
judge  as  to  which  you  will  attempt,  and  of  the  means  for  effect 
ing  it.  I  but  give  it  as  my  opinion,  that  with  the  aid  of  the 
gunboats  and  the  re-enforcements  mentioned  above,  you  can 
hold  your  present  position ;  provided,  and  so  long  as  you  can 
keep  the  James  river  open  below  you.  If  you  are  not  tolerably 
confident  you  can  keep  the  James  river  open,  you  had  better 
remove  as  soon  as  possible.  I  do  not  remember  that  you  have 
expressed  any  apprehension  as  to  the  danger  of  having  your 
communications  cut  on  the  river  below  you,  yet  I  do  not  sup 
pose  it  can  have  escaped  your  attention. 

Yours,  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN. 

P.  S. — If  at  any  time  you  feel  able  to  take  the  offensive,  you 
are  not  restrained  from  doinc;  so.  A.  L. 


McClellan  replied,  on  the  7th  :  "  My  position  is  very  strong, 
and  daily  becoming  more  so.  If  not  attacked  to-day,  I  shall 
laugh  at  them.  I  have  been  anxious  about  my  communica 
tions Alarm  yourself  as  little  as  possible  about  me,  and 

don't  lose  confidence  in  this  army."  At  the  same  date,  he 
wrote  a  long  letter  to  the  President,  volunteering  a  statement 
of  his  "general  views  concerning  the  existing  state  of  the  rebel 
lion."  He  reminds  Mr.  Lincoln  that  u  the  Rebel  army  is  in 
the  front,  with  the  purpose  of  overwhelming  us  by  attacking 
our  positions  or  reducing  us  by  blocking  our  river  commu 
nications."  He  "  can  not  but  regard  "  his  "  condition  as  criti 
cal."  The  singularity  of  one  sitting  down,  under  such  circum 
stances,  to  write  a  political  disquisition,  as  if  he  were  the 
veriest  gentleman  of  leisure,  is  more  striking  than  any  thing 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  393 

in  the  document  itself.  Two  or  three  paragraphs  in  this  letter 
(dated  July  7,  1862,  and  published  at  length  in  the  writer's 
last  official  report)  will  serve  to  show  its  quality : 

Our  cause  must  never  be  abandoned  ;  it  is  the  cause  of  free 
institutions  and  self-government.  The  Constitution  and  the 
Union  must  be  preserved,  whatever  may  be  the  cost  in  time, 
treasure,  and  blood.  If  secession  is  successful,  other  dissolu 
tions  are  clearly  to  be  seen  in  the  future.  Let  neither  military 
disaster,  political  faction,  nor  foreign  war  shake  your  settled 
purpose  to  enforce  the  equal  operation  of  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  upon  the  people  of  every  State.  The  time  has 
come  when  the  Government  must  determine  upon  a  civil  and 
military  policy,  covering  the  whole  ground  of  our  National 
trouble 

This  rebellion  has  assumed  the  character  of  a  war ;  as  such 
it  should  be  regarded,  and  it  should  be  conducted  upon  the 
highest  principles  known  to  Christian  civilization.  It  should 
not  be  a  war  looking  to  the  subjugation  of  the  people  of  any 
State,  in  any  event.  It  should  not  be  at  all  a  war  upon  popu 
lation,  but  against  armed  forces  and  political  organizations. 
Neither  confiscation  of  property,  political  executions  of  per 
sons,  territorial  organization  of  States,  or  forcible  abolition  of 
slavery  should  be  contemplated  for  a  moment.  .  .  . 

Unless  the  principles  governing  the  future  conduct  of  our 
struggle  shall  be  made  known  and  approved,  the  effort  to  obtain 
requisite  forces  will  be  almost  hopeless.  A  declaration  of  radi 
cal  views,  especially  upon  slavery,  will  rapidly  disintegrate  our 
present  armies.  The  policy  of  the  Government  must  be  sup 
ported  by  concentrations  of  military  power.  The  National  forces 
should  not  be  dispersed  in  expeditions,  posts  of  occupation,  and 
numerous  armies,  but  should  be  mainly  collected  into  masses, 
and  brought  to  bear  upon  the  armies  of  the  Confederate  States. 
Those  armies  thoroughly  defeated,  the  political  structure  which 
they  support  would  soon  cease  to  exist. 

From  time  to  time,  Gen.  McClellan  continued  to  urge  the 
policy  of  preparing  his  army  to  advance  on  Richmond  from  its 
present  position.  He  called  for  reinforcements,  asking  a  con 
centration  under  his  command  of  "  every  thing  we  can  possibly 
spare  from  less  important  points,  to  make  sure  of  crushing  the 
enemy  at  Richmond,  which  seems  clearly  to  be  the  most  impor 
tant  point  in  rebeldom."  The  President  visited  Harrison's 
Landing  on  the  8th  of  July,  and  in  company  with  the  Com- 


394  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

mandisg  General,  reviewed  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  For 
an  entire  month,  scarcely  so  much  as  a  reconnoissance  in  force 
occurred  to  break  the  monotony  of  life  in  that  unhealthy 
locality.  On  the  30th,  Gen.  Halleck  suggested  that  the  enemy 
at  Richmond  be  pressed,  to  ascertain  the  strength  of  his  force 
there.  Finally,  on  the  4th  of  August,  one  day  after  being 
ordered  to  prepare  for  a  prompt  withdrawal  to  Acquia  Creek,  the 
divisions  of  Hooker  and  Sedgwick,  by  order  of  Gten.  McClellan, 
advanced  and  turned  Malvern  Hill,  causing  the  Rebel  force 
which  had  occupied  that  position  to  retreat  toward  Richmond. 
Col.  Averill,  on  the  evening  of  the  5th,  returned  from  a  cavalry 
reconnoissance  in  the  direction  of  Savage's  Station,  and  McClel 
lan  announced :  "  Our  troops  have  advanced  twelve  miles  in 
one  direction,  and  seventeen  in  another,  toward  Richmond 
to-day."  Meanwhile,  he  had  commenced  sending  off  his  sick 
and  disabled  soldiers,  as  directed  by  Gen.  Halleck,  on  the  30th 
of  July — the  order  being  repeated,  with  emphasis,  on  the  2d 
of  August.  On  the  6th,  he  was  ordered  to  send,  "  imme 
diately,"  a  regiment  of  cavalry  and  several  batteries  of  artil 
lery  to  Rurnside's  command  at  Acquia  Creek.  Instead  of 
promptly  complying  with  this  order,  Gen.  McClellan 
returned  a  dispatch  offering  reasons  for  non-compliance,  and 
promising  to  "  obey  the  order  as  soon  as  circumstances  per 
mit."  It  was  partly  complied  with  a  day  or  two  later. 

From  the  3d  of  August,  when  he  was  directed  to  take  "  im 
mediate  measures"  for  withdrawing  his  army  from  the  Penin 
sula,  Gen.  McClellan  earnestly  resisted  this  order,  until,  on  the 
6th,  he  was  definitively  informed :  "  The  order  will  not  be 
rescinded,  and  you  will  be  expected  to  execute  it  with  all  pos 
sible  promptness."  Gen.  Halleck,  who  had  not  determined  on 
this  course,  until  he  had  visited  Gen.  McClellan  in  camp, 
respectfully  considered  the  views  presented  against  it,  and 
wrote  him  at  length,  assigning  the  following,  among  other 
reasons,  for  the  policy  adopted  : 

You  and  your  officers  at  our  interview  estimated  the  enemy's 
forces  in  and  around  Richmond  at  200,000  men.  Since  then, 
you  and  others  report  that  they  have  received,  and  are  receiv 
ing,  large  re-enforcements  from  the  South.  Gen.  Pope's  army, 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  395 

covering  Washington,  is  only  about  40,000.  Your  effective  force 
is  only  about  90,000.  You  are  thirty  miles  from  Richmond,  and 
Gen.  Pope,  eighty  or  ninety,  with  the  enemy  directly  between 
you,  ready  to  fall  with  his  superior  numbers  upon  one  or  the 
other,  as  he  may  elect  j  neither  can  re-enforce  the  other  in  case 
of  such  an  attack. 

If  Gen.  Pope's  army  be  diminished  to  re-enforce  you,  "Wash 
ington,  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  would  be  left  uncovered 
and  exposed.  If  your  force  be  reduced  to  strengthen  Pope, 
you  would  be  too  weak  to  even  hold  the  position  you  now  oc 
cupy,  should  the  enemy  turn  round  and  attack  you  in  full  force. 
In  other  words,  the  old  Army  of  the  Potomac  is  split  into  two 
parts,  with  the  entire  force  of  the  enemy  directly  between  them. 
They  can  not  be  united  by  land  without  exposing  both  to 
destruction,  and  yet  they  must  be  united.  To  send  Pope's 
forces  by  water  to  the  Peninsula  is,  under  present  circum 
stances,  a  military  impossibility.  The  only  alternative  is  to 
send  the  forces  on  the  Peninsula  to  some  point  by  water,  say 
Fredericksburg,  where  the  two  armies  can  be  united.  *  * 

But  you  will  reply,  why  not.  re-enforce  me  here,  so  that  I 
can  strike  llichmond  from  my  present  position  ?  To  do  this, 
you  said,  at  our  interview,  that  you  required  30,000  additional 
troops.  I  told  you  that  it  was  impossible  to  give  you  so  many. 
You  finally  thought  you  would  have  some  chance  of  success 
with  20,000.  But  you  afterward  telegraphed  me  that  you 
would  require  35,000,  as  the  enemy  was  being  largely  re- 
enforced. 

If  your  estimate  of  the  enemy's  strength  was  correct,  your 
requisition  was  perfectly  reasonable  ;  but  it  was  utterly  impos 
sible  to  fill  it  until  new  troops  could  be  enlisted  and  organized, 
which  would  require  several  weeks. 

To  keep  your  army  in  its  present  position  until  it  could  be 
so  re-enforced,  would  almost  destroy  it  in  that  climate. 

The  months  of  August  and  September  are  almost  fatal  to 
whites  who  live  on  that  part  of  James  river ;  and  even  after 
you  received  the  re-enforcements  asked  for,  you  admitted  that 
you  must  reduce  Fort  Darling  and  the  river  batteries  before 
you  could  advance  on  Richmond. 

It  is  by  no  means  certain  that  the  reduction  of  these  fortifi 
cations  would  not  require  considerable  time — perhaps  as  much 
as  those  at  Yorktown. 

This  delay  might  not  only  be  fatal  to  the  health  of  youi 
army,  but  in  the  mean  time  Gen.  Pope's  forces  would  be  ex 
posed  to  the  heavy  blows  of  the  enemy  without  the  slightesi 
hope  of  assistance  from  you. 

In  regard  to  the  demoralizing  %effect  of  a  withdrawal  from 


396  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

the  Peninsula  to  the  Rappahannock,  I  must  remark  that  a  large 
number  of  your  highest  officers,  indeed  a  majority  of  those 
whose  opinions  have  been  reported  to  me,  are  decidedly  in  favor 
of  the  movement.  Even  several  of  those  who  originally  advo 
cated  the  line  of  the  Peninsula,  now  advise  its  abandonment. 

This  final  decision  was  telegraphed  to  McClellan  on  the  6th. 
Pope's  situation  on  the  Rapidan,  as  already  seen,  was  becoming 
critical,  and  yet,  on  the  9th,  Gen.  Halleck  found  occasion  to 
telegraph  as  follows  : 

WASHINGTON,  August  9,  1862,  12.45  P.  M. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  enemy  is  massing  his  forces  ia 
front  of  Gens.  Pope  and  Burnside,  and  that  he  expects  to  crush 
them  and  move  forward  to  the  Potomac. 

You  must  send  re-enforcements  instantly  to  Acquia  Creek. 

Considering  the  amount  of  transportation  at  your  disposal, 
your  delay  is  not  satisfactory.  You  must  move  with  all  possi 
ble  celerity.  H.  W.  HALLECK, 

Major-General. 

Maj.-Gen.  G.  B.  McCLELLAN. 

He  received  in  reply :  "  There  has  been  no  unnecessary 
delay,  as  you  assert — not  an  hour's — but  every  thing  has  been 
and  is  being  pushed  as  rapidly  as  possible  to  carry  out  your 
orders."  On  the  10th,  a  full  week  after  the  original  order, 
Gen.  Halleck  again  telegraphed  :  "  The  enemy  is  crossing  the 
Rapidan  in  large  force.  They  are  fighting  Gen.  Pope  to-day. 
There  must  be  no  further  delay  in  your  movements.  That 
which  has  already  occurred  was  entirely  unexpected,  and  must 
be  satisfactorily  explained."  The  chief  excuse  for  this  delay 
was  the  want  of  sufficient  transportation.  He  had  not  yet  dis 
posed  of  even  the  sick — a  work  required  to  be  at  once  proceeded 
with,  as  early  as  the  30th  of  July.  But  even  this  imperfect 
explanation  is  set  aside  by  Gen.  Halleck  in  the  following  reply, 
(August  12th)  :  "  The  Quartermaster  General  informs  me  that 
nearly  every  available  steam  vessel  in  the  country  is  now  under 

your  control Burnside  moved  nearly  13,000  troops  to 

Acquia  Creek  in  less  than  two  days,  and  his  transports  were 
immediately  sent  back  to  you.  All  the  vessels  in  the  James 
river  and  the  Chesapeake  Bay  were  placed  at  your  disposal 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  397 

and  it  was  supposed  that  eight  or  ten  thousand  of  your  men 

could  be  transported  daily There  has  been,  and  is,  the 

most  urgent  necessity  for  dispatch,  and  not  a  single  moment 
must  be  lost  in  getting  additional  troops  in  front  of  Washing 
ton."  Gen.  McClellan  again  asseverates,  in  reply,  that  he  is 
doing  all  he  can,  and  actually  says,  (August  12th),  nine  days 
after  the  order  to  move  :  "If  Washington  is  in  danger  now, 
this  army  can  scarcely  arrive  in  time  to  save  it ;  it  is  in  much 
better  position  to  do  so  from  here  than  from  Acquia." 

Two  or  three  days  later,  in  a  dispatch  dated  August  14,  11 
P.  M.,  McClellan  at  length  announced  :  "  Movement  has  com 
menced  by  land  and  water.  All  sick  will  be  away  to-morrow 
night "  —  the  "  movement "  referred  to  being,  as  he  states  in 
his  final  report,  that  "  of  the  main  army."  At  noon  on  the 
15th,  we  find  him  saying  :  "  Two  of  my  army  corps  marched 
last  night  and  this  morning  en  route  for  Yorktown  —  one  via 
Jon3s'  Bridge,  and  the  other  via  Barrett's  Ferry,  where  we  have 
a  pontoon  bridge.  The  other  corps  will  be  pushed  forward  as 
fast  as  the  roads  are  clear;  and  I  hope  before  to-morrow  morn 
ing  to  have  the  entire  army  in  motion."  In  a  word,  under  the 
most  urgent  orders  to  hasten  to  Washington,  at  a  time  of 
imminent  danger,  nearly  two  weeks  expire  before  the  march  is 
commenced.  The  remainder  of  the  movement  was  executed  in 
accordance  with  this  beginning. 

On  the  21st,  eighteen  days  after  the  order  to  move  was  given, 
Gen.  Halleck  sends  the  following  to  McClellan,  then  at  Fortress 
Monroe  :  "  The  forces  of  Burnside  and  Pope  are  hard  pushed,  and 
require  aid  as  rapidly  as  you  can  send  it.  Come  yourself  as  soon 
as  you  can.  By  all  means,  see  that  the  troops  sent  have  plenty  of 
ammunition.  We  have  no  time  here  to  supply  them.  Moreover, 
they  may  have  to  fight  as  soon  as  they  land."  McClellan  replied  : 
"  I  have  ample  supplies  of  ammunition  for  infantry  and  artillery, 
and  will  have  it  up  in  time.  I  can  supply  any  deficiency  that 
may  exist  in  Gen.  Pope's  army."  Leaving  the  corps  of  Gen. 
Keyes  to  occupy  Yorktown,  and  Sumner's  corps  waiting  for 
transportation,  the  remainder  of  the  troops  having  at  length 
embarked,  McClellan  sailed  from  Fortress  Monroe  for  Acquia 
Creek  on  the  evening  of  August  23,  and  reported  from  that 


398  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOI N. 

place  on  the  morning  of  the  24th.     On  the  27th,  he  reached 
Alexandria. 

Gen.  Pope,  having  promptly  executed  his  retrograde  move 
ment,  had  his  men  in  a  strong  position  on  the  Rappahannock 
line,  with  the  following  dispositions  on  the  20th  August:  The 
right,  under  Sigel,  was  posted  three  miles  above  Rappahannock 
Station,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  and  connecting  closely 
with  McDowell  in  the  center,  near  that  point,  and  the  left 
keeping  open  the  connection  with  Fredericksburg,  whence  ree'n- 
forcements  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  were  partly  to 
come.  Repeated  calls  were  made  from  Washington  for  addi 
tional  forces  to  cover  his  right,  which  could  not  be  further 
extended  without  exposing  this  necessary  connection  on  the 
left,  and  which  was  strongly  threatened  by  the  enemy.  Ample 
time  had  passed,  since  the  order  of  August  3,  for  the  arrival 
of  the  requisite  force  for  this  purpose  from  the  Peninsula,  but 
the  tardy  movement  of  McClellan  had  rendered  this  reenforce- 
ment,  reasonably  expected,  as  yet  impossible.  The  enemy,  now 
in  strong  force,  confronted  Pope  from  Kelly's  Ford,  to  a  point 
beyond  his  extreme  right.  On  the  21st  and  22d,  attempts 
were  made  by  the  Rebels  to  cross  the  river  at  several  points, 
but  in  every  instance  they  were  repulsed.  Pope  was  urged  to 
make  every  exertion  to  hold  out  for  two  days  longer,  when  it 
was  believed  his  line  would  be  adequately  strengthened.  Bufc 
up  to  the  25th,  the  only  forces  that  had  arrived  in  his  vicinity, 
except  the  detachment  under  Reno,  from  Burnside's  corps, 
were  2,500  of  the  Pennsylvania  Reserves,  under  Gen.  Reynolds, 
which  reached  Kelly's  Ford,  and  Kearney's  division,  4,500 
strong,  at  Warrenton  Junction.  The  evident  movements  of  the 
enemy  to  turn  his  right,  caused  the  Commanding  General  much 
uneasiness,  but  the  necessity  of  maintaining  his  communication 
on  the  left  was  still  imperative.  Sigel  was  instructed  to  stand 
firm,  allowing  the  enemy  to  cross  at  Sulphur  Springs,  arid  move 
toward  Warrenton,  when  Pope  determined  to  mass  his  force  to. 
the  right  for  the  purpose  of  falling  upon  the  enemy's  advance. 
All  of  the  cavalry,  under  Buford  and  Bayard,  were  pushed  to 
the'  right  of  Sigel,  toward  Fayetteville  and  Sulphur  Springs,  to 
picket  the  river  and  to  watch  the  enemy's  movements.  On  the 


. 
LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  399 

night  of  the  22d,  a  small  cavalry  force  made  an  attack  on  our 
army  trains  at  Catlett's  Station,  doing  no  great  damage.  The 
right,  of  Pope  being  still  heavily  threatened,  while  a  strong 
force  M';IS  tnasfted  in  his  front  at  Rappahannock  Station,  he 
formed  the  bold  plan  of  concentrating  his  force,  recrossing  the 
Rappahannock,  and  assailing  the  flank  and  rear  of  the  opposing 
army.  On  the  morning  of  the  23d,  his  forces  were  collected 
for  this  purpose  near  Rappahannock  Station.  The  river  had 
meanwhile  suddenly  risen,  and  finding  that  a  crossing  could 
not  be  effected  in  less  than  thirty-six  hours,  the  plan  was 
changed.  Sigel's  corps,  supported  by  those  of  Banks  and 
Reno,  were  ordered  to  Sulphur  Springs,  to  attack  any  force 
fallen  in  with,  and  to  advance  to  Waterloo  Bridge.  McDowell, 
to  whose  command  the  reinforcements  under  Reynolds  were 
attached,  was  moved  directly  upon  Warrenton,  to  unite  with 
Sigel,  if  occasion  should  require,  on  the  road  from  thence  to  Sul 
phur  Springs  or  Waterloo  Bridge. 

It  was  ^ascertained  that,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  24th,  the 
whole  force  of  the  enemy  was  extended  along  the  river,  from 
Rappahannock  Station  to  Waterloo  Bridge,  his  center  being 
near  Sulphur  Springs.  During  the  day,  a  large  Rebel  force 
moved  rapidly  northward  toward  Rectortown,  west  of  Bull  Run 
Mountains,  (which  are  crossed  by  the  Manassas  railroad  at 
Thoroughfare  Gap.)  This  movement  clearly  evinced  a  pur 
pose  to  turn  the  right  of  Pope's  army  by  way  of  White  Plains 
and  Thocoughfare  Gap.  Gen.  Pope,  feeling  bound,  as  he 'says, 
by  his  instructions  to  maintain  his  communication  with  Frede- 
ricksburg,  and  having  assurances  that  30.000  men  were  to  be 
sent  forward  that  day,  or  the  next  morning,  did  not  imme 
diately  change  his  position  to  meet  that  emergency.  The  main 
force  of  the  enemy  steadily  tending  in  the  same  direction  as 
the  advance,  he  determined,  on  the  night  of  the  25th,  to  aban 
don  the  lower  fords  of  the  Rappahannock,  and  directed 
McDowell,  with  his  own  corps  and  that  of  Sigel,  to  hold  War 
renton,  while  Reno  was  pushed  forward  three  miles  on  the 
Warrenton  turnpike,  and  Fitz  John  Po-rter,  who  had  now 
reported  to  him  from  near  Bealton  Station,  was  ordered  to  join 
Reno.  Heintzelman's  corps  was  left  at  Warrenton  Junction, 


400  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

with  the  intention  of  being  sent,  at  the  proper  time,  to  Green 
wich,  intermediate  between  Warrenton  and  Gainesville.  It  wag 
requested  of  Gen.  Halleck  that  Franklin's  corps  should  be 
hastened  to  Gainesville,  and  that  a  strong  division  of  the 
Peninsular  troops  should  be  posted  at  Manassas  Junction.  All 
the  cavalry  at  that  place  was  ordered  to  be  sent  forward  to 
Thoroughfare  Gap,  for  observation.  Gen.  Kearney  was  directed 
to  post  strong  guards  all  along  the  railroad  in  his  rear,  from 
Warrenton  Junction  southward,  while  Gen.  Sturgis  was  charged 
with  the  performance  of  a  like  duty  from  Manassas  Junction 
to  Catlett's  Station.  It  was  confidently  expected  by  Gen.  Pope 
that  these  several  dispositions  would  have  been  completed  by 
the  afternoon  of  the  26th. 

Jackson  advanced  through  Thoroughfare  Gap,  as  anticipa 
ted,  and  at  8  o'clock  P.  M.,  on  the  26th,  he  had  cut  the  rail 
road  six  miles  east  of  Warrenton  Junction,  near  Kettle  Run. 
A  sharp  action  ensued  on  the  27th  between  Hooker  and  Ewell, 
near  Bristow,  in  which  the  latter  was  beaten.  No  report  had 
been  made  by  the  cavalry  sent  to  watch  the  enemy's  movement, 
and  it  now  became  manifest  to  the  commanding  General  that 
the  re-enforcements  so  confidently  expected  on  the  assurances 
given,  had  failed  to  come  to  his  support.  His  plans,  otherwise 
likely  to  have  been  successful  in  stopping  Jackson's  advance, 
were  thus  foiled.  He  determined  to  throw  the  forces  he  had 
upon  the  enemy,  moving  toward  Manassas  and  Gainesville,  and 
getting  between  Lee's  army  and  Bull  Run.  His  entire  force, 
much  of  which  was  greatly  exhausted  by  continual  marching 
or  fighting,  during  the  last  nine  days,  now  numbered  about 
54,000.  On  the  morning  of  the  27th  he  proceeded  to  execute 
the  purpose  just  indicated. 

McDowell  reached  Gainesville  during  the  night  of  the  27th, 
as  directed,  and  Kearney  and  Reno  took  position  at  Greenwich, 
according  to  orders,  communicating  with  McDowell.  This  force 
was  thus  successfully  interposed  between  the  main  army  of 
Lee.  still  west  of  the  Bull  Run  Mountains,  near  White  Plains, 
and  the  forces  of  Jackson,  Ewell,  and  A.  P.  Hill,  now  south  of 
the  Wairenton  turnpike,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Manassas 
Junction.  It  was  now  that  Gen.  Pope,  feeling  that  Jackson 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  401 

was  completely  in  his  power,  ordered  Fitz  John  Porter,  with 
his  command  of  fresh  troops,  to  move  at  1  o'clock  the  next 
morning  to  Bristow  Station,  with  a  view  to  complete  the  work 
of  inclosing  and  crushing  Jackson.  This  order  was  defiantly 
disregarded,  as  charged  by  Gen.  Pope,  and  as  subsequently 
proved  to  the  full  satisfaction  of  a  court-martial,  by  whose  ver 
dict  Porter,  for  this  and  other  acts  during  the  two  or  three  days 
ensuing,  was  ignominiously  dismissed  from  the  service.  Kear 
ney,  having  been  moved  to  Bristow  Station,  was  sent  thence, 
followed  by  Hooker,  (whose  command,  notwithstanding  the 
orders  of  Gen.  Halleck,  and  the  lavish  promises  of  McClellan 
in  reply,  was  almost  entirely  destitute  of  ammunition),  in  pur 
suit  of  Ewell  toward  Manassas.  Porter's  corps  did  not  arrive 
at  Bristow  until  half  past  10  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the 
28th.  Meanwhile,  Jackson  had  evacuated  Manassas  Junction, 
very  early  that  morning.  Sigel's  corps,  in  the  advance  at 
Gainesville,  had  also  failed  to  move  on  Manassas  as  expeditiously 
as  was  intended,  otherwise  the  retreat  of  Jackson  would  have 
been  intercepted  before  he  reached  Bull  Run.  The  command 
ing  General  reached  Manassas  Junction,  with  Reno's  corps  and 
Kearney's  division,  within  an  hour  after  Jackson  in  person  had 
left  for  Centreville.  Hooker,  Kearney  and  Reno  were  imme 
diately  sent  forward  toward  the  latter  place,  and  Porter  was 
ordered  to  bring  up  his  corps.  McDowell  was  also  apprised  of 
the  state  of  affairs,  and  ordered  to  recall  his  troops  advancing 
on  Manassas,  (as  directed  before  Jackson's  retreat  was  begun,) 
and  to  move  out  the  road  from  Gainesville  toward  Centreville. 
Near  night,  Gen.  Kearney  drove  Jackson's  rear-guard  out  of 
the  latter  place,  occupying  it  about  dark,  with  his  advance  a 
little  beyond.  McDowell,  who  had  with  him  Sigel's  corps  and 
Reynolds'  division,  in  addition  to  his  own  corps,  (from  which 
the  division  of  Ricketts  had  been  detached  in  the  direction  of 
Thoroughfare  Gap),  encountered  the  advance  of  Jackson  about 
6  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  a  conflict  ensued,  lasting  until 
dark,  when  each  force  held  its  ground.  Contrary  to  expecta 
tion,  however,  King's  division,  which  had  sustained  the  princi 
pal  part  in  this  action,  withdrew  during  the  night,  and  Rick 
etts  had  been  driven  back  from  the  Gap,  retiring  upon  Bristow 
20 


402  LIFE   OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Station.  Tlie  party  assailing  Ricketts  was  the  advance  of 
Longstreet,  sent  to  re-enforce  Jackson. 

Gen.  Sigel,  supported  by  Reynolds,  was  directed  to  attack 
Jackson  on  the  29th,  and  Gen.  Heintzelman,  with  the  divisions 
of  Hooker  and  Kearney,  was  ordered  forward  from  Centreville 
to  attack  the  enemy  in  the  rear.  Orders  were  sent  to  McDow 
ell  and  Porter  to  move  forward,  with  their  two  corps,  to  Gaines 
ville,  with  all  haste,  to  participate  in  the  battle.  Sigel  began 
the  attack  at  daylight,  (on  the  29th),  a  mile  or  two  east  of 
Groveton,  where  he  was  soon  joined  by  Hooker  and  Kearney. 
Jackson  at  first  attempted  to  avoid  an  engagement  by  falling 
back,  but  was  compelled  to  take  a  stand,  having  his  right  a  little 
south  of  the  Warrenton  turnpike,  and  his  left  near  Sudley 
Springs.  His  line  was  covered  by  an  old  railroad  grade,  ex 
tending  from  Gainesville  toward  Leesburg.  The  engagement 
was  a  severe  and  protracted  one.  Porter  having  entirely  failed 
to  bring  his  men  into  action  as  ordered,  Jackson,  though  his 
forces  were  badly  cut  up,  was  able  to  hold  out  until  Longstreet, 
with  the  advance  of  Lee's  main  army,  near  night  came  up  to 
his  support. 

The  losses  were  very  heavy  on  both  sides,  Gen.  Pope 
estimating  his  killed  and  wounded  at  six  or  eight  thou 
sand.  That  of  the  enemy  was  very  much  greater. 

The  battle  of  the  30th,  the  enemy  being  thus  re-enforced, 
was  fought  under  great  disadvantages,  near  the  old  battle 
ground  of  Bull  Run.  The  Government  troops  fought  with 
great  bravery,  maintaining  their  position  with  remarkable  firm 
ness  amidst  heavy  losses,  though  the  left  was  gradually  forced 
back.  Pope  had  boldly  attacked,  in  the  morning,  to  anticipate 
the  arrival  of  further  re-enforcements  to  the  enemy  by  Thor 
oughfare  Gap.  It  was  not  until  dark  that  this  sanguinary 
engagement  ceased,  when  our  left  had  receded  nearly  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile,  though  with  unbroken  ranks  and  in  good 
order,  the  turnpike  in  the  rear,  which  the  enemy  had  endeavored 
to  occupy,  being  still  well  covered.  The  losses  on  both  sides 
were  very  heavy. 

Gen.  Pope's  army  was  not  only  exhausted  with  hard  work 
before  the  commencement  of  this  day's  fight,  but  was  also 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  403 

becoming  destitute  of  supplies.  To  an  urgent  request  on  the 
28th  for  rations  and  forage,  to  be  promptly  forwarded,  he  re 
ceived  the  following  reply  on  the  morning  of  the  30th : 

To  THE  COMMANDING  OFFICER  AT  CENTREVILLE  :  I  have 
been  instructed  by  Gen.  McClellan  to  inform  you  that  he  will 
have  all  the  available  wagons  at  Alexandria  loaded  with  rations 
for  your  troops,  and  all  the  cars  also,  as  soon  as  you  will  send  in  a 
cavalry  escort  to  Alexandria  as  a  guard  to  the  train. 

Respectfully,  W.  B.  FRANKLIN, 

Major-General  commanding  Sitth  Corps. 

"  Such  a  letter,"  says  Gen.  Pope,  "  when  we  were  fighting 
the  enemy,  and  Alexandria  was  swarming  with  troops,  needs 
no  comment."  Neither  Sumner's  corps  nor  Franklin's  had  as 
yet  been  advanced  to  render  any  aid  in  a  military  crisis,  which 
urgently  demanded  the  presence  of  every  available  man  at  the 
scene  of  action.  Another  corps,  commanded  by  McClellan's 
chief  favorite,  Fitz  John  Porter,  though  close  at  hand,  had  been 
found  equally  wanting  at  Groveton,  through  the  deliberate  dis 
obedience  of  its  commander,  though  it  took  part  in  the  battle 
of  the  30th.  Gen.  McClellan  was,  meanwhile,  quietly  waiting 
at  Alexandria,  having  been  ordered  by  Gen.  Halleck,  on  the 
27th,  to  "  take  entire  direction  of  the  sending  out  of  the  troopa 
from  Alexandria  ;"  and  having  also  been  told  on  the  same  day, 
that  "  Franklin's  corps  should  march"  to  Manassas  "  as  soon 
as  possible."  On  the  previous  day,  the  26th,  Sumner's  corps 
commenced  disembarking  at  Acquia  Creek.  While  thus 
leisurely  waiting,  charged  with  the  duty  of  promptly  sending 
indispensable  re-enforcements  to  Pope,  yet  neglecting  to  send 
even  the  needed  supplies  to  the  troops  he  already  had,  McClel 
lan  was  sending  such  suggestions  to  Washington  as  the  fol 
lowing  : 

I  am  clear  tnat  one  of  two  courses  should  be  adopted  :  First, 
to  concentrate  all  our  available  forces  to  open  communications 
with  Pope  ;  Second,  to  leave  Pope  to  get  out  of  his  scrape,  and 
at  once  use  all  our  means  to  make  the  Capital  perfectly  safe. 

To  this  the  President  replied  : 


404  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

WASHINGTON,  August  29,  1862,  4.10  P.  M. 

Yours  of  to-day  just  received.  I  think  your  first  alternative, 
to-wit. :  "  to  concentrate  all  our  available  forces  to  open  com 
munication  with  Pope,"  is  the  right  one,  but  I  wish  not  to  con 
trol.  That  I  now  leave  to  Gen.  Halleck,  aided  by  your  coun 
sels.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Maj.-Gen.  McCLELLAN. 

After  the  battle  of  the  30th,  and  the  opening  of  free  com 
munication  for  the  enemy  at  Thoroughfare  Gap,  through  which 
the  main  afmy  of  Lee  was  now  pouring  in  great  numbers,  it 
only  remained  for  Gen.  Pope  to  withdraw  his  army,  as  best  he 
could,  toward  Washington.  All  the  troops  were  withdrawn  to 
Centreville  in  good  order,  where  they  were  rested  during  the 
day,  on  the  31st,  receiving  supplies  and  ammunition.  Here  he 
was  joined  by  Sumner  and  Franklin,  with  an  aggregate  re- 
enforcement  of  19,000  men.  On  the  1st  of  September,  the 
enemy  was  found  moving  toward  Fairfax  Court  House,  endan 
gering  Pope's  right.  Due  precautions  had  been  taken,  so  that 
when  the  right  was  attacked  at  sunset,  the  enemy  was  met  by 
McDowell,  Reno,  Hooker,  and  Kearney.  A  sharp  conflict  fol 
lowed,  at  Chantilly,  in  the  midst  of  a  thunder-storm,  termina 
ting  soon  after  dark.  The  Rebels  were  handsomely  repulsed. 
Maj.-Gen.  Kearney  and  Brig. -Gen.  Stevens  were  among  our 
killed. 

On  the  2d,  the  forces  under  Gen.  Pope  were  ordered  to  be 
withdrawn  within  the  intrenchments  around  Washington, 
which  movement  was  executed  in  good  order.  Directly  after, 
Gen.  Pope  was  relieved,  and  appointed  to  the  command  of  the 
Department  of  the  Northwest. 

Gen.  McClellan,  on  the  1st  of  September,  was  orally  directed 
byGen.  Halleck  to  take  command  of  the  defenses  of  Wash 
ington.  He  immediately  entered  on  the  work,  his  command, 
however,  being  still  limited  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and 
no  new  jurisdiction  being  assigned  to  him  outside  of  the  forti 
fications.  It  was  without  any  formal  extension  of  this  authority 
that  he  went  out  to  meet  the  enemy  in  Maryland,  where  Lee 
next  assumed  a  threatening  position,  having  gone  out  by  Lees 
burg  and  crossed  the  Upper  Potomac. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  405 

Proceeding  cautiously,  until  the  purpose  of  the  enemy  was 
definitely  developed,  the  advance  of  Gen.  McClellan's  forces, 
on  the  14th  of  September,  came  up  with  and  defeated  the  rear 
guard  of  Lee  at  South  Mountain.  This  was  a  gallant  action, 
in  which  Gen.  Burnside  and  his  corps  took  a  conspicuous  part, 
and  in  which  Gen.  Reno  lost  his  life.  On  the  side  of  the 
Government,  about  30,000  men  were  engaged,  at  various 
points,  including  the  forces  under  Gen.  Meade.  The  Com 
manding  General  reports  his  losses  as  312  killed,  1,234 
wounded,  and  22  missing.  About  1,500  prisoners  were  taken 
from  the  enemy,  whose  losses  in  killed  and  wounded  wer« 
estimated  to  have  largely  exceeded  those  of  the  Government 
forces. 

Meanwhile,  Gen.  Franklin  had  been  executing  a  movement 
on  the  left,  by  Crampton's  Gap,  where  he  had  a  sharp  engage 
ment.  He  was  directed  to  relieve  Harper's  Ferry,  where  Col. 
Miles,  with  a  force  of  nearly  14,000  men,  was  in  imminent 
danger.  Before  Franklin  came  to  his  aid,  though  within  sound 
of  his  guns,  Miles  (who  was  soon  after  killed)  had  surrendered 
his  position,  his  munitions  of  war,  and  his  entire  force  of 
infantry  and  artillery.  His  cavalry,  numbering  about  2,000, 
cut  its  way  out  on  the  night  of  the  14th,  under  the  command 
of  Col.  Davis,  capturing,  on  its  route  to  the  Government  lines, 
the  train  of  Longstreet  and  over  one  hundred  prisoners. 

McClellan's  forces  were  soon  through  the  mountain  passes, 
and  a  prompt  engagement  with  the  enemy  was  expected,  with 
a  view  to  prevent  his  return  across  the  Potomac,  without  a 
crushing  defeat.  The  circumstances  now  seemed  favorable  to 
this  result,  the  forces  of  McClellan  being  massed  in  the  imme 
diate  vicinity  of  the  Rebel  army,  which  was  now  contending 
merely  for  a  secure  retreat — in  itself  a  concession  of  decided 
inferiority. 

On  the  15th,  the  enemy  made  a  stand  on  the  hights  beyond 
Antietam  Creek,  in  the  vicinity  of  Sharpsburg.  McClellan, 
seeing  the  formidable  position  thus  occupied,  deemed  it  advisa 
ble  to  prepare  with  great  deliberation,  for  the  attack  he  had 
intended  to  make  at  once.  The  15th  and  most  of  the  16th  were 
accordingly  employed  in  this  preparation,  during  which  time 


406  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  enemy  also  made  new  dispositions,  some  artillery  firing 
going  on  during  both  days.  Meanwhile,  Jackson's  forces 
returned  from  the  capture  of  Harper's  Ferry.  The  corps  of 
Sumner  and  Hooker  (the  latter  of  whom  had  taken  the  place 
of  Heintzelrnan,  assigned  to  duty  within  the  fortifications  at 
Washington)  were  posted  on  the  right,  near  Keedyville,  on 
both  sides  of  the  Sharpsburg  turnpike.  Franklin's  corps  and 
Couch's  division  were  placed  in  front  of  Brownsville,  in  Pleas 
ant  Yalley.  Burnside's  corps  occupied  a  position  on  the  left. 
Heavy  artillery  was  massed  in  the  center,  behind  which,  in  the 
low  ground,  Porter's  corps  was  held  in  reserve.  The  right, 
center  and  left,  were  each,  respectively,  near  three  stone  bridges 
across  Antietam  Creek,  the  one  on  the  right  being  about  three 
and  a  half  miles  from  that  on  the  left. 

In  the  evening  of  the  16th,  Hooker's  corps  advanced  across 
the  stream,  by  the  upper  bridge  and  by  a  ford  near  it,  with 
orders  to  endeavor  to  turn  the  enemy's  left.  After  a  short 
engagement,  the  opposing  force  was  driven  back,  and  Hooker 
encamped  for  the  night  on  the  ground  thus  gained.  Sumner's 
corps  crossed  at  the  same  point,  and  was  followed  by  the  corps 
of  Gen.  Mansfield  (the  Twelfth,  consisting  of  the  divisions  of 
Gens.  Williams  and  Green.) 

At  an  early  hour  on  the  morning  of  the  17th,  Hooker  made 
an  attack  on  the  enemy's  left — his  whole  corps  being  soon 
engaged,  as  well  as  the  remaining  troops  that  had  crossed  over, 
on  the  right.  Franklin's  corps  and  other  forces  were  also 
brought  into  action.  The  contest  was  a  severe  one,  the  enemy 
having  evidently  moved  a  heavy  force  to  the  support  of  his 
left — his  right  not  having  been  engaged  by  Burnside,  until 
after  the  heaviest  of  this  fighting  was  over.  Gen.  Mansfield 
fell  mortally  wounded.  Gen.  Hooker  was  early  so  severely 
wounded  as  to  be  compelled  to  leave  the  field.  Gen.  Hartsuff, 
of  Hooker's  corps,  was  also  badly  wounded,  as  were  Gens.  Sedg- 
wick  and  Dana,  and  many  other  officers.  On  both  sides,  there 
was  heavy  slaughter.  The  enemy  was  finally  driven  backward 
some  distance,  and  our  right  held  the  position  gained. 

Gen.  Burnside's  advance,  on  the  left,  was  not  commenced 
until  hours  after  Hooker  had  brought  on  the  action  on  the 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  407 

right.  About  8  o'clock  in  the  morning,  he  was  ordered  by  the 
Commanding  General  to  carry  the  bridge  before  him,  and  to 
occupy  the  hights  beyond,  advancing  along  their  summit 
toward  Sharpsburg.  The  bridge  was  not  carried  until  1  o'clock, 
and  a  halt  was  again  made  until  3,  the  hights  being  finally 
carried  in  a  gallant  manner.  Burnside  earnestly  asked,  but 
failed  to  receive  reinforcements  from  the  heavy  reserve  under 
Porter,  which  remained  inactive  through  the  day.  The  enemy, 
as  night  approached,  heavily  reenforced  his  right,  compelling 
Burnside  to  fall  back  to  a  lower  range  of  hills  than  that  he  had 
gained. 

On  the  whole,  our  forces  had  gained  a  substantial  advantage, 
and  had  inflicted  the  heaviest  damage  on  the  enemy,  in  killed' 
and  wounded. 

Instead  of  renewing  the  engagement,  next  morning,  as  a  less 
prudent  general  would  undoubtedly  have  done,  Gen.  McClellan 
spent  the  18th  "in  collecting  the  dispersed,  giving  rest  to  the 
fatigued,  removing  the  wounded,  burying  the  dead,  and  the 
necessary  preparations  for  a  renewal  of  the  battle."  During 
the  night  of  the  18th,  Lee's  entire  army  retreated  across  the 
Potomac.  "  As  their  line  was  but  a  short  distance  from  the 
river,"  Gen.  McClellan  says  in  his  final  report,  "the  evacuation 
presented  but  little  difficulty,  and  was  effected  before  daylight." 
His  dispatches  of  the  19th,  show  that  he  regarded  these  mat' 
ters  somewhat  differently  at  the  time.  In  fact,  several  hours 
elapsed,  before  the  Commanding  General  appears  to  have  under 
stood  how  completely  the  enemy  had  eluded  his  grasp. 

In  his  official  dispatch  of  Sept.  29,  Gen.  McClellan  says,  in 
summing  up  his  estimate  of  the  Rebel  losses : 

As  nearly  as  can  be  determined  at  this  time,  the  number 
of  prisoners  taken  by  our  troops  in  the  two  battles  will,  at 
the  lowest  estimate,  amount  to  5,.000.  The  full  returns  will  no 
doubt  show  a  larger  number.  Of  these  about  1,200  are 
wounded.  This  gives  the  Rebel  loss  in  killed,  wounded  and 
prisoners,  25,542.  It  will  be  observed  that  this  does  not 
include  their  stragglers,  the  number  of  whom  is  said  by  citizens 
here  to  be  large.  It  may  be  safely  concluded,  therefore,  that 
the  Rebel  army  lost  at  least  30,000  of  their  best  troops  during 
their  campaign  in  Maryland. 


408  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

In  his  last  report,  Gen.  McClellan  states  his  own  losses  during 
the  same  period  as  amounting,  in  the  aggregate,  to  15,520. 

It  was  not  until  the  20th,  that  Maryland  Hights  were  occu 
pied  by  the  corps  of  Gen.  Williams.  On  the  22d,  Gen.  Sunmer 
was  advanced  to  Harper's  Ferry.  On  the  23d,  Gen.  McClellan 
regarded  the  enemy  as  still  remaining  in  front  of  him,  with 
"  indications  of  an  advance  of  reinforcements,"  and  accord 
ingly  proceeded  to  act  on  a  defensive  policy.  On  the  27th,  he 
believes  "  the  main  body  of  the  enemy  is  concentrated  not  far 
from  Martinsburg,"  and  extending  "  toward  our  right  and 
beyond  it."  All  efforts  to  induce  a  vigorous  pursuit  of  an 
enemy  lately  represented  as  completely  routed  and  panic- 
stricken,  proved  of  no  avail. 

On  the  1st  of  October,  the  President  visited  the  army,  (the 
headquarters  of  which  were  still  on  the  Maryland  side  of  the 
Potomac)  and  passed  over  the  battle-fields  of  South  Mountain 
and  Antietam,  in  company  with  Gen.  McClellan.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  this  visit  was  made,  in  part,  from  the  extreme 
anxiety  felt  by  Mr.  Lincoln  on  account  of  the  protracted  delay 
in  moving  the  army,  and  from  a  desire  to  ascertain,  by  per 
sonal  observation,  how  far  this  inaction  was  necessary  or  rea 
sonable.  On  the  President's  return,  the  following  dispatch 
was  sent  by  Gen.  Halleck  to  Gen.  McClellan : 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  6,  1862. 

I  am  instructed  to  telegraph  you  as  follows :  The  President 
directs  that  you  cross  the  Potomac  and  give  battle  to  the 
enemy,  or  drive  him  south.  Your  army  must  move  now,  while 
the  roads  are  good.  If  you  cross  the  river  between  the  enemy 
and  Washington,  and  cover  the  latter  by  your  operation,  you 
can  be  reenforced  with  thirty  thousand  men.  If  you  move  up 
the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  not  more  than  twelve  or  fifteen 
thousand  can  be  sent  you.  The  President  advises  the  interior 
line  between  Washington  and  the  enemy,  but  does  not  order 
it.  He  is  very  desirous  that  your  army  move  as  soon  as  possi 
ble.  You  will  immediately  report  what  line  you  adopt,  and 
when  you  intend  to  cross  the  river  ;  also  to  what  point  the  re'en- 
forcements  are  to  be  sent.  It  is  necessary  that  the  plan  of  your 
operations  be  positively  determined  on,  before  orders  are  given 
for  building  bridges  and  repairing  railroads.  I  am  directed  to 
add,  that  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  General-in-chief  fully 
concur  with  the  President  in  these  instructions. 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  409 

Under  various  dilatory  pleas,  this  peremptory  order  was 
effectually  disregarded.  After  fifteen  days,  during  which  various 
supplies  were  asked  and  furnished,  and  an  appearance  of  being 
on  the  eve  of  moving  was  kept  up,  McClellan  sent  Gen.  Halleck 
a  dispatch,  on  the  21st,  complaining  of  a  want  of  horses,  as  an 
excuse  for  further  delay,  and  begging  "  leave  to  ask  whether 
the  President  desires  "  him  u  to  march  at  once,  or  to  await  the 
reception  of  the  new  horses,  every  possible  step  having  been 
taken  to  insure  their  prompt  arrival."  The  General-in-chief 
immediately  replied  :  "  Your  telegram  of  12  M.  has  been  sub 
mitted  to  the  President.  He  directs  me  to  say  that  lie  lias  no 
change  to  make  in  his  order  of  the  6th  inst.  .  .  .  The  President 
does  not  expect  impossibilities ;  but  he  is  very  anxious  that  all 
this  good  weather  should  not  be  wasted  in  inactivity."  A  full 
investigation  of  the  facts  is  believed  to  have  justified  the  fol 
lowing  conclusion,  stated  by  Gen.  Halleck  to  the  Secretary  of 
"War,  on  the  28th  of  October :  "  In  my  opinion,  there  has  been 
no  such  want  of  supplies  in  the  army  under  Gen.  McClellan  as 
to  prevent  his  compliance  with  my  order  to  advance  against  the 
enemy.  Had  he  moved  his  army  to  the  south  side  of  the 
Potomac,  he  could  have  received  his  supplies  almost  as  readily 
as  by  remaining  inactive  on  the  north  side." 

During  the  last  days  of  October  and  the  earlier  days  of 
November,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  put  in  motion. 
After  weeks  of  fine  weather  had  passed  unimproved,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  "  heavy  rains  delayed  the  movement  considera 
bly  in  the  beginning."  The  army  advanced  along  the  southern 
base  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  by  Lovettsville,  Snicker's  Gap,  and 
Rectortown,  until  the  several  corps  were  massed  in  the  vicinity 
of  Warrenton.  The  main  army  of  Lee  at  the  same  time  fell 
back  on  Gordonsville. 

On  the  night  of  the  7th,  a  dispatch  from  President  Lincoln 
reached  Gen.  McClellan,  at  his  headquarters  near  Rectortown, 
relieving  him  from  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
Maj.-Gen.  Ambrose  E.  Burnside  was  designated  as  his  succes 
sor.  This  transfer  of  the  command  was  promptly  carried  into 
effect,  and  Gen.  McClellan,  on  the  10th,  took  his  final  leave 
of  tlie  army. 


410  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

A  New  Era  Inaugurated. — Emancipation. — Message    of    the   Presi 
dent. — Last  Session  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress. 

THE  elections,  prior  to  the  autumn  of  1862,  had  shown  large 
majorities  for  the  Administration.  Brilliant  successes  had  been 
won  by  its  armies  in  the  West,  until,  in  June,  the  tide  of  vic 
tory  paused  before  Vicksburg.  In  the  East,  military  ineffi 
ciency  had  culminated  on  the  Peninsula  and  before  Washington. 
Lee  had  invaded  Maryland,  and  leisurely  retired,  unpursued. 
Political  defeat  followed  military  disaster.  Ohio  and  Pennsyl 
vania  gave  small  majorities  against  the  Administration  in  Octo 
ber.  New  York,  in  the  next  month,  followed  the  example.  The 
lower  House  of  the  next  Congress  was  already  claimed  as 
secured  by  the  Opposition.  Popular  discontent  and  despondency 
were  every-where  manifest.  Opposition  politicians  held  the 
President  responsible  before  the  people  for  the  non-action  of 
their  favorite  General,  whom  they  did  not  cease  to  lament  when 
removed.  Peace  Democrats  rallied  behind  banners  inscribed, 
"  For  a  more  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war ;  "  yet  their 
repre  entative  man  was  the  one  who,  evading  orders  of  the 
Administration,  and  thwarting  the  President's  wishes,  had 
wasted  lavish  preparations  and  abundant  military  forces,  during 
a  whole  year,  in  organizing  failure. 

Long  before  this  disheartening  epoch,  however,  President 
Lincoln,  as  seen  in  previous  pages,  had  earnestly  directed  his 
thoughts  to  the  proper  mode  of  dealing  with  slavery,  in  its 
necessary  relations  to  the  war.  His  final  speech  to  the  Border 
State  men  on  compensated  emancipation,  as  we  have  seen, 
plainly  indicated  that,  as  early  as  July,  his  mind  was  made  up 
to  wrest  this  element  of  military  power  from  the  support  of  the 
Rebellion. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1862,  Gen.  Hunter,  then  commanding 
the  Department  of  the  South,  issued  an  unauthorized  order,  in 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  411 

which  he  attempted,  by  logical  deduction  from  the  promise  of 
Secession,  to  establish  the  conclusion  that,  in  his  military 
department,  all  slaves  had  become  manumitted.  As  a  result  of 
this  logical  exercise,  he  declared  such  persons  to  be  "  forever 
free."  This  order,  like  the  rhapsody  on  Slavery  and  Roman 
ism,  issued  by  Gen.  Phelps,  in  his  proclamation  at  Ship  Island, 
might  have  been  suffered  to  pass  without  public  notice  by  the 
Executive,  had  it  not  emanated  from  a  commanding  general  in 
whose  department  were  two  of  the  States  in  which  slaves  were 
the  most  numerous,  and  had  it  not  the  appearance  of  an 
authentic  announcement  of  a  new  policy,  which  Gen.  Hunter 
had  lately  been  sent  out  to  put  in  operation.  The  President 
felt  constrained  to  set  aside  this  order,  which  he  did  in  the  fol 
lowing  well-considered  proclamation : 

WHEREAS,  There  appears  in  the  public  prints  what  purports 
to  be  a  proclamation  of  Major  General  Hunter,  in  the  words 
and  figures  following,  to  wit : 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  SOUTH, 
HILTON  HEAD,  S.  C.,  May  9,  1862. 

General  Orders  No.  11.] 

The  three  States  of  Georgia,  Florida,  and  South  Carolina, 
comprising  the  Military  Department  of  the  South,  having 
deliberately  declared  themselves  no  longer  under  the  protection 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  having  taken  up  arm3 
against  the  said  United  States,  it  becomes  a  military  necessity 
to  declare  them  under  martial  law.  This  was  accordingly  done 
on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  April,  1862.  Slavery  and  martial  law 
in  a  free  country  are  altogether  incompatible.  The  persons  in 
these  three  States,  Georgia,  Florida,  and  South  Carolina,  here 
tofore  held  as  slaves,  are  therefore  declared  forever  free. 

DAVID  HUNTER, 
Major  General  Commanding. 

Official:  ED.  W.  SMITH,  Acting  Assistant  Adjutant  General. 

AND  WHEREAS,  The  same  is  producing  some  excitement 
and  misunderstanding, 

Therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United 
States,  proclaim  and  declare  that  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  had  no  knowledge  or  belief  of  an  intention,  on  the  part 
of  Gen.  Hunter,  to  issue  such  a  proclamation,  nor  has  it  yet  any 
authentic  information  that  the  document  is  genuine;  and, 
further,  that  neither  Gen.  Hunter  nor  any  other  commander,  or 


412  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

person,  has  been  authorized  by  the  Government  of  the  United 
(States  to  make  proclamation  declaring  the  slaves  of  any  State 
free,  and  that  the  supposed  proclamation  now  in  question, 
whether  genuine  or  false,  is  altogether  void,  so  far  as  respects 
such  declaration. 

I  further  make  known  that,  whether  it  be  competent  for  me, 
as  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  to  declare  the 
slaves  of  any  State  or  States  free,  and  whether,  at  any  time,  or 
in  any  case,  it  shall  have  become  a  necessity  indispensable  to 
the  maintenance  of  the  Government  to  exercise  such  supposed 
power,  are  questions  which,  under  my  responsibility,  I  reserve 
to  myself,  and  which  I  can  not  feel  justified  in  leaving  to  the 
decision  of  commanders  in  the  field.  These  are  totally  differ 
ent  questions  from  those  of  police  regulations  in  armies  and 
camps. 

On  the  sixth  day  of  March  last,  by  a  special  message,  1 
recommended  to  Congress  the  adoption  of  a  joint  resolution, 
to  be  substantially  as  follows : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  United  States  ought  to  cooperate  with 
any  State  which  may  adopt  a  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery, 
giving  to  such  State  in  its  discretion  to  compensate  for  the  in 
conveniences,  public  and  private,  produced  by  such  change  of 
systam." 

The  resolution,  in  the  language  above  quoted,  was  adopted 
by  large  majorities  in  both  branches  of  Congress,  and  now 
stands  an  authentic,  definite,  and  solemn  proposal  of  the  nation 
to  the  States  and  people  most  immediately  interested  in  the  sub 
ject  matter.  To  the  people  of  these  States  I  now  earnestly 
appeal.  I  do  not  argue  ;  I  beseech  you  to  make  the  arguments 
for  yourselves.  •  You  can  not,  if  you  would,  be  blind  to  the 
signs  of  the  times.  I  beg  of  you  a  calm  and  enlarged  consid 
eration  of  them,  ranging,  if  it  may  be,  far  above  personal  and 
partisan  politics.  This  proposal  makes  common  cause  for  a 
common  object,  casting  no  reproaches  upon  any.  It  acts  not 
the  Pharisee.  The  change  it  contemplates  would  come  gently 
as  the  dews  of  Heaven,  not  rending  or  wrecking  any  thing. 
Will  you  not  embrace  it  ?  So  much  good  has  not  been  done 
by  one  effort  in  all  past  time,  as,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  it 
is  now  your  high  privilege  to  do.  May  the  vast  future  not 
have  to  lament  that  you  have  neglected  it. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  nineteenth  day  of  May, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty 
two,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  the  eighty- 
eixth.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  413 

The  policy  on  which  the  Government  had  been  acting,  in  the 
Slave  districts,  was  substantially  that  repeated  in  an  Executive 
order,  under  date  of  July  22,  1862  : 

That  military  and  naval  commanders  shall  employ  as  labor 
ers,  within  and  from  said  States,  so  many  persons  of  African 
descent  as  can  be  advantageously  used  for  military  or  naval 
purposes,  giving  them  reasonable  wages  for  their  labor. 

That,  as  to  both  property,  and  persons  of  African  descent,  ac 
counts  shall  be  kept  sufficiently  accurate  and  in  detail  to  show 
quantities  and  amounts,  and  from  whom  both  property  and  such 
persons  shall  have  come,  as  a  basis  upon  which  compensation 
can  be  made  in  proper  cases  ;  and  the  several  departments  of 
this  Government  shall  attend  to  and  perform  their  appropriate 
parts  toward  the  execution  of  these  orders. 

In  August,  Mr.  Greeley,  of  New  York,  published  in  his 
Journal,  the  Tribune,  an  editorial  article  on  this  subject,  in  the 
form  of  a  letter  addressed  to  the  President,  severely  criticising 
his  action,  and  complaining,  in  no  very  gentle  terms,  of  various 
matters,  wherein  the  Administration  had,  in  his  opinion,  fallen 
short  of  the  just  expectations  of  "  twenty  millions"  of  loyal 
people.  The  whole  letter  proceeded  from  the  mistaken  as 
sumption  that  the  President  had  not,  all  along,  reflected  as 
earnestly,  and  felt  as  deeply,  in  regard  to  the  question  of  eman 
cipation,  as  any  man  living.  It  was  written  in  ignorance  of 
the  fact  that  the  President  had  already  fully  matured  and 
resolved  upon  a  definite  policy  in  regard  to  Slavery,  and  was 
only  awaiting  the  fitting  moment  for  its  announcement. 

Mr.  Lincoln  thought  proper  to  address  Mr.  Greeley  the  fol 
lowing  letter,  in  reply  to  his  complaints : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     ") 
August  22,  1862.  J 

Hon.  HORACE  GREELEY — Dear  Sir :  I  have  just  read  yours 
of  the  19th,  addressed  to  myself  through  the  New  York  Tri 
bune.  If  there  be  in  it  any  statements  or  assumptions  of  fact 
which  I  may  know  to  be  erroneous,  I  do  not  now  and  here  con 
trovert  them.  If  there  be  in  it  any  inferences  which  I  may 
believe  to  be  falsely  drawn,  I  do  not  now  and  here  argue  against 
them.  If  there  be  perceptible  in  it  an  impatient  and  dictatorial 


414  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

tone,  I  waive  it  in  deference  to  an  old  friend,  whose  heart  I 
have  always  supposed  to  be  right. 

As  to  the  policy  I  "  seem  to  be  pursuing,"  as  you  say,  I  have 
not  meant  to  leave  any  one  in  doubt. 

I  would  save  the  Union.  I  would  save  it  the  shortest  way 
under  the  Constitution.  The  sooner  the  National  authority 
can  be  restored,  the  nearer  the  Union  will  be  "  the  Union  as  it 
was."  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless 
they  could  at  the  same  time  save  Slavery,  I  do  not  agree  with 
them.  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless 
they  could  at  the  same  time  destroy  Slavery,  I  do  not  agree 
with  them.  My  paramount  object  in  this  struggle  is  to  save 
the  Union,  and  is  not  either  to  save  or  destroy  Slavery.  If  I 
could  save  the  Union  without  freeing  any  slave,  I  would  do  it ; 
and  if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  all  the  slaves,  I  would  do  it ; 
and  if  I  could  do  it  by  freeing  some  and  leaving  others  alone, 
I  would  also  do  that.  What  I  do  about  Slavery  and  the  colored 
race,  I  do  because  I  believe  it  helps  to  save  this  Union ;  and 
what  I  forbear,  I  forbear  because  I  do  not  believe  it  would  help 
to  save  the  Union.  I  shall  do  less  whenever  I  shall  believe 
what  I  am  doing  hurts  the  cause,  and  I  shall  do  more  whenever 
I  shall  believe  doing  more  will  help  the  cause.  I  shall  try  to 
correct  errors  when  shown  to  be  errors ;  and  I  shall  adopt  new 
views  so  fast  as  they  shall  appear  to  be  true  views.  I  have  here 
stated  my  purpose  according  to  my  view  of  official  duty,  and  I 
intend  no  modification  of  my  oft-expressed  personal  wish  that 
all  men,  every-where,  coi\ld  be  free. 

Yours,  A.  LINCOLN. 

Although  the  proclamation  of  Emancipation  had  been  pre 
pared  sometime  before  this  letter  was  written — in  fact  as  early 
as  July — it  was  not  deemed  a  fitting  occasion  to  announce  this 
great  measure,  when  our  army  was  recoiling  from  before  Rich 
mond,  or  when  our  Capital  itself  was  threatened  and  Maryland 
invaded.  The  battle  of  Antietam,  followed  by  the  withdrawal 
of  Lee's  army  into  Virginia,  occurred  on  the  17th  day  of  Sep 
tember.  The  President,  five  days  later,  issued  the  following 

PROCLAMATION    OF    EMANCIPATION. 

I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  thereof,  do  hereby 
proclaim  and  declare  that  hereafter,  as  heretofore,  the  war  will 
be  prosecuted  for  the  object  of  practically  restoring  the  consti 
tutional  relation  between  the  United  States  and  tbe  people 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  415 

thereof  in  those  States  in  which  that  relation  is,  or  may  be, 
suspended  or  disturbed  ;  that  it  is  my  purpose  upon  the  next 
meeting  of  Congress  to  again  recommend  the  adoption  of  a 
practical  measure  tendering  pecuniary  aid  to  the  free  accept 
ance  or  rejection  of  all  the  Slave  States,  so-called,  the  people 
whereof  may  not  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  and  which  States  may  then  have  voluntarily  adopted,  or 
thereafter  may  voluntarily  adopt,  the  immediate  or  gradual 
abolishment  of  Slavery  within  their  respective  limits,  and  that 
the  effort  to  colonize  persons  of  African  descent,  with  their  con 
sent,  upon  the  continent  or  elsewhere,  with  the  previously 
obtained  consent  of  the  government  existing  there,  will 
be  continued ;  that  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty- 
three,  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  any  State,  or 
any  designated  part  of  a  State,  the  people  whereof  shall 
then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  SHALL  BE 
THEN,  THENCEFORWARD  AND  FOREVER,  FREE  ;  and  the  mili 
tary  and  na,val  authority  thereof  will  recognize  and  maintain 
the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to 
repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may 
make  for  actual  freedom ;  that  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first 
day  of  January  aforesaid,  by  proclamation,  designate  the 
States  and  parts  of  States,  if  any,  in  which  the  people  thereof 
respectively  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States  ; 
and  the  fact  that  any  State,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall  on  that 
day  be  in  good  faith  represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  by  members  chosen  thereto,  at  elections  wherein  a 
majority  of  the  qualified  voters  of  such  State  shall  have  partici 
pated,  shall,  in  the  absence  of  strong  countervailing  testimony, 
be  deemed  conclusive  evidence  that  such  State  and  the  people 
thereof  have  not  been  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States. 

Your  attention  is  hereby  called  to  an  act  of  Congress  entitled, 
"  An  act  to  make  an  additional  article  of  war,"  approved  March 
13,  1862,  and  which  act  is  in  the  words  and  figures  following : 
.  "  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled.  That  here 
after  the  following  shall  be  promulgated  as  an  additional  article 
of  war  for  the  government  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States, 
and  shall  be  observed  and  obeyed  as  such : 

"ARTICLE  — .  All  officers  or  persons  of  the  military  or  naval 
service  of  the  United  States  are  prohibited  from  employing  any 
of  the  forces  under  their  respective  commands  for  the  purpose 
of  returning  fugitives  from  service  or  labor  who  may  have 
escaped  from  any  persons  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  is 
claimed  to  be  due,  and  any  officer  who  shall  be  found  guilty  by 

i 


416  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

a  court-martial  of  violating  this  article,  shall  be  dismissed  frcm 
the  service. 

"  SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  this  act  shall  take 
effect  from  and  after  its  passage." 

Also  to  the  ninth  and  tenth  sections  of  an  act  entitled,  "An 
act  to  suppress  insurrection,  to  punish  treason  and  rebellion,  to 
seize  and  confiscate  property  of  Rebels,  and  for  other  purposes," 
approved  July  17,  1862,  and  which  sections  are  in  the  words 
and  figures  following : 

"  SEC.  9.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  all  slaves  of  per 
sons  who  shall  hereafter  be  engaged  in  rebellion  against  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  or  who  shall  in  any  way  give 
aid  or  comfort  thereto,  escaping  from  such  persons  and  taking 
refuge  within  the  lines  of  the  army;  and  all  slaves  captured 
from  such  persons  or  deserted  by  them,  and  coming  under  the 
control  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  all  slaves 
of  such  persons  found  on  (or  being  within)  any  place  occupied 
by  Rebel  forces  and  afterward  occupied  by  the  forces  of  the 
United  States,  shall  be  deemed  captives  of  war,  and  shall  be 
forever  free  of  their  servitude  and  not  again  held  as  slaves. 

"  SEC.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  no  slave  escaping 
into  any  State,  Territory  or  the  District  of  Columbia,  from  any 
of  the  States,  shall  be  delivered  up,  or  in  any  way  impeded  or 
hindered  of  his  liberty,  except  for  crime,  or  some  offense  against 
the  laws,  unless  the  person  claiming  said  fugitive  shall  first 
make  oath  that  the  person  to  whom  the  labor  or  service  of  such 
fugitive  is  alleged  to  be  due,  is  his  lawful  owner,  and  has  not 
been  in  arms  against  the  United  States  in  the  present  rebellion, 
nor  in  any  way  given  aid  or  comfort  thereto ;  and  no  person  en 
gaged  in  the  military  or  naval  service  of  the  United  States 
shall,  under  any  pretense  whatever,  assume  to  decide  on  the 
validity  of  the  claim  of  any  person  to  the  service  or  labor  of 
any  other  person,  or  surrender  up  any  such  person  to  the  claim 
ant,  on  pain  of  being  dismissed  from  the  service." 

And  I  do  hereby  enjoin  upon,  and  order  all  persons  engaged 
in  the  military  and  naval  service  of  the  United  States  to  ob 
serve,  obey  and  enforce  within  their  respective  spheres  of  serv 
ice  the  act  and  sections  above  recited. 

And  the  Executive  will,  in  due  time,  recommend  that  all  citi 
zens  of  the  United  States  who  shall  have  remained  loyal  thereto 
throughout  the  rebellion,  shall  (upon  the  restoration  of  the 
constitutional  relation  between  the  United  States  and  their 
respective  States  and  people,  if  the  relation  shall  have  been  sus 
pended  or  disturbed)  be  compensated  for  all  losses  by  acts  of 
the  United  States,  including  the  loss  of  slaves. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  417 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  twenty-second  day  of 
September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  sixty-two,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States 
the  eighty-seventh. 

By  the  President :  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

WM.  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 

This  proclamation,  inaugurating  a  new  era  in  the  progress 
of  the  war,  and  constituting  a  landmark  in  the  nation's  history 
for  all  time,  was  received  with  great  satisfaction  throughout 
the  loyal  States,  reassuring  the  faith  and  reviving  the  confi 
dence  of  those  who  now  saw  the  only  hope  of  a  complete  over 
throw  of  the  slaveholders'  conspiracy,  in  the  utter  eradication 
of  its  mischievous  and  immoral  cause.  This  decree  flashed  a 
new  light  across  the  Atlantic,  and  gave  cheer  to  the  friends  of 
American  republicanism  abroad,  affording  them  a  firm  foothold 
among  the  nations  of  the  Old  World,  so  many  of  whose  ruling 
men  had  manifested  a  positive  affinity  for  Davis  and  the  inhu 
man  revolt  against  freedom  and  civilization  which  he  had  inau 
gurated.  From  this  time  onward,  that  portion  of  the  European 
population  in  sympathy  with  the  constitutional  government  of 
this  nation  began  steadily  to  advance,  until  its  power  has  come 
to  be  strongly  felt,  and  its  influence  controlling.  In  Europe, 
the  line  was  now  distinctly  drawn  between  the  grand  principles 
of  universal  freedom  and  the  usurpations  of  slaveholding  bar 
barism  ;  between  legitimate  authority  on  the  side  of  liberty, 
and  organized  revolt  to  perpetuate  oppression. 

On  the  1st  day  of  January,  the  expected  proclamation  com 
pleting  this  great  work  and  giving  it  actual  vitality,  was  pro 
mulgated  in  the  following  terms  : 

WHEREAS,  On  the  twenty-second  day  of  September,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-two, 
a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  containing,  among  other  things,  the  following,  to-wit. 

That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons  held 
as  slaves  within  any  State,  or  any  designated  part  of  a  State, 
the  people  whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the 


418  LIFE   OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

United  States,  stall  be  thenceforward  and  forever  free,  and  the 
Executive  Government  of  the  United  States,  including  the 
military  and  naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and  main 
tain  the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to 
repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may 
make  for  their  actual  freedom  : 

That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January  afore 
said,  by  proclamation,  designate  the  States  and  parts  of  States, 
if  any,  in  which  the  people  thereof  respectively  shall  then  be 
in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  and  the  fact  that  any 
State,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall  on  that  day  be  in  good  faith 
represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  by  members 
chosen  thereto  at  elections  wherein  a  majority  of  the  qualified 
voters  of  such  State  shall  have  participated,  shall,  in  the  absence 
of  strong  countervailing  testimony,  be  deemed  conclusive  evi 
dence  that  such  State  and  the  people  thereof  are  not  then  in 
rebellion  against  the  United  States  : 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United 
States,  by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  as  Commander-in- 
chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States,  in  time  of 
actual  armed  rebellion  against  the  authority  and  Government  of 
the  United  States,  and  as  a  fit  and  necessary  war  measure  for 
repressing  said  rebellion,  do,  on  this  first  day  of  January,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three, 
and  in  accordance  with  my  purpose  so  to  do,  publicly  pro 
claimed  for  the  full  period  of  one  hundred  days  from  the  day 
of  the  first  above-mentioned  order,  and  designate,  as  the  States 
and  parts  of  States  wherein  the  people  thereof  respectively  are 
this  day  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  the  following, 
to-wit.  :  Arkansas,  Texas.  Louisiana,  except  the  parishes  of  St. 
Bernard,  Plaquemines,  Jefferson,  St.  John,  St.  Charles,  St.  James, 
Ascension,  Assumption,  Terre  Bonne,  Lafourche,  St.  Mary,  St. 
Martin,  and  Orleans,  including  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  Missis- 
s,ippi,  Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  South  Carolina.  North 
Carolina,  and  Virginia,  except  the  forty-eight  counties  desig 
nated  as  West  Virginia,  and  also  the  counties  of  Berkeley, 
Accomac,  Northampton,  Elizabeth  City,  York,  Princess  Ami, 
and  Norfolk,  including  the  cities  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth, 
and  which  excepted  parts  are,  for  the  present,  left  precisely  as 
if  this  proclamation  were  not  issued. 

And  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  I 
do  order  and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  said 
designated  States  and  parts  of  States  are,  and  henceforward 
shall  be  free  ;  and  that  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United 
States,  including  the  military  and  naval  authorities  thereof,  will 
recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  said  persons. 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  419 

And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared  to  be  free, 
to  abstain  from  all  violence,  unless  in  necessary  self-defense, 
and  I  recommend  to  them,  that  in  all  cases,  when  allowed,  they 
labor  faithfully  for  reasonable  wages. 

And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such  persons  of 
suitable  condition  will  be  received  into  the  armed  service  of 
the  United  States  to  garrison  forts,  positions,  stations,  and  other 
places,  and  to  man  vessels  of  all  sorts  in  said  service. 

And  upon  this,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  justice, 
warranted  by  the  Constitution,  upon  military  necessity,  I 
invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind  and  the  gracious 
favor  of  Almighty  God. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  first  day  of 

r-         -,  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
"J  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  of  the  Independence  of 

the  United  States  of  America  the  eighty-seventh. 
By  the  President :  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 

The  power  exercised  by  President  Lincoln  in  suspending  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus,  in  certain  cases,  gave  some  uneasiness 
to  a  class  of  men  whose  efforts  to  obstruct  the  Government  in 
putting  down  the  rebellion  had  been'pursued  under  the  assump 
tion  that  they  would  escape  punishment  on  a  formal  trial,  for 
the  treason  of  which  they  were  morally  guilty.  The  people, 
however,  fully  sustained  this  course  of  the  Executive,  in  a  time 
of  great  public  peril,  and  his  prompt  action  therein  tended 
materially  to  strengthen  the  Government.  His  proclamation 
on  this  subject,  issued  on  the  24th  day  of  September,  1862, 
contained  the  following  orders  : 

That  during  the  existing  insurrection,  and  as  a  necessary 
measure  for  suppressing  the  same,  all  Rebels  and  insurgents, 
their  aiders  and  abettors,  within  the  United  States,  and  all  per 
sons  discouraging  volunteer  enlistments,  resisting  militia  drafts, 
or  guilty  of  any  disloyal  practice  affording  aid  and  comfort  to 
the  Rebels  against  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  be 
subject  to  martial  law,  and  liable  to  trial  and  punishment  by 
courts-martial  or  military  commissions. 

That  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  suspended  in  respect  to  all 
persons  arrested,  or  who  are  now,  or  hereafter  during  the  rebel 
lion  shall  be,  imprisoned  in  any  fort,  camp,  arsenal,  military 


420  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

prison,  or  other  place  of  confinement,  by  any  military  authority, 
or  by  the  sentence  of  any  court-martial  or  military  commission. 

In  noticing  these  measures,  which  have  occupied  so  large  a 
place  in  the  public  mind,  it  is  fitting  also  to  mention  the  order 
issued  by  President  Lincoln,  in  response  to  an  appeal  made  to 
him  by  many  Christian  men,  in  regard  to  the  better  observance 
of  Sunday  as  a  day  of  rest  and  religious  devotion.  "  In  revo 
lutionary  times,"  this  reverence  for  the  day  can  seldom  be 
maintained  in  that  strictness  which  is  required  even  by  human 
laws ;  but  that  a  great  improvement  in  this  respect  was  practi 
cable,  could  not  be  denied.  The  President's  order  on  this 
subject,  issued  on  the  16th  of  November,  1862,  is  one  which 
deserves  a  perpetual  remembrance.  It  is  here  subjoined  : 

The  President,  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy, 
desires  and  enjoins  the  orderly  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  by 
the  officers  and  men  in  the  military  and  naval  service.  The 
importance,  for  man  and  beast,  of  the  prescribed  weekly  rest, 
the  sacred  rights  of  Christian  soldiers  and  sailors,  a  becoming 
deference  to  the  best  sentiment  of  a  Christian  people,  and  a  due 
regard  for  the  Divine  will,  demand  that  Sunday  labor  in  the 
army  and  navy  be  reduced  to  the  measure  of  strict  necessity. 

The  discipline  and  character  of  the  National  forces  should 
not  suffer,  nor  the  cause  they  defend  be  imperiled,  by  the  pro 
fanation  of  the  day  or  name  of  the  Most  High.  "At  this  time 
of  public  distress,"  adopting  the  words  of  Washington  in  1776, 
"  men  may  find  enough  to  do  in  the  service  of  God  and  their 
country,  without  abandoning  themselves  to  vice  and  immoral 
ity."  The  first  general  order  issued  by  the  Father  of  his 
Country,  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  indicates  the 
spirit  in  which  our  institutions  were  founded  and  should  ever 
be  defended :  "The  General  hopes  and  trusts  that  every  officer 
and  man  will  endeavor  to  live  and.  act  as  becomes  a  Christian 
soldier  defending  the  dearest  rights  and  liberties  of  his  coun 
try."  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

The  Thirty-seventh  Congress  convened, 'for  its  last  session, 
on  the  first  day  of  December,  1862.  The  annual  message  of 
the  President  was  transmitted  to  both  Houses  on  that  day.  In 
view  of  the  marked  events  of  the  preceding  season,  this  docu 
ment  was  looked  for  with  unusual  interest ;  nor  was  its  favor- 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  421 

able  reception  aisproportioned  to  the  public  expectation.     The 
material  portions  of  this  State  paper  are  as  follows: 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  ANNUAL  MESSAGE,  1862. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRE 
SENTATIVES  :  Since  your  last  annual  assembling,  another  year 
of  health  and  bountiful  harvests  has  passed,  And,  while  it 
has  not  pleased  the  Almighty  to  bless  us  with  a  return  of 
peace,  we  can  'but  press  on,  guided  by  the  best  light  He  gives 
us,  trusting  that,  in  His  own  good  time,  and  wise  way,  all  will 
yet  be  well 

If  the  condition  of  our  relations  with  other  nations  is  less 
gratifying  than  it  has  usually  been  at  former  periods,  it  is  cer 
tainly  more  satisfactory  than  a  nation  so  unhappily  distracted 
as  we  are,  might  reasonably  have  apprehended.  In  the  month 
of  June  last  there  were  some  grounds  to  expect  that  the  mari 
time  powers  which,  at  the  beginning  of  our  domestic  difficul 
ties,  so  unwisely  and  unnecessarily,  as  we  think,  recognized  the 
insurgents  as  a  belligerent,  would  soon  recede  from  that  posi 
tion,  which  has  proved  only  less  injurious  to  themselves  than 
to  our  own  country.  But  the  temporary  reverses  which  after 
ward  befell  the  National  arms,  and  which  were  exaggerated  by 
our  own  disloyal  citizens  abroad,  have  hitherto  delayed  that 
act  of  simple  justice. 

The  civil  war,  which  has  so  radically  changed,  for  the 
moment,  the  occupations  and  habits  of  the  American  people, 
has  necessarily  disturbed  the  social  condition,  and  affected  very 
deeply  the  prosperity  of  the  nations  with  which  we  have  car 
ried  on  a  commerce  that  has  been  steadily  increasing  through 
out  a  period  of  half  a  century.  It  has,  at  the  same  time, 
excited  political  ambitions  and  apprehensions  which  have  pro 
duced  a  profound  agitation  throughout  the  civilized  world.  In 
this  unusual  agitation  we  have  forborne  from  taking  part  in 
any  controversy  between  foreign  States,  and  between  parties  or 
factions  in  such  States.  We  have  attempted  no  propagandism, 
and  acknowledged  no  revolution.  But  we  have  left  to  every 
nation  the  exclusive  conduct  and  management  of  its  own  affairs. 
Our  struggle  has  been,  of  course,  contemplated  by  foreign 
nations  with  reference  less  to  its  own  merits,  than  to  its  sup 
posed,  and  often  exaggerated,  effects  and  consequences  result 
ing  to  those  nations  themselves.  Nevertheless,  complaint  on 
the  part  of  this  Government,  even  if  it  were  just,  would  cer 
tainly  be  unwise. 

The  treaty  with  Great  Britain  for  the  suppression  of  tho 
slave-trade  has  been  put  into  operation,  with  a  good  prospect 


422  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  complete  success.  It  is  an  occasion  of  special  pleasure  to 
acknowledge  that  the  execution  of  it,  on  the  part  of  Her 
Majesty's  Government,  has  been  marked  with  a  jealous  respect 
for  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  and  the  rights  of  their 
moral  and  loyal  citizens 

Applications  have  been  made  to  me  by  many  free  Ameri 
cans  of  African  descent  to  favor  their  emigration,  with  a  view 
to  such  colonization,  as  was  contemplated  in  recent  acts  of  Con 
gress.  Other  parties,  at  home  and  abroad — some  from  inter 
ested  motives,  others  upon  patriotic  considerations,  and  still 
others  influenced  by  philanthropic  sentiments — have  suggested 
similar  measures ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  several  of  the 
Spanish-American  republics  have  protested  against  the  sending 
of  such  colonies  to  their  respective  territories.  Under  these 
circumstances,  I  have  declined  to  move  any  such  colony  to  any 
State,  without  first  obtaining  the  consent  of  its  Government, 
with  an  agreement  on  its  part  to  receive  and  protect  such  emi 
grants  in  all  the  rights  of  freemen ;  and  I  have,  at  the  same 
tiirfe,  offered  to  the  several  States  situated  within  the  tropics, 
or  having  colonies  there,  to  negotiate  with  them,  subject  to  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  to  favor  the  voluntary  emi 
gration  of  persons  of  that  class  to  their  respective  territories, 
upon  conditions  which  shall  be  equal,  just  and  humane.  Li 
beria  and  Hayti  are,  as  yet,  the  only  countries  to  which  colo 
nists  of  African  descent  from  here,  could  go  with  certainty  of 
being  received  and  adopted  as  citizens ;  and  I  regret  to  say 
such  persons,  contemplating  colonization,  do  not  seem  so  willing 
to  migrate  to  those  countries,  as  to  some  others,  nor  so  willing 
as  I  think  their  interest  demands.  I  believe,  however,  opinion 
among  them  in  this  respect,  is  improving ;  and  that,  ere  long, 
there  will  be  an  augmented  and  considerable  migration  to  both 
these  countries,  from  the  United  States 

I  have  favored  the  project  for  connecting  the  United  States 
with  Europe  by  an  Atlantic  telegraph,  and  a  similar  project  to 
extend  the  telegraph  from  San  Francisco,  to  connect  by  a 
Pacific  telegraph  with  the  line  which  is  being  extended  across 
the  Russian  Empire. 

The  Territories  of  the  United  States,  with  unimportant  excep 
tions,  have  remained  undisturbed  by  the  civil  war ;  and  they 
are  exhibiting  such  evidence  of  prosperity  as  justifies  an  expec 
tation  that  some  of  them  will  soon  be  in  a  condition  to  be 
organized  as  States,  and  be  constitutionally  admitted  into  the 
Federal  Union. 

The  immense  mineral  resources  of  some  of  those  Territories 
ought  to  be  developed  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Every  step  in 
that  direction  would  have  a  tendency  to  improve  the  revenues 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  423 

of  the  Government,  and  diminish  the  burdens  of  the  people. 
It  is  worthy  of  your  serious  consideration  whether  some  extra 
ordinary  measures  to  promote  that  end  can  not  be  adopted. 
The  means  which  suggest  itself  as  most  likely  to  be  effective, 
is  a  scientific  exploration  of  the  mineral  regions  in  those  Terri 
tories,  with  a  view  to  the  publication  of  its  results  at  home  and 
in  foreign  countries — results  which  can  not  fail  to  be  auspicious. 

The  condition  of  the  finances  will  claim  your  most  diligent 
consideration.  The  vast  expenditures  incident  to  the  military 
and  naval  operations  required  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebel 
lion,  have  hitherto  been  met  with  a  promptitude  and  certainty 
unusual  in  similar  circumstances  ;  and  the  public  credit  has 
been  fully  maintained.  The  continuance  of  the  war,  however, 
and  the  increased  disbursements  made  necessary  by  the  aug 
mented  forces  now  in  the  field,  demand  your  best  reflections  as 
to  the  best  modes  of  providing  the  necessary  revenue,  without 
injury  to  business,  and  with  the  least  possible  burdens  upon 
labor. 

The  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the  banks,  soon  after 
the  commencement  of  your  last  session,  made  large  issues  of 
United  States  notes  unavoidable.  In  no  other  way  could  the 
payment  of  the  troops,  and  the  satisfaction  of  other  just 
demands,  be  so  economically,  or  so  well  provided  for.  The 
judicious  legislation  of  Congress,  securing  the  receivability  of 
these  notes  for  loans  and  internal  duties,  and  making  them  a 
legal  tender  for  other  debts,  has  made  them  an  universal  cur 
rency  ;  and  has  satisfied,  partially,  at  least,  and  for  the  time, 
the  long  felt  want  of  an  uniform  circulating  medium,  saving 
thereby  to  the  people  immense  sums  in  discounts  and  exchanges. 

A  return  to  specie  payments,  however,  at  the  earliest  period 
compatible  with  due  regard  to  all  interests  concerned,  should 
ever  be  kept  in  view.  Fluctuations  in  the  value  of  currency 
are  always  injurious,  and  to  reduce  these  fluctuations  to  the 
lowest  possible  point  will  always  be  a  leading  purpose  in  wise 
legislation.  Convertibility,  prompt  and  certain  convertibility 
into  coin,  is  generally  acknowledged  to  be  the  best  and  the 
surest  safeguard  against  them  ;  and  it  is  extremely  doubtful 
whether  a  circulation  of  United  States  notes,  payable  in  coin, 
and  sufficiently  large  for  the  wants  of  the  people,  can  be  per 
manently,  usefully  and  safely  maintained. 

Is  there,  then,  any  other  mode  in  which  the  necessary  pro 
vision  for  the  public  wants  can  be  made,  and  the  great  advan 
tages  of  a  safe  and  uniform  currency  secured  ? 

I  know  of  none  which  promises  so  certain  results,  and  is,  at 
the  same  time,  so  unobjectionable,  as  the  organization  of  bank 
ing  associations,  under  a  general  act  of  Congress,  well  guarded 


424  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

in  its  provisions.  To  such  associations  the  Government  might 
furnish  circulating  notes,  on  the  security  of  the  United  States 
bonds  deposited  in  the  treasury.  These  notes,  prepared  under 
the  supervision  of  proper  officers,  being  uniform  in  appearance 
ar.d  security,  and  convertible  always  into  coin,  would  at  once 
protect  labor  against  the  evils  of  a  vicious  currency,  and  facil 
itate  commerce  by  cheap  and  safe  exchanges. 

A  moderate  reservation  from  the  interest  on  the  bonds  would 
compensate  the  United  States  for  the  preparation  and  distri 
bution  of  the  notes,  and  a  general  supervision  of  the  system, 
and  would  lighten  the  burden  of  that  part  of  the  public  debt 
employed  as  securities.  The  public  credit,  moreover,  would  be 
greatly  improved,  and  the  negotiation  of  new  loans  greatly  fa 
cilitated  by  the  steady  market  demand  for  Government  bonds 
which  the  adoption  of  the  proposed  system  would  create. 

It  is  an  additional  recommendation  of  the  measure  of  con 
siderable  weight,  in  my  judgment,  that  it  would  reconcile,  as 
far  as  possible,  all  existing  interests,  by  the  opportunity  offered 
to  existing  institutions  to  reorganize  under  the  act,  substituting 
only  the  secured  uniform  national  circulation  for  the  local  and 
various  circulation,  secured  and  unsecured,  now  issued  by  them. 

The  receipts  into  the  treasury,  from  all  sources,  including 
loans,  and  balance  from  the  preceding  year,  for  the  fiscal  year 
ending  on  the  30th  June,  1862,  were  8583,885,247  06,  of 
which  sum  $49,056,397  62  were  derived  from  customs ; 
$1,795,331  73  from  the  direct  tax ;  from  public  lands 
$152,203  77 ;  from  miscellaneous  sources,  $931,787  64 ; 
from  loans  in  all  forms,  $529,692,460  50.  The  remainder, 
$2,257,065  80,  was  the  balance  from  last  year. 

The  disbursements  during  the  same  period  were  for  con 
gressional,  executive,  and  judicial  purposes,  $5,939,009  29; 
for  foreign  intercourse,  $1,339,710  35  ;  for  miscellaneous  ex 
penses,  including  the  mints,  loans,  post  office  deficiencies,  col 
lection  of  revenue,  and  other  like  charges,  $14,129,771  50 ; 
for  expenses  under  the  Interior  Department,  $3,102,985  52  ; 
under  the  War  Department,  $394,368,407  36  ;  under  the  Navy 
Department,  $42,674,569  69;  for  interest  on  public  debt, 
$13,190,324  45;  and  for  payment  of  public  debt,  includ 
ing  reimbursement  of  temporary  loan,  and  redemptions, 
$96,096,922  09  ;  making  an  aggregate  of  $570,841,700  25, 
and  leaving  a  balance  in  the  treasury  on  the  first  day  of  July, 
1862,  of  $13,043,546  81. 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  sum  of  $96,096,922  09,  ex 
pended  for  reimbursements  and  redemption  of  public  debt, 
being  included  also  in  the  loans  made,  may  be  properly  de 
ducted,  both  from  receipts  and  expenditures,  leaving  the  actual 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  425 

receipts  for  the  year,  $487,788,324  97  ;  and  the  expenditures, 
$474,744,778  16 

On  the  22d  day  of  September  last  a  proclamation  was  issued 
by  the  Executive,  a  copy  of  which  is  herewith  submitted. 

In  accordance  with  the  purpose  expressed  in  the  second  par 
agraph  of  that  paper,  I  now  respectfully  recall  your  attention  to 
what  may  be  called  "  compensated  emancipation." 

A  nation  may  be  said  to  consist  of  its  territory,  its  people 
and  its  laws.  The  territory  is  the  only  part  which  is  of  certain 
durability.  "  One  generation  passeth  away  and  another  genera 
tion  cometh,  but  the  earth  abideth  forever."  It  is  of  the  first 
importance  to  duly  consider,  and  estimate,  this  ever-enduring 
part.  That  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  which  is  owned  and 
inhabited  by  the  people  of  the  United  States,  is  well  adapted  to 
be  the  home  of  one  national  family ;  and  it  is  not  well  adapted 
for  two,  or  more.  Its  vast  extent,  and  its  variety  of  climate 
and  productions,  are  of  advantage,  in  this  age,  for  one  people, 
whatever  they  might  have  been  in  former  ages.  Steam,  tele 
graphs  and  intelligence  have  brought  these  to  be  an  advantageous 
combination  for  one  united  people. 

In  the  inaugural  address  I  briefly  pointed  out  the  total  inade 
quacy  of  disunion,  as  a  remedy  for  the  differences  between  the 
people  of  the  two  sections.  I  did  so  in  language  which  I  can 
not  improve,  and  which,  therefore,  I  beg  to  repeat : 

"  One  section  of  our  country  believes  Slavery  is  right,  and 
ought  to  be  extended,  while  the  other  believes  it  is  wrong,  and 
ought  not  to  be  extended.  This  is  the  only  substantial  dis 
pute.  The  fugitive  slave  clause  of  the  Constitution,  and  the 
law  for  the  suppression  of  the  foreign  slave-trade,  are  each  as 
well  enforced,  perhaps,  as  any  law  can  ever  be  in  a  community 
where  the  moral  sense  of  the  people  imperfectly  supports  the  law 
itself.  The  great  body  of  the  people  abide  by  the  dry  legal  obli 
gation  in  both  cases,  and  a  few  breakover  in  each.  This,  I  think, 
can  not  be  perfectly  cured ;  and  it  would  be  worse  in  both  cases 
after  the  separation  of  the  sections,  than  before.  The  foreign 
slave-trade,  now  imperfectly  suppressed,  would  be  ultimately 
revived  without  restriction  in  one  section ;  while  fugitive  slaves, 
now  only  partially  surrendered,  would  not  be  surrendered  at  all 
by  the  other. 

"  Physically  speaking,  we  can  not  separate.  We  can  not  re 
move  our  respective  sections  from  each  other,  nor  build  an  im 
passable  wall  between  them.  A  husband  and  wife  may  be 
divorced,  and  go  out  of  the  presence,  and  beyond  the  reach  of 
each  other ;  but  the  different  parts  of  our  country  can  not  do 
this.  They  can  not  but  remain  face  to  face  ;  and  intercourse, 
either  amicable  or  hostile,  must  continue  between  them.  Is  it 


426  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

possible,  then,  to  make  that  intercourse  more  advantageous,  or 
more  satisfactory,  after  separation  than  before?  Can  aliens 
make  treaties  easier  than  friends  can  make  laws  ?  Can  treaties 
be  more  faithfully  enforced  between  aliens,  than  laws  can  among 
friends  ?  Suppose  you  go  to  war,  you  can  not  fight  always  ;  and 
when,  after  much  loss  on  both  sides,  and  no  gain  on  either,  you 
cease  fighting,  the  identical  old  questions,  as  to  terms  of  inter 
course,  are  again  upon  you." 

There  is  no  line,  straight  or  crooked,  suitable  for  a  National 
boundary,  upon  which  to  divide.  Trace  through,  from  east  to 
west,  upon  the  line  between  the  free  and  slave  country,  and  we 
shall  find  a  little  more  than  one-third  of  its  length  are  rivers, 
easy  to  be  crossed,  and  populated,  or  soon  to  be  populated, 
thickly,  upon  both  sides;  while  nearly  all  its  remaining  length 
are  merely  surveyors'  lines,  over  which  people  may  walk  back 
and  forth  without  any  consciousness  of  their  presence.  No 
part  of  this  Hue  can  be  made  any  more  difficult  to  pass,  by  writ 
ing  it  down  on  paper,  or  parchment,  as  a  national  boundary. 
The  fact  of  separation,  if  it  comes,  gives  up,  on  the  part  of  the 
seceding  section,  the  fugitive  slave  clause,  along  with  all  other 
constitutional  obligations  upon  the  section  seceded  from,  while 
I  should  expect  no  treaty  stipulation  would  ever  be  made  to 
take  its  place. 

But  there  is  another  difficulty.  The  great  interior  region, 
bounded  east  by  the  Alleghanies,  north  by  the  British  Domin 
ions,  west  by  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  south  by  the  line  along 
which  the  culture  of  corn  and  cotton  meets,  and  which  includes 
part  of  Virginia,  part  of  Tennessee,  all  of  Kentucky,  Ohio,  In 
diana,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Kansas,  Iowa, 
Minnesota,  and  the  Territories  of  Dakotah,  Nebraska,  and  part 
of  Colorado,  already  has  above  ten  millions  of  people,  and  will 
have  fifty  millions  within  fifty  years,  if  not  prevented  by  any 
political  folly  or  mistake.  It  contains  more  than  one-third  of 
the  country  owned  by  the  United  States — certainly  more  than 
one  million  of  square  miles.  Once  half  as  populous  as  Massa 
chusetts  already  is,  it  would  have  more  than  seventy-five  mil 
lions  of  people.  A  glance  at  the  map  shows  that,  territorially 
speaking,  it  is  the  great  body  of  the  Republic.  The  other 
parts  are  but  marginal  borders  to  it;  the  magnificent  region 
sloping  west  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific,  being 
the  deepest,  and  also  the  richest,  in  undeveloped  resources.  In 
the  production  of  provisions,  grains,  grasses,  a/nd  all  which  pro 
ceed  from  them,  this  great  interior  region  is  naturally  one  of 
the  most  important  in  the  world.  Ascertain  from  the  statistics 
the  small  proportion  of  the  region  which  has,  as  yet,  been 
brought  into  cultivation,  and  also  the  large  and  rapidly  increas- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  427 

ing  amount  of  its  products,  and  we  shall  be  overwhelmed  with 
the  magnitude  of  the  prospect  presented.  And  yet  this  region 
has  no  sea-coast,  touches  no  ocean  any-where.  As  part  of  one 
nation,  its  people  now  find,  and  m,ay  forever  find,  their  way  to 
Europe  by  New  York,  to  South  America  and  Africa  by  New 
Orleans,  and  to  Asia  by  San  Francisco.  But  separate  our  com 
mon  country  into  two  nations,  as  designed  by  the  present  rebel 
lion,  and  every  man  of  this  great  interior  region  is  thereby  cut 
off  from  some  one  or  more  of  these  outlets,  not,  perhaps,  by  a 
physical  barrier,  but  by  embarrassing  and  onerous  trade  regu 
lations. 

And  this  is  true,  wherever  a  dividing  or  boundary  line  may  be 
fixed.  Place  it  between  the  now  free  and  slave  country,  or 
place  it  south  of  Kentucky,  or  north  of  Ohio,  and  still  the 
truth  remains,  that  none  south  of  it  can  trade  to  any  port  or 
place  north  of  it,  and  none  north  of  it  can  trade  to  any  port  or 
place  south  of  it,  except  upon  terms  dictated  by  a  government 
foreign  to  them.  These  outlets,  east,  west,  and  south,  are  in 
dispensable  to  the  well-being  of  the  people  inhabiting,  and  to 
inhabit,  this  vast  interior  region.  Which  of  the  three  may  be 
the  best,  is  no  proper  question.  All  are  better  than  either ; 
and  all,  of  right,  belong  to  that  people,  and  to  their  successors 
forever.  True  to  themselves,  they  will  not  ask  where  a  line  of 
separation  shall  be,  but  will  vow,  rather,  that  there  shall  be  no 
such  line.  Nor  are  the  marginal  regions  less  interested  in 
these  communications  to,  and  through  them,  to  the  great  out 
side  world.  They,  too,  and  each  of  them,  must  have  access  to 
this  Egypt  of  the  West,  without  paying  toll  at  the  crossing  of 
any  national  boundary. 

Our  National  strife  springs  not  from  our  permanent  part ; 
not  from  the  land  we  inhabit;  not  from  our  National  home 
stead.  There  is  no  possible  severing  of  this,  but  would  mul 
tiply,  and  not  mitigate,  evils  among  us.  In  all  its  adaptations 
and  aptitudes,  it  demands  union,  and  abhors  separation.  In 
fact,  it  would,  ere  long,  force  reunion,  however  much  of  blood 
and  treasure  the  separation  might  have  cost. 

Our  strife  pertains  to  ourselves — to  the  passing  generations 
of  men ;  and  it  can,  without  convulsion,  be  hushed  forever 
with  the  passing  of  one  generation. 

In  this  view,  I  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolution  and  articles  amendatory  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States : 

"Resolved  by  the  Senate 'and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  (two-thirds  of 
both  Houses  concurring,)  That  the  following  articles  be  pro 
posed  to  the  Legislatures  (or  conventions)  of  the  several  States 


428  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

as  amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  all  or 
any  of  which  articles,  when  ratified  by  three-fourths  of  the 
said  Legislatures  (or  conventions),  to  be  valid  as  part  or  parts 
of  the  said  Constitution,  viz.: 

"ARTICLE  — .  Every  State,  wherein  slavery  now  exists, 
which  shall  abolish  the  same  therein,  at  any  time,  or  times, 
before  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  and  nine  hundred,  shall  receive  compensation  from 
the  United  States  as  follows,  to-wit : 

"  The  President  of  the  United  States  shall  deliver,  to  every 
such  State,  bonds  of  the  United  States,  bearing  interest  at  the 

rate  of per  cent,  per  annum,  to  an  amount  equal  to  the 

aggregate  sum  of  for  each  slave  shown  to 

have  been  therein,  by  the  eighth  census  of  the  United  States, 
said  bonds  to  be  delivered  to  such  State  by  installments,  or  in 
one  parcel,  at  the  completion  of  the  abolishment,  accordingly 
as  the  same  shall  have  been  gradual,  or  at  one  time,  within  such 
State ;  and  interest  shall  begin  to  run  upon  any  such  bond, 
only  from  the  proper  time  of  its  delivery  as  aforesaid.  Any 
State,  having  received  bonds  as  aforesaid,  and  afterward  re-in 
troducing  or  tolerating  slavery  therein,  shall  refund  to  the 
United  States  the  bonds  so  received,  or  the  value  thereof,  and 
all  interest  paid  thereon. 

"ARTICLE  — .  All  slaves  who  shall  have  enjoyed  actual 
freedom  by  the  chances  of  the  war,  at  any  time  before  the  end 
of  the  rebellion,  shall  be  forever  free ;  but  all  owners  of  such, 
who  shall  not  have  been  disloyal,  shall  be  compensated  for 
them,  at  the  same  rates  as  is  provided  for  States  adopting  abol 
ishment  of  slavery,  but  in  such  way,  that  no  slave  shall  be 
twice  accounted  for. 

"ARTICLE  — .  Congress  may  appropriate  money,  and  other 
wise  provide  for  colonizing  free  colored  persons,  with  their 
own  consent,  at  any  place  or  places  without  the  United  States." 

I  beg  indulgence  to  discuss  these  proposed  articles  at  some 
length.  Without  slavery,  the  rebellion  could  never  have  ex 
isted  ;  without  slavery,  it  could  not  continue. 

Among  the  friends  of  the  Union,  there  is  great  diversity  of 
sentiment,  and  of  policy,  in  regard  to  slavery,  and  the  African 
race  among  us.  Some  would  perpetuate  slavery;  some  would 
abolish  it  suddenly,  and  without  compensation ;  some  would 
abolish  it  gradually,  and  with  compensation ;  some  would  re 
move  the  freed  people  from  us,  and  some  would  retain  them 
with  us ;  and  there  are  yet  other  minor  diversities.  Because 
of  these  diversities,  we  waste  much  strength  in  struggles  among 
ourselves.  By  mutual  concession  we  should  harmonize,  and 
act  together.  This  would  be  compromise;  but  it  would  be 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  429 

compromise  among  the  friends,  and  not  with  the  enemies  of 
the  Union.  These  articles  are  intended  to  embody  a  plan  of 
such  mutual  concessions.  If  the  plan  shall  be  adopted,  it  ia 
assumed  that  emancipation  will  follow,  at  least  in  several  of 
the  States. 

As  to  the  first  article,  the  main  points  are :  first,  the  emanci 
pation  ;  secondly,  the  length  of  time  for  consummating  it — • 
thirty-seven  years ;  and,  thirdly,  the  compensation. 

The  emancipation  will  be  unsatisfactory  to  the  advocates  of 
perpetual  slavery ;  but  the  length  of  time  should  greatly  mitigate 
their  dissatisfaction.  The  time  spares  both  races  from  the 
evils  of  sudden  derangement — in  fact,  from  the  necessity  of 
any  derangement — while  most  of  those  whose  habitual  course 
of  thought  will  be  disturbed  by  the  measure,  will  have  passed 
away  before  its  consummation.  They  will  never  see  it.  An 
other  class  will  hail  the  prospect  of  emancipation,  but  will 
deprecate  the  length  of  time.  They  will  feel  that  it  gives  too 
little  to  the  now  living  slaves.  But  it  really  gives  them  much. 
It  saves  them  from  the  vagrant  destitution  which  must  largely 
attend  immediate  emancipation  in  localities  where  their  num 
bers  are  very  great ;  and  it  gives  the  inspiring  assurance  that 
their  posterity  shall  be  free  forever.  The  plan  leaves  to  each 
State,  choosing  to  act  under  it,  to  abolish  slavery  now,  or  at 
the  end  of  the  century,  or  at  any  intermediate  time,  or  by  de 
grees,  extending  over  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  period ;  and 
it  obliges  no  two  States  to  proceed  alike.  It  also  provides  for 
compensation,  and,  generally,  the  mode  of  making  it.  This,  it 
would  seem,  must  further  mitigate  the  dissatisfaction  of  those 
who  favor  perpetual  slavery,  and  especially  of  those  who  are  to 
receive  the  compensation.  Doubtless,  some  of  those  who  are 
to  pay,  and  not  to  receive,  will  object.  Yet  the  measure  is 
both  just  and  economical.  In  a  certain  sense,  the  liberation 
of  slaves  is  the  destruction  of  property — property  acquired  by 
descent,  or  by  purchase,  the  same  as  any  other  property.  It  is 
no  less  true  for  having  been  often  said,  that  the  people  of  the 
South  are  not  more  responsible  for  the  original  introduction  of 
this  property,  than  are  the  people  of  the  North  ;  and  when  it 
is  remembered  how  unhesitatingly  we  all  use  cotton  and  sugar, 
and  share  the  profits  of  dealing  in  them,  it  may  not  be  quite 
safe  to  say,  that  the  South  has  been  more  responsible  than  the 
North  for  its  continuance.  If,  then,  for  a  common  object,  this 
property  is  to  be  sacrificed,  is  it  not  just  that  it  be  done  at  a 
common  charge  ? 

And  if,  with  less  money,  QJ  money  more  easily  paid,  we  can 
preserve  the  benefits  of  the  Union  by  this  means,  than  we  can 
by  the  war  alone,  is  it  not  also  economical  to  do  it?  Let  us 


430  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

consider  it  then.  Let  us  ascertain  the  sum  we  have  expended 
in  the  war  since  compensated  emancipation  was  proposed  last 
March,  and  consider  whether,  if  that  measure  had  heen 
promptly  accepted,  by  even  some  of  the  slave  States,  the  same 
sum  would  not  have  done  more  to  close  the  war,  than  has  been 
otherwise  done.  If  so,  the  measure  would  save  money,  and,  in 
that  view,  would  be  a  prudent  and  economical  measure.  Cer 
tainly  it  is  not  so  easy  to  pay  something  as  it  is  to  pay  nothing  ; 
but  it  is  easier  to  pay  a  large  sum,  than  it  is  to  pay  a  larger  one. 
And  it  is  easier  to  pay  any  sum  when  we  are  able,  than  it  is  to 
pay  it  before  we  are  able.  The  war  requires  large  sums,  and 
requires  them  at  once.  The  aggregate  sum  necessary  for  com 
pensated  emancipation,  of  course,  would  be  large.  But  it  would 
require  no  ready  cash ;  nor  the  bonds  even,  any  faster  than  the 
emancipation  progresses.  This  might  not,  and  probably  would 
not,  close  before  the  end  of  the  thirty-seven  years.  At  that 
time  we  shall  probably  have  a  hundred  millions  of  people  to 
share  the  burden,  instead  of  thirty-one  millions,  as  now.  And 
not  only  so,  but  the  increase  of  our  population  may  be  expected 
to  continue  for  a  long  time  after  that  period,  as  rapidly  as 
before ;  because  our  territory  will  not  have  become  full.  I  do 
not  state  this  inconsiderately.  At  the  same  ratio  of  increase 
which  we  have  maintained,  on  an  average,  from  our  first  Na 
tional  census,  in  1790,  until  that  of  1860,  we  should,  in  1900, 
have  a  population  of  103,208,415.  And  why  may  we  not  con 
tinue  that  ratio  far  beyond  that  period  ?  Our  abundant  room — 
our  broad  National  homestead — is  our  ample  resource.  Were 
our  territory  as  limited  as  are  the  British  Isles,  very  certainly 
our  population  could  not  expand  as  stated.  Instead  of  receiv 
ing  the  foreign  born,  as  now,  we  should  be  compelled  to  send 
part  of  the  native  born  away.  But  such  is  not  our  condition 
We  have  two  millions  nine  hundred  and  sixty-three  thousand 
square  miles.  Europe  has  three  millions  and  eight  hundred 
thousand,  with  a  population  averaging  seventy-three  and  one- 
third  persons  to  the  square  mile.  Why  may  not  our  country, 
at  some  time,  average  as  many?  Is  it  less  fertile?  Has  it 
more  waste  surface,  by  mountains,  rivers,  lakes,  deserts,  or  other 
causes?  Is  it  inferior  to  Europe  in  any  natural  advantage? 
If,  then,  we  are,  at  some  time,  to  be  as  populous  as  Europe, 
how  soon?  As  to  when  this  may  be,  we  can  judge  by  the  past 
and  the  present ;  as  to  when  it  will  be,  if  ever,  depends  much 
on  whether  we  maintain  the  Union.  Several  of  our  States  are 
already  above  the  average  of  Europe  —  seventy-three  and  a 
third  to  the  square  mile.  Massachusetts  has  157 ;  Rhode 
Island,  133 ;  Connecticut,  99 ;  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 
each,  80.  Also  two  other  great  States,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio, 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  431 

are  not  far  below,  the  former  having  63  and  the  latter  59.  The 
States  already  above  the  European  average,  except  New  York, 
have  increased  in  as  rapid  a  ratio,  since  passing  that  point,  as 
ever  before  ;  while  no  one  of  them  is  equal  to  some  other  parts 
of  our  country,  in  natural  capacity  for  sustaining  a  dense 
population. 

Taking  the  nation  in  the  aggregate,  and  we  find  its  popula 
tion  and  ratio  of  increase,  for  the  several  decennial  periods,  to 
be  as  follows : 

1790 3,929,827 

1800 5,305,937       35.02  per  cent,  ratio  of  increase. 

1810 7,239,814       36.45         « 

1820 9,638,131       33.13         "  " 

1830 12,866,020       33.49         "  " 

1840 17,069,453       32.67         "  " 

1850 23,191,876       35.87 

1860 31,443,790       35.58         "  " 

This  shows  an  average  decennial  increase  of  34.60  per  cent, 
in  population  through  the  seventy  years  from  our  first,  to  our 
last  census  yet  taken.  It  is  seen  that  the  ratio  of  increase,  at 
no  one  of  these  seven  periods,  is  either  two  per  cent,  below,  or 
two  per  cent,  above,  the  average,  thus  showing  how  inflexible, 
and,  consequently,  how  reliable,  the  law  of  increase,  in  our 
case,  is.  Assuming  that  it  will  continue,  gives  the  following 
results : 

1870 42,323,341 

1880 56.967,216 

1890 76,677,872 

1900 103,208.415 

1910 138,918,526 

1920 186,984.335 

1930 251,680,914 

These  figures  show  that  our  country  may  be  as  populous  as 
Europe  now  is,  at  some  point  between  1920  and  1930  —  say 
about  1925  —  our  territory,  at  seventy-three  and  a  third 
persons  to  the  square  mile,  being  the  capacity  to  contain 
217,186,000. 

And  we  will  reach  this,  too,  if  we  do  not  ourselves  relin 
quish  the  chance,  by  the  folly  and  evils  of  disunion,  or  by  long 
and  exhausting  war,  springing  from  the  only  great  element  of 
National  discord  among  us.  While  it  can  not  be  foreseen 
exactly  how  much  one  huge  example  of  secession,  breeding 
lesser  ones  indefinitely,  would  retard  population,  civilization, 
and  prosperity,  no  one  can  doubt  that  the  extent  of  it  would 
be  very  great  and  injurious. 


432  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

The  proposed  emancipation  would  shorten  the  war>  perpetu 
ate  peace,  insure  this  increase  of  population,  and  proportion 
ately  the  wealth  of  the  country.  With  these,  we  should  pay 
all  the  emancipation  would  cost,  together  with  our  other  debt, 
easier  than  we  should  pay  our  other  debt,  without  it.  If  we 
had  allowed  our  old  National  debt  to  run  at  six  per  cent,  per 
innum,  simple  interest,  from  the  end  of  our  Revolutionary 
struggle  until  to-day,  without  paying  any  thing  on  either  prin 
cipal  or  interest,  each  man  of  us  would  owe  less  upon  that  debt 
now,  than  each  man  owed  upon  it  then;  and  this  because  our 
increase  of  men,  through  the  whole  period,  has  been  greater 
than  six  per  cent.  ;  has  run  faster  than  the  interest  upon  the 
debt.  Thus,  time  alone  relieves  a  debtor  nation,  so  long  as 
its  population  increases  faster  than  unpaid  interest  accumulates 
on  its  debt. 

This  fact  would  be  no  excuse  for  delaying  payment  of  what 
is  justly  due  ;  but  it  shows  the  great  importance  of  time  in  this 
connection — the  great  advantage  of  a  policy  by  which  we  shall 
not  have  to  pay  until  we  number  a  hundred  millions,  what,  by 
a  different  policy,  we  would  have  to  pay  now,  when  we  number 
l>ut  thirty-one  millions.  In  a  word,  it  shows  that  a  dollar  will 
be  much  harder  to  pay  for  the  war,  than  will  be  a  dollar  for 
emancipation  on- the  proposed  plan.  And  then  the  latter  will 
cost  no  blood,  no  precious  life.  It  will  be  a  saving  of  both. 

As  to  the  second  article.  I  think  it  would  be  impracticable  to 
return  to  bondage  the  class  of  persons  therein  contemplated. 
Some  of  them,  doubtless,  in  the  property  sense,  belong  to  loyal 
owners ;  and  hence,  provision  is  made  in  this  article  for  com 
pensating  such. 

The  third  article  relates  to  the  future  of  the  freed  people.  It 
does  not  oblige,  but  merely  authorizes,  Congress  to  aid  in  colo 
nizing  such  as  may  consent.  This  ought  not  to  be  regarded  as 
objectionable,  on  the  one  hand,  or  on  the  other,  in  so  much  as 
it  comes  to  nothing,  unless  by  the  mutual  consent  of  the  people 
to  be  deported,  and  the  American  voters,  through  their  repre 
sentatives  in  Congress. 

I  can  not  make  it  better  known  than  it  already  is,  that  I 
strongly  favor  colonization.  And  yet  I  wish  to  say  there  is  an 
objection  urged  against  free  colored  persons  remaining  in  the 
country,  which  is  largely  imaginary,  if  not  sometimes  malicious. 

It  is  insisted  that  their  presence  would  injure,  and  displace 
white  labor  and  white  laborers.  If  there  ever  could  be  a  proper 
time  for  mere  catch  arguments,  that  time  surely  is  not  now 
In  times  like  the  present,  men  should  utter  nothing  for  which 
they  would  not  willingly  be  responsible  through  time  and  in 
eternity.  Is  it  true,  then,  that  colored  people  can  displace 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  433 

any  more  white  labor  by  being  free,  than  by  remaining  slaves  ? 
If  they  stay  in  their  old  places,  they  jostle  no  white  laborers ; 
if  they  leave  their  old  places,  they  leave  them  open  to  white 
laborers.  Logically,  there  is  neither  more  nor  less  of  it. 
Emancipation,  even  without  deportation,  would  probably  en 
hance  the  wages  of  white  labor,  and,  very  surely,  would  not 
reduce  them.  Thus,  the  customary  amount  of  labor  would 
still  have  to  be  performed ;  the  freed  people  would  surely  not 
do  more  than  their  old  proportion  of  it,  and  very  probably,  for 
a  time,  would  do  less,  leaving  an  increased  part  to  white  labor 
er's,  bringing  their  labor  into  greater  demand,  and,  conse 
quently,  enhancing  the  wages  of  it.  With  deportation,  even  to 
a  limited  extent,  enhanced  wages  to  white  labor  is  mathemati 
cally  certain.  Labor  is  like  any  other  commodity  in  the 
market — increase  the  demand  for  it,  and  you  increase  the  price 
of  it.  Reduce  the  supply  of  black  labor,  by  colonizing  the 
black  laborer  out  of  the  country,  and,  by  precisely  so  much, 
you  increase  the  demand  for,  and  wages  of,  white  labor. 

But  it  is  dreaded  that  the  freed  people  will  swarm  forth,  and 
cover  the  whole  land  ?  Are  they  not  already  in  the  land  ?  Will 
liberation  make  them  any  more  numerous  ?  Equally  distributed 
among  the  whites  of  the  whole  country,  and  there  would  be  but 
one  colored  to  seven  whites.  Could  the  one,  in  any  way,  greatly 
disturb  the  seven  ?  There  are  many  communities  now,  having 
more  than  one  free  colored  person  to  seven  whites ;  and  this 
without  any  apparent  consciousness  of  evil  from  it.  The  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia,  and  the  States  of  Maryland  and  Delaware,  are 
all  in  this  condition.  The  District  has  more  than  one  free  col 
ored  to  six  whites ;  and  yet,  in  its  frequent  petitions  to 
Congress,  I  believe  it  has  never  presented  the  presence  of  free 
colored  persons  as  one  of  its  grievances.  But  why  should 
emancipation  South  send  the  freed  people  North  ?  People,  of 
any  color,  seldom  run,  unless  there  be  something  to  run  from. 
Heretofore,  colored  people,  to  some  extent,  have  fled  North 
from  bondage  ;  and  now,  perhaps,  from  both  bondage  and  desti 
tution.  But  if  gradual  emancipation  and  deportation  be 
adopted,  they  will  have  neither  to  flee  from.  Their  old  masters 
will  give  them  wages,  at  least  until  new  laborers  can  be  pro 
cured  ;  and  the  freed  men,  in  turn,  will  gladly  give  their  labor 
for  the  wages,  till  new  homes  can  be  found  for  them,  in  con 
genial  climes,  and  with  people  of  their  own  blood  and  race. 
This  proposition  can  be  trusted  on  the  mutual  interests  in 
volved.  And,  in  any  event,  can  not  the  North  decide  for  itself, 
whether  to  receive  them  ? 

Again,  as  practice  proves  mou  than  theory,  in  any  case,  ha» 


434  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

there  been  any  irruption  of  colored  people  northward,  because 
of  the  abolishment  of  slavery  in  this  District  last  spring  ? 

What  I  have  said  of  the  proportion  of  free  colored  persons 
to  the  whites,  in  the  District,  is  from  the  census  of  1860,  hav 
ing  no  reference  to  persons  called  contrabands,  nor  to  those 
made  free  by  the  act  of  Congress  abolishing  slavery  here. 

The  plan  consisting  of  these  articles  is  recommended,  not  but 
that  a  restoration  of  the  National  authority  would  be  accepted 
without  its  adoption. 

Nor  will  the  war,  nor  proceedings  under  the  proclamation  of 
September  22,  1862,  be  stayed  because  of  the  recommendation 
of  this  plan.  Its  timily  adoption,  I  doubt  not,  would  bring 
restoration,  and  thereby  stay  both. 

And,  notwithstanding  this  plan,  the  recommendation  that 
Congress  provide  by  law  for  compensating  any  State  which  may 
adopt  emancipation,  before  this  plan  shall  have  been  acted 
upon,  is  hereby  earnestly  renewed.  Such  would  be  only  an 
advance  part  of  the  plan,  and  the  same  arguments  apply  to 
both. 

This  plan  is  recommended  as  a  means,  not  in  exclusion  of, 
but  in  addition  to,  all  others  for  restoring  and  preserving  the 
National  authority  throughout  the  Union.  The  subject  is  pre 
sented  exclusively  in  its  economical  aspect.  The  plan  would, 
I  am  confident,  secure  peace  more  speedily,  and  maintain  it 
more  permanently,  than  can  be  done  by  force  alone ;  while 
all  it  would  cost,  considering  amounts,  and  manner  of  payment, 
and  times  of  payment,  would  be  easier  paid  than  will  be  the 
additional  cost  of  the  war,  if  we  rely  solely  upon  force.  It  is 
nmch — very  much — that  it  would  cost  no  blood  at  all. 

The  plan  is  proposed  as  permanent  constitutional  law.  It 
can  not  become  such  without  the  concurrence  of,  first,  two-thirds 
of  Congress,  and,  afterward,  three-fourths  of  the  States.  The 
requisite  three-fourths  of  the  States  will  necessarily  include 
seven  of  the  slave  States.  Their  concurrence,  if  obtained,  will 
give  assurance  of  their  severally  adopting  emancipation,  at  no 
very  distant  day,  upon  the  new  constitutional  terms.  This 
assurance  would  end  the  struggle  now,  and  save  the  Union  for- 


oo 
ever. 


I  do  not  forget  the  gravity  which  should  characterize  a  paper 
addressed  to  the  Congress  of  the  nation,  by  the  Chief  Magis 
trate  of  the  nation.  Nor  do  I  forget  that  some  of  you  are  my 
seniors ;  nor  that  many  of  you  have  more  experience  than  I 
in  the  conduct  of  public  affairs.  Yet  I  trust  that,  in  view  ot 
f.he  great  responsibility  resting  upon  me,  you  will  perceive  no 
want  of  respect  to  yourselves,  in  any  undue  earnestness  I  may 
to  display. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  435 

Is  it  doubted,  then,  that  the  plan  I  propose,  if  adopted,  would 
shorten  the  war,  and  thus  lessen  its  expenditure  of  money  and 
of  blood?  Is  it  doubted  that  it  would  restore  the  National 
authority  and  National  prosperity,  and  perpetuate  both  indefi 
nitely  ?  Is  it  doubted  that  we  here — Congress  and  Executive — 
can  secure  its  adoption  ?  Will  not  the  good  people  respond 
to  a  united  and  earnest  appeal  from  us  ?  Can  we,  can  they,  by 
any  other  means,  so  certainly,  or  so  speedily,  assure  these  vital 
objects?  We  can  succeed  only  by  concert.  It  is  not,  "Can  any 
of  us  imagine  better?"  but,  "Can  we  all  do  better?"  Object 
whatsoever  is  possible,  still  the  question  recurs,  "  Can  we  do 
better  ?  "  The  dogmas  of  the  quiet  past  are  inadequate  to  the 
stormy  present.  The  occasion  is  piled  high  with  difficulty,  and 
we  must  rise  with  the  occasion.  As  our  case  is  new,  so  we 
must  think  anew,  and  act  anew.  We  must  disinthrall  ourselves, 
and  then  we  shall  save  our  country. 

Fellow-citizens,  we  can  not  escape  history.  We,  of  this  Con 
gress  and  this  Administration,  will  be  remembered  in  spite  of 
ourselves.  No  personal  significance,  or  insignificance,  can  spare 
one  or  another  of  us.  The  fiery  trial  through  which  we  pass, 
will  light  us  down,  in  honor  or  dishonor,  to  the  latest  genera 
tion.  We  say  we  are  for  the  Union.  The  world  will  not  forget 
that  we  say  this.  We  know  how  to  save  the  Union.  The  world 
knows  we  do  know  how  to  save  it.  We — even  we  here — hold 
the  power,  and  bear  the  responsibility.  In  giving  freedom  to 
the  slave,  we  assure  freedom  to  the  free — honorable  alike  in 
what  we  give,  and  what  we  preserve.  We  shall  nobly  save,  or 
meanly  lose,  the  last  best  hope  of  earth.  Other  means  may 
succeed ;  this  could  not  fail.  The  way  is  plain,  peaceful,  gen 
erous,  just — a  way  which,  if  followed,  the  world  will  forever 
applaud,  and  God  must  forever  bless. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

DECEMBER  1,  1862. 

During  the  session,  the  Opposition  leaders,  elated  with  their 
recent  successes  in  the  elections,  assumed  a  greater  boldness 
of  hostility  to  the  Administration,  some  of  them  defiantly 
avowing  their  desire  that  further  resistance  to  armed  rebellion 
should  cease.  Throughout  the  country,  the  mask  under  which 
so  many  Congressional  districts  had  lately  been  carried,  began 
to  be  gradually  withdrawn. 

Among  the  principal  transactions  of  this  session,  aside  from 
the  necessary  appropriations,  were  :  The  admission  of  the  new 
State  of  West  Virginia,  by  an  act  approved  Dec.  31, 1862  ;  the 


436  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

organization  of  the  new  territory  of  Arizona,  Feb.  24,  1863 ; 
the  passage  of  a  stringent  act  to  prevent  and  punish  frauds 
upon  the  Government,  March  2, 1863 ;  the  enactment  of  a  law 
for  enrolling  and  calling  out  the  National  forces  (sometimes 
called  the  "conscription  act ;")  an  authorization  of  the  issue  of 
letters  of  marque  and  reprisal;  the  organization  of  the  new 
territory  of  Idaho ;  and  the  passage  of  an  act  to  provide  for  the 
collection  of  abandoned  property  in  insurrectionary  districts ; 
the  last  four  measures  having  been  approved  on  the  3d  of 
March,  1863,  when  the  session  closed. 

Soon  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  a  closely  contested 
election  occurred  in  New  Hampshire,  in  which  the  Opposition 
spared  no  exertion  to  secure  a  popular  verdict  against  the 
Administration.  It  was  soon  manifest,  however,  that  a  change 
was  taking  place  in  the  public  mind — a  strong  reaction  from 
that  tone  of  sentiment  which  brought  political  defeat  in  the 
preceding  autumn.  The  election  had  a  highly  favorable  result. 
Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  also,  in  the  following  month, 
emphatically  indorsed  President  Lincoln  and  his  policy.  The 
most  trying  period  had  passed. 


LIFE  t  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  437 


CHAPTER  X. 

Summary  of  Military  Movements  in  the  West. — Army  of  the  Poto« 
mac. — Gen.  Hooker  Superseded. — Gen.  Meado  takes  Command. — 
Battle  of  Gettysburg. 

AFTER  the  occupation  of  Corinth,  the  armies,  respectively 
commanded  by  Gens.  Grant  and  Buell,  had  separated  for  differ 
ent  undertakings.  Grant  was  to  advance  southward,  occupying 
the  military  positions  captured  along  the  banks  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  as  possession  of  that  river  was  gradually  recovered,  and 
cooperating  in  the  work,  as  occasion  was  presented.  Buell  waa 
to  move  on  Chattanooga  and  to  attempt  the  relief  of  East  Ten 
nessee,  occupying  that  stronghold  and  cutting  the  Rebel  com 
munications  by  that  great  thoroughfare. 

In  carrying  out  this  policy,  Buell  gradually  moved  his  army 
to  the  vicinity  of  Chattanooga,  on  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
but  soon  found  himself  in  a  critical  position,  on  account  of  the 
weakness  of  so  long  a  line  of  communication  with  his  base  of 
supplies.  Bragg,  who  had  now  assumed  command  of  the  oppos 
ing  Rebel  army,  had  the  two  corps  of  Hardee  and  Polk  at  Chat 
tanooga,  and  that  of  Kirby  Smith  at  Knoxville — having  reached 
the  former  place  in  advance  of  Buell,  after  the  evacuation  of 
Corinth.  Gen.  Geo.  W.  Morgan,  with  a  considerable  Govern 
ment  force,  had  meanwhile  occupied  Cumberland  Gap,  which  he 
held  for  weeks,  but  was  finally  flanked  by  Kirby  Smith,  and  re 
treated  across  the  country  to  the  Ohio  river.  This  exposed  the 
left  of  Buell,  and  Morgan's  failure  was  fatal  to  the  campaign. 

While  Smith  pursued  his  course  toward  Lexington,  a  portion 
of  Bragg's  force,  on  the  21st  of  August,  crossed  the  Tennessee 
river,  at  Harrison,  a  short  distance  above  Chattanooga,  and 
turned  the  left  of  Buell,  moving  up  the  Sequatchie,  while  an 
other  detachment  moved  on  McMinnville.  A  junction  of  the 
three  Rebel  corps  was  to  be  effected  in  the  interior  of  Kentucky. 

An  advance  force  of  the  Rebels  appeared  before  Munfords- 
ville,  on  the  13th  of  September.  The  enemy  were  repulsed,  on 


438  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

the  14th,  by  the  small  force  there,  under  command  of  Col, 
Wilder,  but  the  place  was  surrendered  on  the  17th.  Bueli 
meanwhile  moved  with  celerity,  and,  approaching  Louisville, 
compelled  the  enemy  to  turn  aside  from  his  movement  on  that 
city,  to  open  communication  with  the  remainder  of  his  forces, 
at  Lexington  and  elsewhere.  On  the  18th,  Bragg  issued  a 
proclamation  at  Glasgow,  calling  upon  the  people  of  Kentucky 
to  rally  to  his  support.  On  the  4th  of  October,  Buell  arrived 
at  Bardstown,  on  his  way  to  meet  the  enemy.  On  the  same 
day,  a  Rebel  "  Provisional  Governor  "  of  Kentucky  was  pro 
claimed  at  Frankfort,  a  portion  of  Bragg's  forces  having  pos 
session  of  the  State  Capital. 

During  the  hurrying  to  and  fro  of  these  opposing  armies,  not 
a  little  excitement  prevailed  at  Cincinnati  and  Louisville,  in 
view  of  the  apparent  danger  impending.  Both  cities  were 
almost  entirely  undefended ;  and  now  might  be  seen  the  full 
significance  of  the  memorable  Buckner-McClellan  compact. 
The  Kentucky  hights  opposite  the  city,  instead  of  being  held 
and  fortified,  were  open  to  scarcely  disputed  occupancy  by  the 
invaders.  Works  were  speedily  thrown  up  before  Cincinnati, 
and  Gen.  Wallace,  who  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  this 
post,  soon  found  a  large  number  of  men  at  his  disposal,  many 
thousands  of  the  people  of  Ohio  and  Indiana  having  rallied  at  the 
call  of  the  State  authorities.  The  events  of  this  invasion  and 
"  siege  "  will  long  have  a  prominent  place  in  local  tradition 
and  history. 

On  the  6th,  Gen.  Buell's  advance  reached  Springfield,  sixty 
miles  from  Louisville,  between  Danville  and  Bardstown.  His 
army  at  this  time  was  organized  into  three  corps,  respectively 
commanded  by  Gens.  Gilbert,  Crittenden  and  McCook.  Learn 
ing  that  a  considerable  Rebel  force  was  at  Perryville,  a  few 
miles  distant,  on  the  7th,  Buell  formed  the  plan  of  surround 
ing  the  portion  of  the  enemy  there,  bringing  each  of  his  corps 
into  action.  Gen.  Crittenden,  however,  failed  to  come  up  in 
time,  and  Bragg,  learning  this  fact,  determined  to  fall  upon 
McCook  and  Gilbert,  recalling  Hardee's  corps  to  Perryville  for 
that  purpose,  after  he  was  already  on  his  retreat.  On  the  8th, 
the  battle  was  fought,  McCook's  force  suffering  heavily  before 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  439 

reenforcements  from  Gilbert  arrived,  after  3  o'clock  P.  M.  The 
conflict  continued  until  dark,  the  Government  forces  falling 
back.  Crittenden's  corps  came  up  that  night,  and  Bragg 
retreated  without  renewing  the  engagement. 

Buell's  loss  in  this  engagement,  including  Brig.  Gens.  Jack 
son  and  Terrill,  is  stated  at  466  killed,  1,463  wounded,  and 
160  missing — a  total  of  2,089.  The  Rebel  loss  was  estimated 
at  about  the  same. 

Bragg  succeeded  in  making  his  escape  with  a  large  amount 
of  spoils,  consisting  mainly  of  various  supplies,  of  which  his 
army  was  greatly  in  need.  He  retired  by  way  of  Stanford  and 
Mount  Vernon,  where  pursuit  ceased,  and  from  whence  Buell 
fell  back  on  the  line  of  Nashville  and  Louisville.  Here  he 
was  superseded  by  Gen.  Rosecrans,  under  the  President's  order 
of  the  25th  of  October. 

Gen.  Grant  having  sent  reenforcements  to  Buell  during  this 
period  of  marching  and  countermarching  in  Kentucky,  the  en 
emy  began  to  assume  a  threatening  attitude  in  front  of  his 
line,  which  extended  from  Corinth  to  Tuscumbia.  The  sec 
ond  brigade  of  Gen.  Stanley's  division  fell  back  from  the  latter 
place,  which  it  had  held  under  command  of  Col.  Murphy,  to 
luka,  on  the  10th  of  September,  and  the  Ohio  brigade,  hold 
ing  that  place,  withdrew,  on  the  llth,  to  Corinth,  leaving  Mur 
phy's  command  to  hold  the  post.  A  sudden  dash  of  Rebel 
cavalry  put  Murphy's  force  to  rout,  and  secured  a  large  amount 
of  booty  which  that  officer,  completely  surprised,  neglected  to 
destroy. 

Gen.  Rosecrans,  who  had  succeeded  to  the  command  surren 
dered  by  Gen.  Pope  on  'going  to  Virginia,  took  prompt  meas 
ures  to  meet  the  emergency.  The  force  under  Price  appears 
to  have  been  sent  forward  for  the  purpose  of  either  cooperat 
ing  with  Bragg,  or  of  drawing  away  troops  from  Corinth,  to 
facilitate  its  capture  by  Van  Dorn.  The  movement  was  met 
by  an  attempt  of  Gen.  Grant  to  cut  off  the  retreat  of  Price, 
and  to  force  him  to  surrender  his  army,  numbering,'  as  report 
ed,  about  15,000  men.  A  force  of  about  5,000  men,  under 
Gen.  Ord,  (who  was  accompanied  by  Gen.  Grant  in  person,) 
Was  to  move  toward  Burnsville,  to  attack  in  front,  while  Gen 


440  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Rosecraus  was  to  take  part  of  his  command  by  Jacinto  to  at* 
tack  the  flank  of  Price's  army.  The  execution  of  this  plan 
commenced  on  the  18th  of  September.  Rosecrans,  advancing 
by  rapid  marches,  in  a  heavy  rain,  fell  in  with  the  Rebel  pick 
ets  on  the  following  day,  seven  miles  from  luka,  and  a  skir 
mish  ensued,  the  force  encountered  falling  back  toward  that 
village.  The  forces  of  Rosecrans  were  now  concentrated  at 
Barnett's,  and  after  waiting  two  hours  for  the  expected  sound 
of  Ord's  cannon,  a  dispatch  from  Gen.  Grant,  on  the  other 
side  of  luka,  was  received,  saying  that  he  was  waiting  for 
Rosecrans  to  open  on  the  enemy.  The  force  was  then  moved 
up  from  Barnett's  to  within  two  miles  of  luka,  where  the  Reb 
els  were  found  in  strong  position  on  a  commanding  ridge.  A 
hot  engagement  immediately  commenced,  which  lasted  more 
than  two  hours,  closing  at  nightfall. 

Gen.  Hamilton's  division  bore  the  brunt  of  this  conflict, 
aided  by  the  Eleventh  Ohio  Battery,  which,  in  half  an  hour  of 
the  thickest  of  the  fight,  lost  72  men  in  killed  and  wounded. 
The  Fifth  Iowa  Regiment  lost  116  men  in  killed  and  wounded, 
and  the  Eleventh  Missouri,  76.  The  fiercest  contest  was  over 
the  Ohio  battery,  twice  captured  by  the  Rebels,  twice  retaken 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  During  the  night,  Price  escaped, 
retiring  to  Bay  Spring.  Grant  and  Ord  had  not  been  able,  it 
appears,  to  engage  the  enemy,  or  to  prevent  his  flight.  The 
road  by  which  he  withdrew  was  one  unknown  to  the  command 
ing  General.  The  loss  of  Rosecrans  was  148  killed,  570 
wounded,  and  94  missing — a  total  of  812.  He  took  several 
hundred  prisoners  from  Price,  whose  other  losses  were  believed 
to  be  greater  than  those  of  Rosecrans,  including  two  or  three 
generals  killed. 

This  battle  had  the  effect  of  preventing  Price  from  render 
ing  any  direct  aid  to  Bragg,  in  his  incursion  through  Ken 
tucky,  one  apprehended  purpose  of  this  movement.  The 
retreating  column  was  pursued  for  some  distance,  and  its  loss 
in  arms  and  other  property  was  large. 

On  the  26th  of  September,  Gen.  Rosecrans  took  command 
at  Corinth,  Gen.  Grant  proceeding  to  Jackson,  and  Gen.  Ord  to 
Bolivar—both  on  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  railroad,  north  of 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  411 

Grand  Junction.  Price,  continuing  his  retreat  to  Baldwin, 
Mississippi,  moved  to  Dumas,  fifteen  miles  northwest,  and 
effected  a  junction  with  Van  Dorn.  He  was  afterward  joined 
by  Mansfield  Lovell  at  Pocahontas,  Van  Dorn  having  chief 
command  of  the  concentrated  force.  Gen.  Rosecrans  antici 
pated  an  attack  on  Corinth,  and  prepared  accordingly.  Tho 
position  was  regarded  as  a  strong  one,  Gen.  Halleck  having 
much  improved  the  defensive  works  of  the  place,  after  its 
evacuation  by  Beauregard. 

The  forces  under  Van  Dorn's  command  having  concentrated 
at  Ripley,  crossed  the  Hatchie  river  and  occupied  the  railroad 
north  of  Corinth,  on  which  they  advanced  on  the  2d  of  Octo 
ber,  cutting  off  direct  communication  with  Bolivar  and  Jack 
son.  A  force  was  sent  by  Gen.  Grant,  however,  under  com 
mand  of  McPherson,  wTiich  seasonably  arrived  at  Corinth  by  a 
circuitous  route.  Of  the  four  divisions  of  Rosecrans  at  Cor 
inth,  three,  under  Gens.  Hamilton,  Davies  and  McKean,  were 
drawn  up  in  line  of  battle  near  the  outer  intrenchments,  while 
the  other  division  remained  in  the  town  as  a  reserve.  Heavy 
skirmishing  was  kept  up  through  the  day  on  the  3d.  On  the 
morning  of  the  4th,  two  dense  assaulting  columns  approached, 
about  9  o'clock — one  on  the  right,  under  the  lead  of  Price ; 
the  other  on  the  left,  under  Van  Dorn.  The  movement  was 
intended  to  be  simultaneous,  but  Price,  having  a  less  obstructed 
route,  first  forced  his  way,  under  the  destructive  fire  of  numer 
ous  heavy  guns,  quite  within  the  outer  intrenchmeats.  For  a 
moment,  the  division  of  Davies  fell  back,  and  all  seemed  lost. 
Rosecrans  in  person  rallied  his  men,  however,  and  under  the 
gallant  conduct  of  the  Fifty-sixth  Illinois  Regiment,  which 
delivered  an  effective  fire  of  musketry  and  advanced  with  a 
resolute  charge  of  bayonets,  the  enemy  was  driven  back,  and 
scattered  with  terrible  havoc.  This  brilliant  affair  was  well 
over,  when  Van  Dorn,  approaching  in  a  similar  manner,  found 
himself  confronted  by  Hamilton's  division — the  Ohio  brigade, 
under  Col.  Fuller,  and  the  Eleventh  Missouri  Regiment,  bear 
ing  the  brunt  of  the  fight,  on  the  part  of  the  infantry  force. 
The  batteries  on  this  side  of  the  town,  also,  did  frightful  exe 
cution,  and  Van  Dorn's  column  failed  to  gain  a  foothold  within 


442  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  intrenchments.  He  was  driven  back  with  great  slaughter. 
the  guns  sweeping  away  the  retreating  masses  with  unsparing 
fury. 

The  Rebel  force  outnumbered  that  on  the  Government  side, 
two  to  one,  but  from  the  character  of  the  fight  their  losses 
were  greatly  disproportionate.  Those  of  Van  Dorn  were  1,423 
killed,  and,  by  the  usual  estimate,  5,692  wounded.  He  also 
lost  2,265  prisoners — making  a  total  of  9,380.  In  small  arms, 
cannon,  ammunition,  and  other  property,  his  loss  was  also 
large.  Further  damage  was  inflicted  by  the  forces  sent  out  in 
pursuit.  Rosecrans  had  315  killed,  1,812  wounded,  and  230 
taken  prisoners  or  missing — in  all,  2,357.  This  was  one  of  the 
most  decisive  victories  of  the  war. 

On  the  24th  of  October,  an  attempt  was  made  by  Breckin- 
ridge  to  recover  Baton  Rouge,  which  was  occupied  by  a  Gov 
ernment  force  under  Gen.  Williams,  (who  lost  his  life  in  the 
engagement,)  but  the  attempt  was  defeated,  by  a  decisive  vic 
tory  over  the  assailants. 

The  stronghold  of  Vicksburg  had  as  yet  proved  an  insupera 
ble  obstacle  to  the  recovery  of  full  possession  of  the  Missis 
sippi  river.  It  had  become  manifest  that  a  strong  land  force 
was  required  to  cooperate  in  the  reduction  of  the  place.  An 
expedition  for  this  purpose  was  accordingly  organized  at  Cairo 
and  Memphis,  under  Gen.  TV.  T.  Sherman,  to  proceed  down 
the  Mississippi  in  transports,  and  to  approach  the  city  in  the 
rear  from  the  Yazoo  river.  It  was  also  intended  that  Gen. 
Grant,  commanding  the  department  within  which  these  opera 
tions  were  to  be,  should  advance  southward  by  the  Mississippi 
Central  railroad,  coming  in  with  his  forces  by  Jackson,  Miss., 
to  aid  Sherman  in  this  undertaking.  Gen.  Hovey's  division  of 
7,000  men,  was  sent  by  Gen.  Curtis  from  Helena,  Ark.,  now 
occupied  by  a  Government  force,  to  cut  the  railroad  beyond 
the  Tallahatchie,  intercepting  the  Rebels  in  their  retreat.  This 
having  been  accomplished,  the  detachment  returned  to  Arkan 
sas.  Its  appearance,  however,  had  served  to  alarm  the  enemy, 
leading  to  an  overestimate  of  the  strength  of  Grant's  column. 
Gen.  Pemberton,  commanding  a  Rebel  force  at  Grenada,  con 
sequently  fell  back  toward  Canton.  Grant's  advance,  under 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  443 

Hamilton,  occupied  Holly  Springs  on  the  29th  of  November: 
On  the  4th  of  December,  Grant  established  his  headquarters 
at  Oxford,  and  was  preparing  to  advance  on  Grenada.  The 
withdrawal  of  Hovey's  force,  however,  becoming  known  to  Van 
Dorn,  he  sent  out  an  expedition,  which  made  a  rapid  .advance 
on  Holly  Springs,  in  Grant's  rear,  defeating  the  garrison  there 
on  the  20th,  through  the  culpable  neglect  of  Col.  Murphy,  in 
command  of  the  post,  and  destroying  the  Government  stores, 
collected  in  large  quantity  at  that  place.  A  similar  •  attack  at 
Davis'  Mills,  further  north,  was  gallantly  repulsed  by  the  gar 
rison  under  command  of  Col.  W.  H.  Morgan.  A  body  of  Rebel 
cavalry  under  Forrest,  at  nearly  the  same  time,  made  an  attack  on 
Jackson,  in  Tennessee,  destroying  the  railroad  for  some  distance ; 
the  town  of  Humboldt,  on  the  same  road,  further  north,  was 
occupied ;  Trenton  was  surrendered  by  Col.  Fry,  the  officer  in 
command,  much  property  being  destroyed ;  and  other  points 
on  the  road  were  captured.  Though  Forrest  was  soon  after 
utterly  routed,  these  combined  disasters,  but  especially  that  at 
Holly  Springs,  led  Gen.  Grant  to  fall  back,  abandoning  the 
intended  movement  further  southward.  As  the  event  proved, 
this  turn  of  affairs  was  fortunate,  for  the  subsequent  unusual 
rise  in  the  rivers  of  that  country  would  have  cut  off  alike  his 
"communications  and  his  line  of  retreat,  seriously  imperiling 
his  whole  force. 

Gen.  Sherman's  expedition  took  its  departure  down  the  river, 
from  Memphis,  on  the  20th  of  December,  over  one  hundred  trans 
ports  conveying  his  troops.  In  the  night  of  the  24th,  having 
arrived  at  Milliken's  Bend,  a  detachment  under  Gen,  Morgan  L. 
Smith  landed  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  and  destroyed 
a  section  of  the  Vicksburg  and  Texas  railroad,  ten  miles  from 
the  river,  returning  to  the  main  army.  Christmas  having  been 
passed  at  Milliken's  Bend,  the  expedition  proceeded  up  the 
Yazoo  river,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  27th,  the  troops  dis 
embarked,  the  right  at  the  plantation  of  the  late  Gen.  Albert 
Sidney  Johnston,  and  the  center  and  left  extending  along  Lake's 
plantation,  to  within  two  or  three  miles  of  Haines'  Bluff,  where 
a  Rebel  battery  and  force  prevented  a  further  advance  up  the 
river  The  line  was  extended  about  six  miles  along  the  Yazoa 


444  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

A  gunboat  fleet  on  the  Mississippi  meanwhile  cooperated, 
assaulting  the  place  from  the  opposite  side,  with  no  material 
success,  and  receiving  not  a  little  damage. 

The  face  of  the  country,  for  the  eight  or  ten  miles  inter 
vening  between  this  position  and  the  high  ground  on  which 
the  city  of  Vicksburg  stands,  is  first  low  and  marshy,  with 
lagoons,  sandbars  and  bayous,  and  then  peculiarly  rough,  deep 
ravines  alternating  with  precipitous  bluffs,  mostly  wooded,  or 
covered  with  cane-brake  and  rank  undergrowth.  Among  these 
natural  defenses  there  nestled  masked  batteries  and  rifle  pits, 
manned  by  an  ample  force  gathered  to  meet  this  expected 
assault  upon  the  rear  of  Vicksburg. 

On  attempting  to  advance,  determined  resistance  was  encoun 
tered  from  the  enemy,  who  was  gradually  driven  back,  during 
eight  hours  of  hard  fighting,  closing  at  night.  On  the  28th, 
the  conflict  was  early  renewed,  continuing  with  varying  suc 
cess,  but  with  little  permanent  change  of  position,  through  the 
day.  On  the  following  morning,  a  general  assault  on  the  Rebel 
works  was  every -where  repulsed,  with  heavy  loss.  The  30th 
was  mostly  spent  in  burying  the  dead  and  transferring  the 
wounded  to  the  transports.  The  undertaking  was  now  aban 
doned.  The  forces  of  Sherman,  reembarking,  returned  to  Mil- 
liken's  Bend,  and  there  went  into  camp,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  new  year. 

Gen.  Burnside,  on  assuming  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  determined  on  an  advance  toward  Richmond  by  way 
of  Fredericksburg,  instead  of  executing  another  plan  of 
advance  preferred  (without  being  ordered)  by  the  President 
and  Gen.  Halleck.  A  force  occupied  Acquia  Creek,  and  com 
menced  repairing  the  railroad  which  had  been  destroyed  by  the 
Rebels.  Pontoons  were  ordered,  to  be  in  readiness  for  a  rapid 
movement,  Burnside  being  nearer  than  the  enemy  to  Falmouth, 
where  the  crossing  was  to  be  made,  and  no  considerable  force 
then  occupying  Fredericksburg.  Chiefly  through  a  mortify 
ing  dilatoriness  on  the  part  of  the  proper  officer  at  Washing 
ton,  in  forwarding  the  pontoons,  Lee  gained  time  to  move  his 
force  and  to  take  the  position  he  desired  for  meeting  the 
intended  advance.  The  principal  battle  resulting  from  this 


LIFE  OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  445 

movement  occurred  on  the  13th  of  December,  when  Burnside's 
forces  endeavored  to  carry  the  enemy's  strong  position  on  Fred 
ericksburg  hights,  by  assault.  After  a  hard-fought  contest, 
through  the  day,  attended  by  partial  successes — Gen.  Mcade 
having  temporarily  carried  a  portion  of  the  enemy's  works — 
night  found  the  army  still  unsuccessful,  and  suffering  heavy 
losses.  The  position  held  in  town  and  across  the  Rappahan- 
nock  was  retained  by  Burnside  during  the  next  two  days,  but 
the  morning  of  the  16th  found  the  whole  army  safely  with 
drawn  to  the  Falmouth  side,  without  any  loss  or  interruption 
in  this  retrograde  movement. 

The  losses  in  Gen.  Sumner's  grand  division  (the  Second  and 
Ninth  Corps,)  on  the  right,  were  473  killed,  4,090  wounded, 
748  missing ;  in  Gen.  Hooker's  grand  division  (the  Third  and 
Fifth  Corps,)  in  the  center,  326  killed,  2,468  wounded,  754 
missing ;  and  in  Gen.  Franklin's  grand  division  (the  First  and 
Sixth  Corps,)  on  the  left,  339  killed,  2,547  wounded,  and  576 
missing— a  total  of  12,321. 

The  army  now  went  into  winter  quarters,  little  being  done 
until  Gen.  Burnside  was  relieved,  and  Gen.  Joseph  Hooker 
appointed  in  his  place,  assuming  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  on  the  26th  of  January.  At  the  same  time,  Gens. 
Franklin  and  Sumner  were  relieved,  being  presently  assigned 
to  other  commands. 

Gen.  Rosecrans  arrived  at  Nashville  on  the  10th  of  Novem 
ber,  and  proceeded  to  re-organize  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland, 
which  was  increased  by  new  levies  and  put  in  excellent  condi 
tion,  and  to  restore  the  railroad  communication  between  Lou 
isville  and  Nashville.  The  Rebel  army,  on  the  other  hand, 
now  under  command  of  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  was  con 
centrating  at  Murfreesboro  and  vicinity,  prepared  to  contest 
any  advance  of  the  Government  forces.  Supposing,  from  the 
information  he  had,  that  Rosecrans  wculd  go  into  winter  quar 
ters  at  Nashville,  Johnston  detached  the  cavalry  force  under 
Forrest,  which  was  to  cut  the  railroad  in  West  Tennessee,  in 
Grant's  rear,  and  another  body  of  cavalry  under  Morgan  to 
make  a  raid  into  Kentucky,  to  perform  a  like  service  in  the 
Tear  of  Rosecrans.  Instead  of  helplessly  calling  for  ree'nforce- 


446  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

ments,  Rosecrans  improved  the  opportunity  afforded  by  thia 
weakening  of  Johnston's  army,  to  strike  an  effective  blow. 
He  began  to  move  on  the  enemy  on  the  26th  of  December. 
McCook,  with  three  divisions,  advanced  on  Triune  to  attack 
Hardee,  whose  corps  was  believed  to  be  between  that  place  and 
Eagleville ;  but  it  had  retreated  on  McCook's  approach,  and 
was  pursued  until  it  was  found  that  he  had  gone  to  Murfrees- 
boro,  where  Polk  and  Kirby  Smith's  forces  were.  Thomas  and 
Crittenden  also  advanced  on  Nolinsville,  Stewart's  Creek,  and 
Lavergne.  Folk's  corps  and  Wheeler's  brigade  of  cavalry  had 
been  stationed  at  the  last-named  place,  but  retired  before  Crit- 
tenden's  advance. 

On  the  28th,  being  Sunday,  the  troops,  for  the  most  part, 
rested.  Meanwhile,  the  llebel  purpose  of  concentrating  near 
Stone  River  was  developed.  The  enemy's  right,  under  Polk, 
consisting  of  the  three  divisions  of  Cheatham,  Buckner  and 
Breckinridge,  rested  on  the  Lebanon  pike — the  center,  under 
Kirby  Smith,  extended  westward,  and  the  left,  commanded  by 
Hardee,  rested  on  the  Murfreesboro  and  Franklin  road.  On 
the  29th,  the  Government  forces  moved  up  nearer  to  the  Rebel 
line,  taking  position  preparatory  to  assuming  the  offensive. 
On  the  30th,  McCook,  on  the  right,  finding  his  position  in  dan 
ger  of  being  turned  by  Hardee,  advanced  his  line,  under  firb 
from  the  enemy,  to  avoid  this  result.  On  the  31st,  early  in  the 
morning,  the  Rebels  suddenly  made  an  attack  in  heavy  force 
along  the  entire  line  of  McCook.  His  forces  were  driven  back 
with  the  loss  of  many  prisoners,  but  the  ground  was  well  con 
tested  by  the  division  of  Davis,  especially,  and  the  purpose  of 
turning  the  right  of  Rosecrans  failed. 

The  right  having  thus  fallen  back,  Gen.  Rosecrans  prepared 
for  an  advance  of  the  enemy  upon  his  center  and  left,  by  mass 
ing  his  artillery  at  the  anticipated  point  of  assault,  and  sent 
forward  Negley's  division,  sustained  by  that  of  Rousseau,  to  sup 
port  the  broken  forces  of  McCook.  This  movement  stopped 
further  pursuit  in  that  quarter.  The  Rebels  were  driven  back 
in  turn,  with,  the  loss  of  many  prisoners.  The  forces  of  Negley 
and  Rousseau,  acting  under  orders,  retreated  on  meeting  another 
wave  of  battle,  and  the  Rebels  advanced  in  dense  numbers, 


ZIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  447 

exulting  in  their  supposed  victory,  until  brought  within  tho 
deadly  fire  of  the  newly-placed  batteries  of  Rosecrans,  not 
hitherto  discovered.  Leaving  immense  numbers  of  dead  and 
wounded  on  the  field,  the  Rebel  forces  now  turned  and  fled  in 
confusion,  not  to  be  rallied  again  until  much  later  in  the  dny. 
The  right  of  Rosecrans  had  been  forced  backward  more  than 
two  miles,  and  his  line  was  now  formed  anew,  the  flanks  having 
better  protection. 

The  Rebels  renewed  the  engagement,  about  3  o'clock  P. 
M.j  by  an  attack  on  *l.e  center  and  left  of  our  army.  A  sharp 
and  destructive  conflict  continued  for  two  hours,  with  no  advan 
tage  to  the  assailants.  Gen.  Rosecrans,  who  was  personally  in 
the  thick  of  the  fight,  had  shown  rare  skill  and  energy  in 
handling  his  troops,  after  his  right  had  been  doubled  back  upon 
nis  left.  A  change  of  front  was  successfully  accomplished 
under  fire,  and  a  seemingly  sure  defeat  turned  into  a  substantial 
victory. 

The  two  armies  confronted  each  other  during  the  next  three 
days,  without  becoming  actively  engaged.  On  the  4th  of  Jan 
uary,  Johnston  was  found  to  have  retreated,  and  Murfreesboro 
was  promptly  occupied  by  our  forces.  The  Government  loss, 
in  killed  and  wounded,  was  8,778,  and  about  2,800  in  prisoners. 
The  Robel  loss  is  computed  by  Gen.  Rosecrans  at  14,5GO. 

This  summary  of  military  events,  in  the  East  and  in  the 
West,  embraces  what  is  deemed  most  important  down  to  the 
eve  of  the  campaigns  of  1863,  rendered  illustrious  by\the  great 
victories  at  Vicksburg,  Port  Hudson,  Gettysburg,  and  Chatta 
nooga.  The  first  two  years  of  the  war,  with  varying  successes 
in  detail,  had  resulted,  on  the  whole,  in  decided  advantages  to 
the  Government  arms.  Commencing  their  "Confederacy"  with 
?even  States,  the  conspirators  had  determined,  by  intrigue  and 
Oy  the  force  of  arms,  to  wrest  the  remaining  eight  slaveholding 
States,  the  Indian  Territory,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona,  from 
their  allegiance  to  the  Government,  and  to  add  this  immense 
region,  with  its  population,  to  the  side  of  the  Davis  usurpa 
tion.  The  vigorous  campaign  of  Gen.  Canby,  in  New  Mexice, 
and  the  victory  at  Fort  Craig,  in  1862,  hurled  back  the  invaders 
in  that  quarter  into  Texas,  while  the  grand  Rebel  defeat  at  Pea 


448  LIFE    fcP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 

Ridge,  Ark.,  under  Gen.  Curtis,  in  March  of  the  same  year, 
had  put  an  end  to  all  hopes  of  an^~  Rebel  acquisition  in  the 
Territories  of  the  United  States.  The  four  slave  States  of 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Arkansas,  had  been 
swept  into  the  Secession  rebellion  at  the  very  outset.  All  the 
determined  efforts  to  extend  the  Rebel  boundary  beyond  these 
States,  had  proved  abortive.  On  the  contrary,  the  spring  of 
18G3  found  Arkansas  substantially  reclaimed ;  New  Orleans 
and  a  large  portion  of  Louisiana,  (including  the  State  capital,) 
restored  to  the  Government ;  the  Mississippi  river  reconquere.. 
during  its  entire  length,  except  the  comparatively  short  dis 
tance  from  Vicksburg  to  Port  Hudson,  inclusive ;  the  capital 
of  Tennessee,  and  most  of  the  western  and  middle  parts  of  the 
State,  occupied  by  Government  garrisons ;  the  western  half  of 
Virginia  reorganized  under  a  loyal  government,  and  much  of 
Eastern  Virginia  firmly  held  ;  a  permanent  foothold  gained  on 
the  coasts  of  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Florida; 
Northern  Alabama  returning  to  sentiments  of  loyalty,  under 
the  supporting  presence  of  Government  troops  ;  a  blockade, 
under  the  active  operations  of  our  formidable  Navy,  pressing 
heavily  upon  the  rebellious  States ;  and  the  power  of  slavery 
materially  crippled,  under  the  effects  of  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  of  the  President,  deranging  the  productive  in 
terests  of  the  rebellion,  and  adding  a  new  element  of  increas 
ing  strength  to  our  arms. 

To  save  their  waning  cause,  the  Rebels  were  now  putting 
forth  every  energy  to  hold  their  trans-Mississippi  communica 
tions,  the  Red  river  country  and  Texas  being  among  their  most 
abundant  sources  of  supplies.  To  this  end,  it  was  necessary  to 
keep  their  strongholds  at  Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson.  A 
land  force  under  Gen.  Banks  (who  had  succeeded  Gen.  Butler 
as  commander  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,)  and  the  fleet  of 
Admiral  Farragut,  began  the  work  of  reducing  the  latter  post, 
on  the  8th  of  May.  After  severe  engagements  on  land  and 
water,  during  the  next  two  months,  the  place  being  closely 
invested,  Port  Hudson  was  unconditionally  surrendered  on  the 
8th  of  July,  with  its  garrison,  numbering  6,223.  This  event, 
however,  was  preceded  by  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  and  may  be 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  449 

regarded  as  partly  the  result  of  the  brief  and  brilliant  campaign 
of  Gen.  Grant,  which  terminated  in  the  surrender  of  that  more 
important  stronghold,  on  the  4th  of  July. 

Running  transports  past  the  batteries  at  Vicksburg,  and 
crossing  the  river  near  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Black,  on  the  30th 
of  April  with  about  40,000  men,  Gen.  Grant  occupied  Grand 
Gulf,  which  had  been  forced  by  Admiral  Porter  to  surrender, 
after  a  vigorous  bombardment ;  defeated  the  enemy  near  Port 
Gibson,  on  the  1st  of  May;  moved  rapidly  northward  to  inter 
pose  his  force  between  the  covering  army  of  Johnson  and  the 
troops  of  Pemberton,  advancing  from  Vicksburg  ;  gained  deci 
sive  victories  at  Raymond,  on  the  12th  j  at  Jackson,  the  State 
capital,  on  the  14th  ;  at  Baker's  Creek,  and  at  Champion  Hill, 
on  the  16th,  and  at  Black  River  Bridge,  on  the  17th ;  finally 
driving  the  enemy  within  his  works  at  Vicksburg.  The  fact 
that  Johnston  was  in  his  rear,  with  the  prospect  of  his  being 
heavily  re-enforced,  led  Grant  to  make  two  attempts  to  carry 
the  place  by  storm,  on  the  19th  and  on  the  22d,  but  without 
success.  The  siege  lasted  until  the  4th  of  July,  when  Pem 
berton  capitulated,  and  Grant  occupied  the  place,  taking  over 
30,000  prisoners.  This  great  victory  opened  the  Mississippi  to 
the  Gulf,  cutting  off  the  territory  west  of  that  river  from  its 
connection  with  the  remainder  of  the  "  Confederacy  " — a  prac 
tical  loss  of  nearly  one-half  of  the  Rebel  territory. 

In  Eastern  Virginia,  Hooker  fought  Lee  at  Chancellorsville, 
on  the  2d  and  3d  of  May,  and  was  repulsed,  with  heavy  losses 
on  both  sides,  retiring  across  the  Rappahannock.  Among  the 
Rebel  losses  was  that  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  mortally  wounded. 
Lee  now  assumed  the  offensive,  advancing  through  Maryland 
into  Pennsylvania.  Gen.  Hooker,  moving  on  an  interior  line, 
covered  Washington  and  kept  his  forces  in  an  attitude  to  strike 
the  enemy  with  effect.  During  these  movements,  Hooker  was 
superseded,  on  the  28th  of  June,  by  Gen.  George  G.  Meade. 
The  battle  of  Gettysburg  was  fought  on  the  1st,  2d  and  3d 
days  of  July,  in  which  an  important  victory  was  gained  over 
Lee,  who  retreated  in  all  possible  haste  over  the  Potomac,  glad 
to  escape  with  the  remnant  of  his  army.  He  had  lost  heavily 
in  killed,  wounded  and  prisoners,  the  latter  numbering  13,621 
29 


450  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

He  left  28,178  small  arms  on  the  field.  His  entire  loss  during 
this  invasion,  including  numerous  desertions,  must  have  ap 
proached,  if  it  did  not  equal,  40,000  men.  Meade's  total  looses, 
in  killed,  wounded  and  missing,  numbered  23,186. 

The  operations  before  Charleston  and  other  points,  attended 
with  less  success  than  was  for  a  time  promised,  were  not  with 
out  favorable  results. 

Another  disaster  to  the  Rebel  cause,  and  one  of  the  greatest 
magnitude,  followed  the  advance  of  Gen.  Rosecrans  on  Chatta 
nooga,  and  of  Gen.  Burnside  upon  Knoxville,  in  the  latter  part 
of  August.  With  no  very  severe  fighting,  Burnside  occupied 
Knoxville  on  the  1st  of  September,  and  Cumberland  Gap  OD 
the  9th.  Rosecrans,  after  the  unfavorable  battle  of  Chicka- 
mauga,  took  possession  of  Chattanooga,  on  the  21st  of  Septem' 
ber.  East  Tennessee  was  thus  completely  in  our  possession, 
and  a  line  of  communication  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the 
enemy  was  finally  severed.  On  the  19th  of  October,  Gen. 
Grant,  by  the  President's  order,  assumed  command  of  the 
united  armies  of  the  Tennessee,  the  Cumberland,  and  the  Ohio. 
The  subsequent  victories  of  Lookout  Mountain  and  Missionary 
Ridge,  on  the  24th  and  25th  of  November,  and  the  decisive 
defeat  of  Longstreet  in  his  bold  attempt  to  recover  Knoxville, 
made  this  great  acquisition  entirely  secure.  The  way  was  thus 
prepared  for  assuming  the  offensive,  by  an  advance  into  the 
heart  of  Georgia. 

The  rebellion  seemed  now  to  have  been  brought  to  the  verge 
of  final  overthrow. 


JFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  451 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Popular  Voice  in  1863. — First  Session  of  the  Thiny~«ighth  Con 
gress. — Amnesty  Proclamation. — Message. — Orders,  Letters  and 
Addresses. — Popular  Sentiment  in  1864. — Appointment  of  Lieu 
tenant  General  Grant. — Opening  of  the  Military  Campaigns  of 
1864. — Conclusion. 

THE  great  popular  reaction  in  favor  of  the  Administration 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  indicated  by  the  spring  elections,  was  fully 
apparent  in  the  verdict  of  every  loyal  State  in  the  autumn  of 
18G3.  In  Ohio,  the  so-called  Democratic  organization,  which 
had  prevailed  in  that  State  by  a  small  majority  ill  October, 
1862,  put  forward,  as  its  candidate  for  Governor,  a  notorious 
Peace  Democrat  named  Vallandigham,  whose  action,  while  a 
member  of  the  previous  Congress,  had  been  in  strict  conform 
ity  with  his  avowed  motto:  "Not  a  man  or  a  dollar  for  the 
War."  To  such  an  extent  was  his  support  of  the  rebellion  car 
ried,  by  haranguing  his  followers,  and  all  who  would  hear  him, 
against  the  Government  and  the  measures  it  had  adopted  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  war,  that  he  had  been  arrested  by  Gen. 
Burnside,  then  in  command  of  the  Department  including  Ohio, 
tried  for  his  treasonable  practices,  convicted,  and  ordered  to  be 
sent  through  the  lines  of  our  army  to  his  friends  at  the  South. 
The  proceedings  under  which  he  was  thus  condemned,  were 
fully  reviewed  before  the  United  States  District  Court  at  Cin 
cinnati,  on  a  motion  for  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  sustained 
by  the  decision  of  Judge  Leavitt.  It  may  be  added  that  thi? 
action  was  further  confirmed,  several  months  later,  on  a  hear 
ing  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  Hor. 
John  Brough,  the  Administration  candidate,  was  chosen  Gov 
ernor  of  Ohio,  after  a  protracted  and  earnest  canvass,  by  m<  te 
than  100,000  majority  over  Yallandigham. 

In  Pennsylvania,  the  Kepublican  candidate  for  Governor, 
Hon.  Andrew  G.  Curtin,  was  reflected  by  a  large  majority  over 


452  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Judge  Woodward,  another  Peace  Democrat.  In  N<3w  York, 
where  the  most  violent  opposition  was  made  to  "conscription," 
resulting  in  a  barbarous  riot  in  New  York  city,  the  Administra 
tion  ticket  for  sundry  State  officers  had  a  very  large  majority 
over  the  candidates  of  the  Seymour  and  Wood  Democracy. 
Notwithstanding  the  utmost  efforts  of  the  Opposition,  and  the 
fact  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  soldiers  had  been  lately 
called  into  the  field,  every  other  loyal  State,  except  New  Jersey, 
(in  which  there  were  Administration  gains,)  gave  similarly  de 
cided  majorities  for  the  supporters  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 

During  the  earlier,  as  well  as  the  later,  elections  of  this  year, 
a  prominent  issue  before  the  people  was  the  course  of  the  Ad 
ministration  in  regard  to  Emancipation.  Both  at  home  and 
abroad,  this  policy  had  proved  an  element  of  great  strength  in 
shaping  public  opinion  favorably  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  It  identified 
his  Administration,  from  the  day  this  great  step  was  taken, 
with  not  only  a  most  effective  means  for  suppressing;  the  rebel 
lion,  but  also  with  a  measure  in  accordance  with  the  high 
behests  of  justice,  and  the  clearest  interests  of  civilization  and 
humanity.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year,  the  President  re 
ceived  a  gratifying  testimonial  of  sympathy  and  confidence 
from  the  workingmen  of  Manchester,  in  England,  and  of  their 
warm  appreciation,  especially,  of  his  action  in  issuing  the  Pro 
clamation  of  Emancipation.  To  this  address,  Mr.  Lincoln  sent 
the  following  reply: 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  ) 

WASHINGTON,  January  19,  1863.  j 

To  THE  WORKINGMEN  OF  MANCHESTER  :  I  have  the  honor 
to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  address  and  resolutions  which 
you  sent  me  on  the  eve  of  the  new  year. 

When  I  came,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  through  a  free 
and  constitutional  election,  to  preside  in  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  the  country  was  found  at  the  verge  of  civil  war. 
Whatever  might  have  been  the  cause,  or  whosesoever  the  fault, 
one  duty,  paramount  to  all  others,  was  before  me,  namely,  to 
maintain  and  preserve  at  once  the  Constitution  and  the  integ 
rity  of  the  Federal  Republic.  A  conscientious  purpose  to  per 
form  this  duty  is  the  key  to  all  the  measures  of  administration 
which  have  been,  and  to  all  which  will  hereafter  be  pursued. 
Under  our  frame  of  government  and  my  official  oath,  I  could 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  453 

not  depart  from  this  purpose  if  I  would.  It  is  not  always  in 
the  power  of  governments  to  enlarge  or  restrict  the  scope  of 
moral  results  which  follow  the  policies  that  they  may  deem  it 
necessary,  for  the  public  safety,  from  time  to  time  to  adopt. 

I  have  understood  well  that  the  duty  of  self-preservation 
rests  solely  with  the  American  people.  But  I  have,  at  the 
same  time,  been  aware  that  the  favor  or  disfavor  of  foreign  na 
tions  might  have  a  material  influence  in  enlarging  and  prolong 
ing  the  struggle  with  disloyal  men  in  which  the  country  is 
engaged.  A  fair  examination  of  history  has  seemed  to  author 
ize  a  belief  that  the  past  action  and  influences  of  the  United 
States  were  generally  regarded  as  having  been  beneficial  toward 
mankind.  I  have,  therefore,  reckoned  upon  the  forbearance  of 
nations.  Circumstances — to  some  of  which  you  kindly  allude — 
induced  me  especially  to  expect  that,  if  justice  and  good  faith 
should  be  practiced  by  the  United  States,  they  would  encounter 
no  hostile  influence  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain.  It  is  now  a 
pleasant  duty  to  acknowledge  the  demonstration  you  have  given 
of  your  desire  that  a  spirit  of  peace  and  amity  toward  this 
country  may  prevail  in  the  councils  of  your  Queen,  who  is  re 
spected  and  esteemed  in  your  own  country  only  more  than  she 
is  by  the  kindred  nation  which  has  its  home  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic. 

I  know,  and  deeply  deplore,  the  sufferings  which  the  work- 
ingmen  at  Manchester,  and  in  all  Europe,  are  called  to  endure 
in  this  crisis.  It  has  been  often  and  studiously  represented 
that  the  attempt  to  overthrow  this  Government,  which  was 
built  upon  the  foundation  of  human  rights,  and  to  substitute 
for  it  one  which  should  rest  exclusively  on  the  basis  of  human 
slavery,  was  likely  to  obtain  the  favor  of  Europe.  Through 
the  action  of  our  disloyal  citizens,  the  workingmen  of  Europe 
have  been  subjected  to  severe  trial,  for  the  purpose  of  forcing 
their  sanction  to  that  attempt.  Under  these  circumstances,  I 
can  not  but  regard  your  decisive  utterances  upon  the  question 
as  an  instance  of  sublime  Christian  heroism,  which  has  not  been 
surpassed  in  any  age  or  in  any  country.  It  is  indeed  an  ener 
getic  and  reinspiring  assurance  of  the  inherent  power  of  truth, 
and  of  the  ultimate  and  universal  triumph  of  justice,  human 
ity,  and  freedom.  I  do  not  doubt  that  the  sentiments  you  have 
expressed  will  be  sustained  by  your  great  nation;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  assuring  you  that  they  will 
excite  admiration,  esteem,  and  the  most  reciprocal  feelings  of 
friendship  among  the  American  people.  I  hail  this  inter 
change  of  sentiment,  therefore,  as  an  augury  that,  whatever 
else  may  happen,  whatever  misfortune  may  befall  your  country 
or  my  own,  the  peace  and  friendship  which  now  exist  between 


i54  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  two  nations  will  be,  as  it  snail  be  my  desire  to  mjtke  them., 
perpetual.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Later  in  the  season,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  invited  to  revisit  hie 
home  in  Springfield,  on  the  occasion  of  a  mass  meeting  of  th« 

people  of  Illinois,  who  were  unconditionally  for  the  Union,  to 
be  held  at  that  place.  The  letter  addressed  by  him,  in  reply 
to  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Invitation,  an  esteemed 
personal  friend,  was  published  at  the  time,  and  received  with 
satisfaction  by  the  loyal  people  of  the  country.  The  subject 
of  Emancipation  is  again  treated  therein,  after  discussing  tho 
possible  terms  of  peace,  and  the  issue  brought  directly  home 
to  the  minds  of  the  people,  with  pointed  force  and  sunlike 

jlearness.     The  letter  is  in  these  words  : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,     | 
August  26,  1863.  j 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  letter  inviting  me  to  attend  a  mass 
meeting  of  unconditional  Union  men,  to  be  held  at  the  capital 
of  Illinois  on  the  3d  day  of  September,  has  been  received.  It 
would  be  very  agreeable  to  me  thus  to  meet  my  old  friends  at 
jny  own  home  ;  but  I  can  not  just  now  be  absent  from  this  city 
so  long  as  a  visit  there  would  require. 

The  meeting  is  to  be  of  all  those  who  maintain  uncondi 
tional  devotion  to  the  Union  ;  and  I  am  sure  that  my  old  politi 
cal  friends  will  thank  me  for  tendering,  as  I  do,  the  nation's 
gratitude  to  those  other  noble  men  whom  no  partisan  malice  or 
partisan  hope  can  make  false  to  the  nation's  life.  There  are 
those  who  are  dissatisfied  with  me.  To  such  I  would  say, 
You  desire  peace,  and  you  blame  me  that  we  do  not  have  it.- 
But  how  can  we  attain  it  ?  There  are  but  three  conceivable 
ways  :  First,  to  suppress  the  rebellion  by  force  of  arms.  This 
I  am  trying  to  do.  Are  you  for  it  ?  If  you  are,  so  far  we  are 
agreed.  If  you  are  not  for  it,  a  second  way  is  to  give  up  tho 
Union.  I  am  against  this.  If  you  are,  you  should  say  so, 
plainly.  If  you  are  not  for  force,  nor  yet  for  dissolution,  there 
only  remains  some  imaginable  compromise. 

I  do  not  believe  that  any  compromise  embracing  the  mainte 
nance  of  the  Union  is  now  possible.  All  thatrf  learn  leads  to 
a  directly  opposite  belief.  The  strength  of  the  rebellion  is  its 
military — its  army.  That  army  dominates  all  the  country  and 
all  the  people  within  its  range.  Any  offer  of  any  terms  made 
by  any  man  or  men  within  that  range  in  opposition  to  that 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  455 

army,  is  simply  nothing  for  the  present,  because  such  man  or 
men  have  no  power  whatever  to  enforce  their  side  of  a  compro 
mise,  if  one  were  made  with  them.  To  illustrate  :  Suppose 
refugees  from  the  South  and  peace  men  of  the  North  get 
together  in  convention,  and  frame  and  proclainc  a  compromise 
embracing  the  restoration  of  the  Union.  In  what  way  can 
that  compromise  be  used  to  keep  Gen.  Lee's  army  out  of  Penn 
sylvania?  Gen.  Meade's  army  can  keep  Lee's  army  out  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  I  think  can  ultimately  drive  it  out  of 
existence.  But  no  paper  compromise  to  which  the  controllers 
of  Gen.  Lee's  army  are  not  agreed,  can  at  all  affect  that  army. 
•la  an  effort  at  such  compromise  we  would  waste  time,  which  the 
enemy  would  improve  to  our  disadvantage,  and  that  would  be 
all.  A  compromise,  to  be  effective,  must  be  made  either  with 
those  who  control  the  Rebel  army,  or  with  the  people,  first  libe 
rated  from  the  domination  of  that  army  by  the  success  of  our 
army.  Now,  allow  me  to  assure  you  that  no  word  or  intimation 
from  the  Rebel  army,  or  from  any  of  the  men  controlling  it,  in 
relation  to  any  peace  compromise,  has  ever  come  to  my  knowl 
edge  or  belief.  All  charges  and  intimations  to  the  contrary 
are  deceptive  and  groundless.  And  I  promise  you  that  if  any 
such  proposition  shall  hereafter  come,  it  shall  not  be  rejected 
and  kept  secret  from  you.  I  freely  acknowledge  myself  to  be 
the  servant  of  the  people,  according  to  the  bond  of  service,  the 
United  States  Constitution  ;  and  that,  as  such,  I  am  responsible 
to  them. 

But,  to  be  plain.  You  are  dissatisfied  with  me  about  the 
negro.  Quite  likely  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  between 
you  and  myself  upon  that  subject.  I  certainly  wish  that  all 
men  could  be  free,  while  you,  I  suppose,  do  not.  Yet  I  have 
neither  adopted  nor  proposed  any  measure  which  is  not  con 
sistent  with  even  your  view,  provided  you  are  for  the  Union.  I 
suggested  compensated  emancipation,  to  which  you  replied  that 
you  wished  not  to  be  taxed  to  buy  negroes.  But  ]j|have  not 
asked  you  to  be  taxed  to  buy  negroes,  except  in  such  way  as  to 
save  you  from  greater  taxation,  to  save  the  Union  exclusively 
by  other  means. 

You  dislike  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  and  perhaps 
would  have  it  retracted.  You  say  it  is  unconstitutional.  I 
think  differently.  I  think  that  the  Constitution  invests  its 
Commander-in-chief  with  the  law  of  war  In  the  time  of  war. 
The  most  that  can  be  said,  if  so  much,  is,  that  the  slaves  are 
property.  Is  there,  has  there  ever  been,  any  question  that  by 
the  law  of  war,  property,  both  of  enemies  and  friends,  may  be 
taken  when  needed?  And  is  it  not  needed  whenever  taking  it 
helps  us  or  hurts  the  enemy  ?  Armies,  the  world  pver,  destroy 


456  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

enemies'  property  when  they  can  not  use  it;  and  even  destroy 
their  own  to  keep  it  from  the  enemy.  Civilized  belligerents 
do  all  in  their  power  to  help  themselves  or  hurt  the  enemy, 
except  a  few  things  regarded  as  barbarous  or  cruel.  Among 
the  exceptions  are  the  massacre  of  vanquished  foes  and  non- 
combatants,  male  and  female.  But  the  proclamation,  as  law,  is 
valid  or  is  not  valid.  If  it  is  not  valid,  it  needs  no  retraction. 
If  it  is  valid,  it  can  not  be  retracted,  any  more  than  the  dead 
can  be  brought  to  life.  Some  of  you  profess  to  think  that  its 
retraction  would  operate  favorably  for  the  Union.  Why  better 
after  the  retraction  than  before  the  issue?  There  was  more 
than  a  year  and  a  half  of  trial  to  suppress  the  rebellion  before 
the  proclamation  was  issued,  the  lust  one  hundred  days  of 
which  passed  under  an  explicit  notice,  that  it  was  coming  unless 
averted  by  those  in  revolt  returning  to  their  allegiance.  The 
war  has  certainly  .progressed  as  favorably  for  us  since  the  issue 
of  the  proclamation  as  before.  I  know  as  fully  as  one  can  know 
the  opinions  of  others,  that  some  of  the  commanders  of  our 
armies  in  the  field,  who  have  given  us  our  most  important  vic 
tories,  believe  the  emancipation  policy  and  the  aid  of  colored 
troops  constitute  the  heaviest  blows  yet  dealt  to  the  rebellion, 
and  that  at  least  one  of  those  important  successes  could  not 
have  been  achieved  when  it  was  but  for  the  aid  of  black  sol 
diers.  Among  the  commanders  holding  these  views  are  some 
who  have  never  had  any  affinity  with  what  is  called  abolition 
ism,  or  with  "  republican  party  politics,"  but  who  hold  them 
purely  as  military  opinions.  I  submit  their  opinions  as  being 
entitled  to  some  weight  against  the  objections  often  urged  that 
emancipation  and  arming  the  blacks  are  unwise  as  military 
measures,  and  were  not  adopted  as  such  in  good  faith. 

You  say  that  you  will  not  fight  to  free  negroes.  Some  of 
them  seem  to  be  willing  to  fight  for  you — but  no  matter.  Fight 
you,  then,  exclusively  to  save  the  Union.  I  issued  the  procla 
mation  on-tipurpose  to  aid  you  in  saving  the  Union.  "Whenever 
you  shall  have  conquered  all  resistance  to  the  Union,  if  I  shall 
urge  you  to  continue  fighting,  it  will  be  an  apt  time  then  for 
you  to  declare  that  you  will  not  fight  to  free  negroes.  1 
thought  that,  in  your  struggle  for  the  Union,  to  whatever  ex 
tent  the  negroes  should  cease  helping  the  enemy,  to  that  extent 
it  weakened  the  enemy  in  his  resistance  to  you.  Do  you  think 
differently  ?  I  thought  that  whatever  negroes  can  be  got  to  do 
as  soldiers,  leaves  just  so  much  less  for  white  soldiers  to  do  in 
saving  the  Union.  Does  it  appear  otherwise  to  you  ?  But 
negroes,  like  other  people,  act  upon  motives.  Why  should 
they  do  any  thing  for  us  if  we  will  do  nothing  for  them  ?  If 
they  stake  their  lives  for  us,  they  must  be  prompted  b}1  the 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  457 

strongest   motive,   even   the   promise   of   freedom.     And  the 
promise,  being  made,  must  be  kept. 

The  signs  look  better.  The  Father  of  Waters  again  goes 
unvexed  to  the  sea.  Thanks  to  the  great  North-west  for  it. 
Nor  yet  wholly  to  them.  Three  hundred  miles  up  they  met 
New  England,  Empire,  Keystone,  and  Jersey,  hewing  their 
way  right  and  left.  The  sunny  South,  too,  in  more  colors  than 
one,  also  lent  a  hand.  On  the  spot  their  part  of  the  history 
was  jotted  down  in  black  and  white.  The  job  was  a  great 
National  one,  and  let  none  be  banned  who  bore  an  honorable 
part  in  it ;  and,  while  those  who  have  cleared  the  great  river 
may  well  be  proud,  even  that  is  not  all.  It  is  hard  to  say  that 
any  thing  has  been  more  bravely  and  better  done  than  at  An- 
tietam,  Murfreesboro,  Gettysburg,  and  on  many  fields  of  less 
note.  Nor  must  Uncle  Sam's  web-feet  be  forgotten.  At  all 
the  waters'  margins  they  have  been  present :  not  only  on  the 
deep  sea,  the  broad  bay  and  the  rapid  river,  but  also  up  the 
narrow,  muddy  bayou ;  and  wherever  the  ground  was  a  little 
damp,  they  have  been  and  made  their  tracks.  Thanks  to  all. 
For  the  great  Republic — for  the  principles  by  which  it  lives 
and  keeps  alive — for  man's  vast  future — thanks  to  all.  Peace 
does  not  appear  so  far  distant  as  it  did.  I  hope  it  will  come 
soon,  and  come  to  stay :  and  so  come  as  to  be  worth  the  keep 
ing  in  all  future  time.  It  will  then  have  been  proved  that 
among  freemen  there  can  be  no  successful  appeal,  from  the 
ballot  to  the  bullet,  and  that  they  who  take  such  appeal  are  sure 
to  lose  their  case  and  pay  the  cost.  And  then  there  will  be 
some  black  men  who  can  remember  that,  with  silent  tongue, 
and  clenched  teeth,  and  steady  eye,  and  well  poised  bayonet, 
they  have  helped  mankind  on  to  this  great  consummation ; 
while  I  fear  that  there  will  be  some  white  men  unable  to  forget 
that,  with  malignant  heart  and  deceitful  speech,  they  have 
striven  to  hinder  it. 

Still,  let  us  not  be  over-sanguine  of  a  speedy  final  triumph. 
Let  us  be  quite  sober.  Let  us  diligently  apply  the  means, 
never  doubting  that  a  just  God,  in  His  own  good  time,  will 
give  us  the  rightful  result. 

Yours,  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

JAMES  C.  CONKLING,  Esq. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  whose  gratitude  to  the  gallant  soldiers  who 
have  rallied  at  the  call  of  their  country,  and  whose  proud 
satisfaction  in  their  heroic  conduct  on  so  many  battle-fields, 
have  been  constantly  manifested,  was  unwilling  to  decline  the 
invitation  to  be  present  on  the  solemn  occasion  of  consecrating 


458  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

a  National  Cemetery  at  Gettysburg,  for  the  fallen  in  the  san 
guinary  conflicts  at  that  place,  in  July,  1863.  No  truer  or 
tenderer  sympathy  than  his,  for  the  brave  dead  and  for  their 
surviving  friends,  ever  had  place  in  any  human  breast.  The 
elaborate  eloquence  of  our  most  accomplished  orator,  Edward 
Everett,  and  the  presence  of  an  innumerable  multitude  of 
people,  added  a  solemn  grandeur  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  day. 
But  no  fitter  or  more  touching  words  were  spoken  than  these 
of  Mr.  Lincoln : 

ADDRESS   AT   GETTYSBURG,    NOV.    19,    1863. 

Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought  forth 
upon  this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  Liberty,  and 
dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal. 
Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether  that 
nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated,  can  long 
endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battle-field  of  that  war.  We 
are  met  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  it  as  the  final  resting-place  of 
those  who  here  gave  their  lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It 
is  altogether  fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 

But,  in  a  larger  sense,  we  can  not  dedicate,  we  can  not  con 
secrate,  we  can  not  hallow  this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living 
and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  consecrated  it  far  above 
our  power'  to  add  or  detract.  The  world  will  little  note,  nor 
long  remember,  what  we  say  here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what 
they  did  here.  It  is  for  us,  the  living,  rather,  to  be  dedicated 
here  to  the  unfinished  work  that  they  have  thus  far  so  nobly 
carried  on.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great 
task  remaining  before  us — that  from  these  honored  dead  we  take 
increased  devotion  to  the  cause  for  which  they  here  gave  the 
last  full  measure  of  devotion — that  we  here  highly  resolve  that 
the  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain — that  the  nation  shall, 
under  God,  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom,  and  that  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people,  shall 
not  perish  from  the  earth. 

The  concluding  elections  for  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  bit 
terly  disappointed  the  expectations  previously  entertained  by 
the  Opposition.  They  were  so  favorable  to  the  Administration 
as  to  insure  it  a  decided  majority  in  the  House  of  Representa 
tives — a  result  which  had  not  happened  for  many  years  in  the 
choice  of  the  second  Congress  during  any  Presidential  term. 

On  the  assembling  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  on  the  7th 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  459 

day  of  December,  1863,  the  Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax,  of  Indiana, 
(the  Administration  candidate,)  was  elected  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  on  the  first  ballot,  receiving  one 
hundred  and  one  votes,  against  eighty-one  for  all  others — a 
majority  of  twenty.  The  Opposition  votes  were  scattered  upon 
half  a  dozen  different  candidates.  The  Hon.  Edward  McPher- 
son,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  chosen  Clerk  of  the  House,  by  a 
vote  of  one  hundred  and  two  to  sixty-nine  for  Emerson  Eth- 
eridge,  whom  the  Republicans  had  chosen  to  that  position  in 
the  previous  House,  and  who  had  since  gone  over  to  the  Dem 
ocratic  side.  A  still  more  striking  indication  of  the  present 
tone  of  National  sentiment  was  perhaps  to  be  found  in  the  fact 
that  the  Rev.  "William  Henry  Channing,  whose  extreme  views 
on  the  great  questions  of  the  day  are  well  known,  was  elected 
Chaplain  of  the  House,  the  principal  Opposition  vote  being  cast 
for  Bishop  Hopkins,  of  Vermont,  a  noted  apologist  for  slavery. 
After  the  decisive  advantages  gained  by  our  arms,  the  rebel 
lion  being  substantially  at  an  end  in  the  States  of  Louisiana, 
Tennessee  and  Arkansas,  and  movements  for  their  reorganiza 
tion  under  loyal  local  governments  already  under  consideration 
by  the  people  of  those  States,  some  indication  of  the  Presi 
dent's  policy  for  restoring  order  and  law,  in  the  territory  recon 
quered  from  armed  Rebels,  was  naturally  expected  by  the 
people.  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  the  meeting  of  Congress  approached, 
had  given  his  earnest  attention  to  this  difficult  subject — now 
become  one  of  the  highest  practical  moment.  By  an  act  ap 
proved  July  17, 1862,  Congress  had  provided : 

That  the  President  is  hereby  authorized,  at  any  time  here 
after,  by  proclamation,  to  extend  to  persons  who  may  have  par 
ticipated  i:i  the  existing  rebellion  in  any  State  or  part  thereof, 
pardon  and  amnesty,  with  such  exceptions,  and  at  such  time, 
and  on  such  conditions,  as  he  may  deem  expedient  for  the  pub-" 
lie  welfare. 

In  the  judgment  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  fitting  time  had  now 
come  for  exercising  this  power.  Among  the  "  conditions " 
which  he  was  authorized  to  prescribe, 'very  clearly,  good  faith 
and  consistency  required  him  to  include  an  effective  one  for 
carrying  out  his  policy  of  Emancipation.  This  and  other  con- 


460  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

isiderations  also  made  it  indispensable  that  he  should  indicate — • 
without  inflexibly  prescribing,  as  he  did  not — an  acceptable 
mode  of  reorganizing  loyal  .State  Governments.  The  result 
of  his  deliberations  was  set  forth  simultaneously  with  the 
publication  of  his  annual  message,  in  the  celebrated  paper 
following : 

A   PROCLAMATION. 

WHEREAS,  In  and  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
it  is  provided  that  the  President  "  shall  have  power  to  grant 
reprieves  and  pardons  for  offenses  against  the  United  States, 
except  in  cases  of  impeachment;"  and  whereas,  a  rebellion  now 
exists  whereby  the  loyal  State  Governments  of  several  States 
have  for  a  long  time  been  subverted,  and  many  persons  have 
committed  and  are  now  guilty  of  treason  against  the  United 
States ;  and  whereas,  with  reference  to  said  rebellion  and  treason, 
laws  have  been  enacted  by  Congress  declaring  forfeitures  and 
confiscation  of  property  and  liberation  of  slaves,  all  upon  terms 
and  conditions  therein  stated ;  and  also  declaring  that  the  Presi 
dent  was  thereby  authorized  at  any  time  thereafter,  by  procla 
mation,  to  extend  to  persons  who  may  have  participated  in  the 
existing  rebellion,  in  any  State  or  part  thereof,  pardon  and 
amnesty,  with  such  exceptions  and  at  such  times  and  on  such 
conditions  as  he  may  deem  expedient  for  the  public  welfare  ; 
and  whereas,  the  Congressional  declaration  for  limited  and  con 
ditional  pardon  accords  with  well-established  judicial  exposi 
tion  of  the  xpardoning  power  ;  and  whereas,  with  reference  to 
said  rebellion,  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  issued 
several  proclamations,  with  provisions  in  regard  to  the  libera 
tion  of  slaves  ;  and  whereas,  it  is  now  desired  by  some  persons 
heretofore  engaged  in  said  rebellion,  to  resume  their  allegiance 
to  the  United  States,  and  to  reinaugurate  loyal  State  Govern 
ments  within  and  for  their  respective  States ;  therefore, 

I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  do 
proclaim,  declare,  and  make  known  to  all  persons  who  have, 
directly  or  by  implication,  participated  in  the  existing  rebel 
lion,  except  as  hereinafter  excepted,  that  a  full  pardon  is  hereby 
granted  to  them  and  each  of  them,  with  restoration  of  all  rights 
of  property,  except  as  to  slaves,  and  in  property  cases  where 
rights  of  third  parties  shall  have  intervened,  and  upon  the  con 
dition  that  every  such  person  shall  take  and  subscribe  an  oath, 
and  thenceforward  keep  and  maintain  said  oath  inviolate ;  and 
which  oath  shall  be  registered  for  permanent  preservation,  and 
shall  bo,  of  the  tenor  and  effect  following,  to-wit : 

•'  I, ,  do  solemnly  swear,  in  presence  of  Almighty 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  461 

God,  that  I  will  henceforth  faithfully  support,  protect  and  de 
fend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Union  of 
the  States  thereunder ;  and  that  I  will,  in  like  manner,  abide  by 
and  faithfully  support  all  acts  of  Congress  passed  during  the  ex 
isting  rebellion  with  reference  to  slaves,  so  long  and  so  far  as  not 
repealed,  modified,  or  held  void  by  Congress,  or  by  decision  of 
the  Supreme  Court ;  and  that  I  will,  in  like  manner,  abide  by 
and  faithfully  support  all  proclamations  of  the  President  made 
during  the  existing  rebellion  having  reference  to  slaves,  so  long 
and  so  far  as  not  modified  or  declared  void  by  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  So  help  me  God." 

The  persons  excepted  from  the  benefits  of  the  foregoing  pro 
visions  are  all  who  are,  or  shall  have  been,  civil  or  diplomatic 
officers  or  agents  of  the  so-called  Confederate  Government ;  all 
who  have  left  judicial  stations  under  the  United  States  to  aid 
the  rebellion  ;  all  who  are,  or  shall  have  been,  military  or  naval 
officers  of  the  said  so-called  Confederate  Government,  above 
the  rank  of  colonel  in  the  army,  or  of  lieutenant  in  the  navy; 
all  who  left  seats  in  the  United  States  Congress  to  aid  the  re 
bellion  ;  all  who  resigned  commissions  in  the  Army  or,  Navy  of 
the  United  States,  and  afterward  aided  the  rebellion  ;  and  all 
who  have  engaged  in  any  way  in  treating  colored  persons,  or 
white  persons  in  charge  of  such,  otherwise  than  lawfully  as 
prisoners  of  war,  and  which  persons  may  have  been  found  in 
the  United  States  service  as  soldiers,  seamen,  or  in  -any  other 
capacity. 

And  I  do  further  proclaim,  declare,  and  make  known,  that 
whenever,  in  any  of  the  States  of  Arkansas,  Texas,  Louisiana, 
Mississippi,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Florida,  South  Car 
olina,  and  North  Carolina,  a  number  of  persons,  not  less  than 
one-tenth  in  number  of  the  votes  cast  in  such  State  at  the 
Presidential  election  of  the  year  of  our  Lord  1860,  each  hav 
ing  taken  the  oath  aforesaid,  and  not  having  since  violated  it, 
and  being  a  qualified  voter  by  the  election  law  of  the  State 
existing  immediately  before  the  so-called  act  of  secession,  and 
excluding  all  others,  shall  re-establish  a  State  Government 
which  shall  be  republican,  and  in  nowise  contravening  said 
oath,  such  shall  be  recognized  as  the  true  Government  of  the 
State,  and  the  State  shall  receive  thereunder  the  benefits  of  the 
constitutional  provision  which  declares  that  "  the  United  States 
shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in  this  Union  a  republican  form 
of  government,  and  shall  protect  each  of  them  against  inva 
sion  ;  and  on  application  of  the  Legislature,  or  the  Executive, 
(when  the  Legislature  can  not  be  convened,)  against  domestic 
violence." 

And  I  do  further  proclaim,  declare,  and  make  known  that 


462  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

any  provision  which  may  be  adopted  by  such  State  Govern* 
ment  in  relation  to  the  freed  people  of  such  State,  which  shall 
recognize  and  declare  their  permanent  freedom,  provide  for 
their  education,  and  which  may  yet  be  consistent,  as  a  tempo 
rary  arrangement,  with  their  present  condition  as  a  laboring, 
landless,  and  homeless  ckss,  will  not  be  objected  to  by  the  Na 
tional  Executive.  And  it  is  suggested  as  not  improper,  that, 
in  constructing  a  loyal  State  Government  in  any  State,  the 
name  of  the  State,  the  boundary,  the  subdivisions,  the  Consti 
tution,  and  the  general  code  of  laws,  as  before  the  rebellion,  be 
maintained,  subject  only  to  the  modifications  made  necessary 
by  the  conditions  hereinbefore  stated,  and  such  others,  if  any, 
not  contravening  said  conditions,  and  which  may  be  deemed 
expedient  by  those  framing  the  new  State  Government. 

To  avoid  misunderstanding,  it  may  be  proper  to  say  that 
this  proclamation,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  State  Governments,  has 
no  reference  to  States  wherein  loyal  State  Governments  have  all 
the  while  been  maintained.  And  for  the  same  reason,  it  may 
be  proper  to  further  say  that  whether  members  sent  to  Con 
gress  from  any  State  shall  be  admitted  to  seats  constitutionally, 
rests  exclusively  with  the  respective  Houses,  and  not  to  any 
extent  with  the  Executive.  And  still  fiucaer,  that  this  procla 
mation  is  intended  to  present  the  people  of  the  States  wherein 
the  National  authority  has  been  suspended,  and  loyal  State 
Governments  have  been  subverted,  a  mode  in  and  by  which  the 
National  authority  and  loyal  State  Governments  may  be  re-es 
tablished  within  said  States,  or  in  any  of  them ;  and,  while  the 
mode  presented  is  the  best  the  Executive  can  suggest,  with  his 
present  impressions,  it  must  not  be  understood  that  no  other 
possible  mode  would  be  acceptable. 

Given  under  my  hand  at  the  city  of  Washington, 
r-        -,    the  8th  day  of  December,  A.  D.  1863,  and  of  the 
L  '    '-I    Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the 
eighty-eighth.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Annual  Message  was  sent  in  to  Congress  on. 
the  9th  day  of  December.  This  document  —  omitting  only 
portions  of  less  abiding  interest — is  as  follows  : 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REP 
RESENTATIVES  :  Another  year  of  health  and  sufficiently  abun 
dant  harvests,  has  passed.  For  these,  and  especially  for  the 
improved  condition  of  our  National  affairs,  our  renewed  and 
profoundest  gratitude  to  God  is  due. 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  463 

"We  remain  in  peace  and  friendship  with  foreign  powers. 

The  efforts  of  disloyal  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  involve 
us  in  foreign  wars,  to  aid  an  inexcusable  insurrection,  have 
been  unavailing.  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Government,  as  was 
justly  expected,  have  exercised  their  authority  to  prevent  the 
departure  of  new  hostile  expeditions  from  British  ports.  The 
Emperor  of  France  has,  by  a  like  proceeding,  promptly  vindi 
cated  the  neutrality  which  he  proclaimed  at  the  beginning  of 
the  contest.  Questions  of  great  intricacy  and  importance  have 
arisen,  out  of  the  blockade  and  other  belligerent  operations, 
between  the  Government  and  several  of  the  maritime  powers,  but 
they  have  been  discussed,  and,  as  far  as  was  possible,  accommo 
dated  in  a  spirit  of  frankness,  justice,  and  mutual  good  will.  It 
is  especially  gratifying  that  our  prize  courts,  by  the  impartiality 
of  their  adjudications,  have  commanded  the  respect  and  confi 
dence  of  maritime  powers. 

The  supplemental  treaty  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  for  the  suppression  of  the  African  slave-trade, 
made  on  the  17th  day  of  February  last,  has  been  duly  ratified, 
and  carried  into  execution.  It  is  believed  that,  so  far  as 
American  ports  and  American  citizens  are  concerned,  that 
inhuman  and  odious  traffic  has  been  brought  to  an  end.  .  .  . 

Incidents  occurring  in  the  progress  of  our  civil  war  have 
forced  upon  my  attention  the  uncertain  state  of  international 
questions  touching  the  rights  of  foreigners  in  this  country  and 
of  United  States  citizens  abroad.  In  regard  to  some  Govern 
ments,  these  rights  are  at  least  partially  defined  by  treaties.  In 
no  instance,  however,  is  it  expressly  stipulated  that,  in  the 
event  of  civil  war,  a  foreigner  residing  in  this  country,  within 
the  lines  of  the  insurgents,  is  to  be  exempted  from  the  rule 
which  classes  him  as  a  belligerent,  in  whose  behalf  the  Govern 
ment  of  his  country  can  not  expect  any  privileges  or  immuni 
ties  distinct  from  that  character.  I  regret  to  say,  however, 
that  such  claims  have  been  put  forward,  and,  in  some  instances, 
in  behalf  of  foreigners  who  have  lived  in  the  United  States  the 
greater  part  of  their  lives. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  many  persons  born  in  for 
eign  countries,  who  have  declared  their  intention  to  become 
citizens,  or  who  have  been  fully  naturalized,  have  evaded  the 
military  duty  required  of  them  by  denying  the  fact,  and  thereby 
throwing  upon  the  Government  the  burden  of  proof.  It  has 
been  found  difficult  or  impracticable  to  obtain  this  proof,  from 
the  want  of  guides  to  the  proper  sources  of  information.  These 
might  be  supplied  by  requiring  clerks  of  courts,  where  decla 
rations  of  intention  may  be  made  or  naturalizations  effected,  to 
send,  periodically,  lists  of  the  names  of  the  persons  naturalized, 


464  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

or  declaring  their  intention  to  become  citizens,  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Interior,  in  whose  Department  those  names  might 
be  arranged  and  printed  for  general  information. 

There  is  also  reason  to  believe  that  foreigners  frequently 
become  citizens  of  the  United  States  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
evading  duties  imposed  by  the  laws  of  their  native  countries,  to 
which,  on  becoming  naturalized  here,  they  at  once  repair,  and, 
though  never  returning  to  the  United  States,  they  still  claim 
the  interposition  of  this  Government  as  citizens.  Many  alter 
nations  and  great  prejudices  have  heretofore  arisen  out  of  this 
abuse.  It  is,  therefore,  submitted  to  your  serious  considera 
tion.  It  might  be  advisable  to  fix  a  limit,  beyond  which  no 
citizen  of  the  United  States  residing  abroad  may  claim  the 
interposition  of  his  Government. 

The  right  of  suffrage  has  often  been  assumed  and  exercised 
by  aliens,  under  pretenses  of  naturalization,  which  they  have 
disavowed  when  drafted  into  the  military  service.  I  submit 
the  expediency  of  such  an  amendment  of  the  law  as  will  make 
the  fact  of  voting  an  estoppel  against  any  plea  of  exemption 
from  military  service,  or  other  civil  obligation,  on  the  ground 
of  alienage 

The  condition  of  the  several  organized  Territories  is  gene 
rally  satisfactory,  although  Indian  disturbances  in  New  Mexico 
have  not  been  entirely  suppressed.  The  mineral  resources  of 
Colorado,  Nevada,  Idaho,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona  are  proving 
far  richer  than  has  been  heretofore  understood.  I  lay  before 
you  a  communication  on  this  subject  from  the  Governor  of 
New  Mexico.  I  again  submit  to  your  consideration  the  expe 
diency  of  establishing  a  system  for  the  encouragement  of  immi 
gration.  Although  this  source  of  National  wealth  and  strength 
is  again  flowing  with  greater  freedom  than  for  several  years 
before  the  insurrection  occurred,  there  is  still  a  great  deficiency 
of  laborers  in  every  field  of  industry,  especially  in  agriculture 
'and  in  our  mines,  as  well  of  iron  and  coal  as  of  the  precious 
metals.  While  the  demand  for  labor  is  thus  increased  here, 
tens  of  thousands  of  persons,  destitute  of  remunerative  occu 
pation,  are  thronging  our  foreign  consulates,  and  offering  to 
emigrate  to  the  United  States  if  essential,  but  very  cheap, 
assistance  can  be  afforded  them.  It  is  easy  to  see  that,  under 
the  sharp  discipline  of  civil  war,  the  nation  is  beginning  a  new 
life.  This  noble  effort  demands  the  aid,  and  ought  to  receive 
the  attention  and  support,  of  the  Government. 

Injuries,  unforeseen  by  the  Government  and  unintended,  may, 
in  some  cases,  have  been  inflicted  on  the  subjects  or  citizens 
of  foreign  countries,  both  at  sea  and  on  land,  by  persons  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States.  As  this  Government  expects 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  465 

redress  from  other  Powers  when  similar  injuries  are  inflicted 
by  persons  in  their  service  upon  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
we  must  be  prepared  to  do  justice  to  foreigners.  If  the  exist 
ing  judicial  tribunals  are  inadequate  to  this  purpose,  a  special 
court  may  be  authorized,  with  power  to  hear  and  decide  such 
claims  of  the  character  referred  to  as  may  have  arisen  under 
treaties  and  the  public  law.  Conventions  for  adjusting  the 
claims  by  joint  commission  have  been  proposed  to  some  Gov 
ernments,  but  no  definite  answer  to  the  proposition  has  yet 
been  received  from  any. 

In  the  course  of  the  session,  I  shall  probably  have  occasion 
to  request  you  to  provide  indemnification  to  claimants  where 
decrees  of  restitution  have  been  rendered  and  damages  awarded 
by  admiralty  courts,  and  in  other  cases,  where  this  Government 
may  be  acknowledged  to  be  liable  in  principle,  and  where  the 
amount  of  that  liability  has  been  ascertained  by  an  informal 
arbitration. 

The  proper  officers  of  the  Treasury  have  deemed  themselves 
required,  by  the  law  of  the  United  States  upon  the  subject,  to 
demand  a  tax  upon  the  incomes  of  foreign  consuls  in  this 
country.  While  such  demand  may  not,  in  strictness,  be  in 
derogation  of  public  law,  or  perhaps  of  any  existing  treaty 
'between  the  United  States  and  a  foreign  country,  the  expe 
diency  of  so  far  modifying  the  act  as  to  exempt  from  tax  the 
income  of  such  consuls  as  are  not  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
derived  from  the  emoluments  of  their  office,  or  from  property 
not  situated  in  the  United  States,  is  submitted  to  your  serious 
consideration.  I  make  this  suggestion  upon  the  ground  that 
a  comity  which  ought  to  be  reciprocated  exempts  our  consuls, 
in  all  other  countries,  from  taxation  to  the  extent  thus  indi 
cated.  The  United  States,  I  think,  ought  not  to  be  exception- 
ably  illiberal  to  international  trade  and  commerce. 

The  operations  of  the  Treasury  during  the  last  year  have 
been  successfully  conducted.  The  enactment  by  Congress  of  a 
National  Banking  Law  has  proved  a  valuable  support  of  the 
public  credit ;  and  the  general  legislation  in  relation  to  loans 
has  fully  answered  the  expectations  of  its  favorers.  Some 
amendments  may  be  required  to  perfect  existing  laws ;  but  no 
change  in  their  principles  or  general  scope  is  believed  to  be 
needed. 

Since  these  measures  have  been  in  operation,  all  demands  on 
the  Treasury,  including  the  pay  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  have 
been  promptly  met  and  fully  satisfied.  No  considerable  body 
of  troops,  it  is  believed,  were  ever  more  amply  provided,  and 
more  liberally  and  punctually  paid  j  and  it  may  be  added  that 


466  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

by  no  people  were  the  burdens  incident  to  a  great  war  ever 
more  cheerfully  borne. 

The  receipts  during  the  year  from  all  sources,  including 
loans  and  the  balance  in  the  Treasury  at  its  commencement, 
were  $901,125,674  86,  and  the  aggregate  disbursements, 
$895,796,630  65,  leaving  a  balance  on  the  1st  of  July,  1863, 
of  $5,329,044  21.  Of  the  receipts  there  were  derived  from  cus 
toms  $69,059,642  40  ;  from  internal  revenue,  $37,640,787  95 ; 
from  direct  tax,  $1,485,103  61 ;  from  lands,  $167,617  17  ; 
from  miscellaneous  sources,  $3,046,615  35  ;  and  from  loans, 
$776,682,361  57  ;  making  the  aggregate,  $901,125,674  86. 
Of  the  disbursements,  there  were,  for  the  civil  service, 
$23253,922  08;  for  pensions  and  Indians,  $4,216,520  79; 
for  'interest  on  public  debt,  $24,729,846  51 ;  for  the  War 
Department,  $599,298,600  83;  for  the  Navy  Department, 
$63,211,105  27  ;  for  payment  of  funded  and  temporary  debt, 
$181  086,635  07 ;  making  the  aggregate,  $895,796,630  65  ; 
and  leaving  the  balance  of  $5,329,044  21.  But  the  pay 
ment  of  funded  and  temporary  debt,  having  been  made  from 
moneys  borrowed  during  the  year,  must  be  regarded  as 
merely  nominal  payments,  and  the  moneys  borrowed  to 
make  them  as  merely  nominal  receipts;  and  their  amount, 
$181,086,635  07,  should  therefore  be  deducted  both  from 
receipts  and  disbursements.  This  being  done,  there  remain, 
as  actual  receipts,  $720,039,039  79 ;  and  the  actual  dis 
bursements,  $714,709,995  58,  leaving  the  balance  as  already 
stated. 

The  actual  receipts  and  disbursements  for  the  first  quarter, 
and  the  estimated  receipts  and  disbursements  for  the  remaining 
three  quarters,  of  the  current  fiscal  year  1864,  will  be  shown 
in  detail  by  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to 
which  I  invite  your  attention.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  here  that 
it  is  not  believed  that  actual  results  will  exhibit  a  state  of  the 
finances  less  favorable  to  the  country  than  the  estimates  of  that 
officer  heretofore  submitted ;  while  it  is  confidently  expected 
that  at  the  close  of  the  year  both  disbursements  and  debt  will 
be  found  very  considerably  less  than  has  been  anticipated. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  is  a  document  of  great 
interest.  It  consists  of— 

1.  The  military  operations  of  the  year,  detailed  in  the  report 
of  the  General-in-Chief. 

2.  The  organization  of  colored  persons  into  the  war  service. 
3!    The  exchange  of  prisoners,  fully  set  forth  in  the  letter 

of  General  Hitchcock. 

4.  The  operations  under  the  act  for  enrolling  and  calling  out 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  467 

tile  National  forces,  detailed  in  the  report  of  the  Provost  Mar 
shal  General. 

5.  The  organization  of  the  invalid  corps  j  and 

6.  The  operation   of  the  several  departments  of  the  Quar 
termaster  General,  Commissary  General,  Paymaster  General, 
Chief  of  Engineers,  Chief  of  Ordnance,  and  Surgeon  General. 

It  has  appeared  impossible  to  make  a.  valuable  summary  of 
this  report,  except  such  as  would  be  too  extended  for  this 
place,  and  hence  I  content  myself  by  asking  your  careful  atten 
tion  to  the  report  itself. 

The  duties  devolving  on  the  naval  branch  of  the  service  dur 
ing  the  year,  and  throughout  the  whole  of  this  unhappy  con 
test,  have  been  discharged  with  fidelity  and  eminent  success. 
The  extensive  blockade  has  been  constantly  increasing  in 
efficiency,  and  the  Navy  has  expanded ;  yet  on  so  long  a  line 
it  has  so  far  been  impossible  to  entirely  suppress  illicit  trade. 
From  returns  received  at  the  Navy  Department,  it  appears  that 
more  than  one  thousand  vessels  have  been  captured  since  the 
blockade  was  instituted,  and  that  the  value  of  prizes  already 
sent  in  for  adjudication,  amounts  to  over  thirteen  million 
dollars. 

The  naval  force  of  the  United  States  consists,  at  this  time, 
of  five  hundred  and  eighty-eight  vessels,  completed  and  in  the 
course  of  completion,  and  of  these  seventy-five  are  iron-clad  or 
armored  steamers.  The  events  of  the  war  giv-e  an  increased 
interest  and  importance  to  the  Navy,  which  will  probably  ex 
tend  beyond  the  war  itself. 

The  armored  vessels  in  our  Navy,  completed  and  in  service, 
or  which  are  under  contract  and  approaching  completion,  are 
believed  to  exceed  in  number  those  of  any  other  Power.  But 
while  these  may  be  relied  upon  for  harbor  defense  and  coast 
service,  others,  of  greater  strength  and  capacity,  will  be  neces 
sary  for  cruising  purposes,  and  to  maintain  our  rightful  posi 
tion  on  the  ocean. 

The  change  that  has  taken  place  in  naval  vessels  and  naval 
warfare  since  the  introduction  of  steam  as  a  motive  power  for 
ships-of-war,  demands  either  a  corresponding  change  in  some 
of  our  existing  navy-yards,  or  the  establishment  of^new  ones, 
for  the  construction  and  necessary  repair  of  modern  naval 
vessels.  No  inconsiderable  embarrassment,  delay,  and  public 
injury  have  been  experienced  from  the  want  of  such  Govern 
mental  establishments.  The  necessity  of  such  a  navy-yard,  so 
furnished,  at  some  suitable  place  upon  the  Atlantic  seaboard, 
has,  on  repeated  occasions,  been  brought  to  the  attention  of  Con 
gress  by  the  Navy  Department,  and  is  again  presented  in  the 
report  of  the  Secretary  which  accompanies  this  communication* 


468  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

I  think  it  my  duty  to  iavite  your  special  attention  to  this  sub 
ject,  and  also  to  that  of  establishing  a  yard  and  depot  for  naval 
purposes  upon  one  of  the  Western  rivers.  A  naval  force  has 
been  created  on  those  interior  waters,  and  under  many  disad 
vantages,  within  little  more  than  two  years,  exceeding  in  num 
bers  the  whole  naval  force  of  the  country  at  the  commencement 
of  the  present  Administration.  Satisfactory  and  important  as 
have  been  the  performances  of  the  heroic  men  of  the  Navy  at 
this  interesting  period,  they  are  scarcely  more  wonderful 
than  the  success  of  our  mechanics  and  artisans  in  the  produc 
tion  of  war  vessels,  which  has  created  a  new  form  of  naval 
power. 

Our  country  has  advantages  superior  to  any  other  nation  in 
our  resources  of  iron  and  timber,  with  inexhaustible  quantities 
of  fuel  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  both,  and  all  available  and 
in  close  proximity  to  navigabiu  writers.  Without  the  advantage 
of  public  works,  the  resources  of  the  nation  have  been  devel 
oped,  and  its  power  displayed,  in  the  construction  of  a  navy  of 
such  magnitude,  which  has,  at  the  very  period  of  its  creation, 
rendered  signal  service  to  the  Union. 

The  increase  of  the  number  of  seamen  in  the  public  service, 
from  seven  thousand  five  hundred  men  in  the  spring  of  1861, 
to  about  thirty-four  thousand  at  the  present  time,  has  been 
accomplished  without  special  legislation  or  extraordinary  boun 
ties  to  promote  that  increase.  It  has  been  found,  however,  that 
the  operation  of  the  draft,  with  the  high  bounties  paid  for 
army  recruits,  is  beginning  to  affect  injuriously  the  naval 
service,  and  will,  if  not  corrected,  be  likely  to  impair  its  effi 
ciency,  by  detaching  seamen  from  their  proper  vocation  and 
inducing  them  to  enter  the  army.  I  therefore  respectfully 
suggest  that  Congress  might  aid  both  the  army  and  naval 
services  by  a  definite  provision  on  this  subject,  which  would  at 
the  same  time  be  equitable  to  the  communities  more  especially 
interested. 

I  commend  to  your  consideration  the  suggestions  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  in  regard  to  the  policy  of  foster 
ing  and  training  seamen,  and  also  the  education  of  officers 
and  engineers  for  the  naval  service.  The  Naval  Academy  is 
rendering  signal  service  in  preparing  midshipmen  for  the  highly 
responsible  duties  which  in  after-life  they  will  be  required  t& 
perform.  In  order  that  the  country  should  not  be  deprived  of 
the  proper  quota  of  educated  officers  for  which  legal  provision 
has  been  made  at  the  Naval  School,  the  vacancies  caused  by 
the  neglect  or  omission  to  make  nominations  from  the  States 
in  insurrection  have  been  filled  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
The  school  is  now  more  fu1!  and  complete  than  at  any  former 


LIFE   OP    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  469 

period,  and  in  every  respect  entitled  to  the  favorable  conside 
ration  of  Congress. 

During  the  past  fiscal  year  the  financial  condition  of  the 
Post  Office  Department  has  been  one  of  increasing  prosperity, 
and  I  am  gratified  in  being  able  to  state  that  the  actual  postal 
revenue  has  nearly  equaled  the  entire  expenditures ;  the  latter 
amounting  to  $11,314,206  84,  and  the  former  to  $11,163,789  59, 
leaving  a  deficiency  of  but  $150,417  25.  In  1860,  the  year 
immediately  preceding  the  rebellion,  the  deficiency  amounted 
to  $5,656,705  49,  the  postal  receipts  of  that  year  being 
$2,645,722  19  less  than  those  of  1863.  The  decrease  since 
I860  in  the  annual  amount  of  transportation  has  been  only 
about  25  per  cent.,  but  the  annual  expenditure  on  account  of 
the  same  has  been  reduced  35  per  cent.  It  is  manifest,  there 
fore,  that  the  Post  Office  Department  may  become  self-sustain 
ing  in  a  few  years,  even  with  the  restoration  of  the  whole 
service 

The  quantity  of  land  disposed  of  during  the  last  and  the 
first  quarter  of  the  present  fiscal  years  was  3,841,549  acres,  of 
which  161.911  acres  were  sold  for  cash,  1,456,514  acres  were 
taken  up  under  the  homestead  law,  and  the  residue  disposed  of 
under  laws  granting  lands  for  military  bounties,  for  railroad  and 
other  purposes.  It  also  appears  that  the  sale  of  the  public 
lands  is  largely  on  the  increase. 

It  has  long  been  a  cherished  opinion  of  some  of  our  wisest 
statesmen  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  had  a  higher 
and  more  enduring  interest  in  the  early  settlement  and  sub 
stantial  cultivation  of  the  public  lands  than  in  the  amount  of 
direct  revenue  to  be  derived  from  the  sale  of  them.  This  opin 
ion  has  had  a  controlling  influence  in  shaping  legislation  upon 
the  subject  of  our  National  domain.  I  may  cite,  as  evidence 
of  this,  the  liberal  measures  adopted  in  reference  to  actual  set 
tlers  ;  the  grants  to  the  States  of  the  overflowed  lands  within 
their  limits,  in  order  to  their  being  reclaimed  and  rendered  fit  for 
cultivation ;  the  grants  to  railway  companies  of  alternate  sec 
tions  of  land  upon  the  contemplated  lines  of  their  roads,  which, 
when  completed,  will  so  largely  multiply  the  facilities  for  reach 
ing  our  distant  possessions.  This  policy  has  received  its  most 
signal  and  beneficent  illustration  in  the  recent  enactment  grant 
ing  homesteads  to  actual  settlers.  Since  the  1st  day  of  Jan 
uary  last,  the  before-mentioned  quantity  of  1,456,514  acres  of 
land  have  been  taken  up  under  its  provisions.  This  fact  and 
the  amount  of  sales  furnish  gratifying  evidence  of  increasing 
settlement  upon  the  public  lands,  notwithstanding  the  great 
struggle  in  which  the  energies  of  the  Nation  have  been  en- 


470  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

gaged,  and  which  has  required  so  large  a  withdrawal  of  our 
citizens  from  their  accustomed  pursuits 

The  measures  provided  at  your  last  session  for  the  removal 
of  certain  Indian  tribes,  have  been  carried  into  effect.  Sundry 
treaties  have  been  negotiated  which  will,  in  due  time,  be  sub 
mitted  for  the  constitutional  action  of  the  Senate.  They  con 
tain  stipulations  for  extinguishing  the  possessory  rights  of  the 
Indians  to  large  and  valuable  tracts  of  lands.  It  is  hoped  that 
the  effect  of  these  treaties  will  result  in  the  establishment  of 
permanent  friendly  relations  with  such  of  these  tribes  as  have 
been  brought  into  frequent  and  bloody  collision  with  our  out 
lying  settlements  and  emigrants.  Sound  policy  and  our  imper 
ative  duty  to  these  wards  of  the  Government  demand  our 
anxious  and  constant  attention  to  their  material  well-being,  to 
their  progress  in  the  arts  of  civilization,  and  above  all,  to  that 
moral  training  which,  under  the  blessing  of  Divine  Providence, 
will  confer  upon  them  the  elevated  and  sanctifying  influences, 
the  hopes  and  consolations  of  the  Christian  faith 

When  Congress  assembled  a  year  ago,  the  war  had  already 
lasted  nearly  twenty  months  ;  and  there  had  been  many  con 
flicts  on  both  land  and  sea,  with  varying  results.  The  rebel 
lion  had  been  pressed  back  into  reduced  limits ;  yet  the  tone 
of  public  feeling  and  opinion,  at  home  and  abroad,  was  not  sat 
isfactory.  "With  other  signs,  the  popular  elections,  then  just 
past,  indicated  uneasiness  among  ourselves,  while,  amid  much 
that  was  cold  and  menacing,  the  kindest  words  coming  from 
Europe  were  uttered  in  accents  of  pity  that  we  were  too  blind 
to  surrender  a  hopeless  cause.  Our  commerce  was  suffering 
greatly  by  a  few  armed  vessels  built  upon  and  furnished  from 
foreign  shores ;  and  we  were  threatened  with  such  additions 
from  the  same  quarter  as  would  sweep  our  trade  from  the  sea 
and  raise  our  blockade.  We  had  failed  to  elicit  from  European 
Governments  any  thing  hopeful  upon  this  subject.  The  pre 
liminary  Emancipation  Proclamation,  issued  in  September,  was 
running  its  assigned  period  to  the  beginning  of  the  new  year. 
A  month  later  the  final  proclamation  came,  including  the  an 
nouncement  that  colored  men  of  suitable  condition  would  be 
received  into  the  war  service.  The  policy  of  emancipation,  and 
of  employing  black  soldiers,  gave  to  the  future  a  new  aspect, 
about  which  hope  and  fear  and  doubt  contended  in  uncertain 
conflict.  According  to  our  political  system,  as  a  matter  of 
civil  administration,  the  General  Government  had  no  lawful 
power  to  effect  emancipation  in  any  State  ;  and  for  a  long  time 
it  had  been  hoped  that  the  rebellion  could  be  suppressed  with 
out  resorting  to  it  as  a  military  measure.  It  was  all  the  while 
deemed  possible  that  the  necessity  for  it  might  come,  and  that, 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  471 

if  it  should,  the  crisis  of  the  contest  would  then  be  presented. 
It  came,  and  as  was  anticipated,  it  was  followed  by  dark  and 
doubtful  days.  Eleven  months  having  now  passed,  we  are  per 
mitted  to  take  another  review.  The  Rebel  borders  are  pressed 
still  further  back,  and  by  the  complete  opening  of  the  Missis 
sippi  the  country  dominated  by  the  rebellion  is  divided  into 
distinct  parts,  with  no  practical  communication  between  them. 
Tennessee  and  Arkansas  have  been  substantially  cleared  of 
insurgent  control,  and  influential  citizens  in  each,  owners  of 
slaves  and  advocates  of  slavery  at  the  beginning  of  the  rebel 
lion,  now  declare  openly  for  emancipation  in  their  respective 
States.  Of  those  States  not  included  in  the  Emancipation  Proc 
lamation,  Maryland  and  Missouri,  neither  of  which,  three  years 
ago,  would  tolerate  any  restraint  upon  the  extension  of  slavery 
into  new  Territories,  only  dispute  now  as  to  the  best  mode  of 
removing  it  within  their  own  limits. 

Of  those  who  were  slaves  at  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion, 
full  one  hundred  thousand  are  now  in  the  United  States  mili 
tary  service,  about  one-half  of  which  number  actually  bear  arms 
in  the  ranks ;  thus  giving  the  double  advantage  of  taking  so 
much  labor  from  the  insurgent  cause,  and  supplying  the  places 
which  otherwise  must  be  filled  with  so  many  white  men.  So 
far  as  tested,  it  is  difficult  to  say  they  are  not  as  good  soldiers 
as  any.  No  servile  insurrection,  or  tendency  to  violence  or 
cruelty,  has  marked  the  measures  of  emancipation  and  arming 
the  blacks.  These  measures  have  been  much  discussed  in  for 
eign  countries,  and  contemporary  with  such  discussion  the  tone 
of  public  sentiment  there  is  much  improved.  At  home  the 
same  measures  have  been  fully  discussed,  supported,  criticised, 
and  denounced,  and  the  annual  elections  following  are  highly 
encouraging  to  those  whose  official  duty  it  is  to  bear  the  coun 
try  through  this  great  trial.  Thus  we  have  the  new  reckoning. 
The  crisis  which  threatened  to  divide  the  friends  of  the  Union 
is  past. 

Looking  now  to  the  present  and  future,  and  with  reference 
to  a  resumption  of  the  National  authority  within  the  States 
wherein  that  authority  has  been  suspended,  I  have  thought  fit 
to  issue  a  proclamation,  a  copy  of  which  is  herewith  trans 
mitted.  On  examination  of  this  proclamation  it  will  appear,  as 
is  believed,  that  nothing  is  attempted  beyond  what  is  amply 
justified  by  the  Constitution.  True,  the  form  of  an  oath  is 
given,  but  no  man  is  coerced  to  take  it.  The  man  is  only 
promised  a  pardon  in  case  he  voluntarily  takes  the  oath.  The 
Constitution  authorizes  the  Executive  to  grant  or  withhold  the 
pardon  at  his  own  absolute  discretion  j  and  this  includes  the 


472  .      LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

power  to  grant  on  terms,  as  is  fully  established  by  judicial  and 
other  authorities. 

It  is  also  proffered  that  if,  in  any  of  the  States  named,  a  State 
Government  shall  be,  in  the  mode  prescribed,  set  up,  such  Gov 
ernment  shall  be  recognized  and  guaranteed  by  the  United 
States,  and  that  under  it  the  State  shall,  on  the  constitutional 
conditions,  be  protected  against  invasion  and  domestic  violence. 
The  constitutional  obligation  of  the  United  States  to  guarantee 
to  every  State  in  the  Union  a  republican  form  of  government, 
and  to  protect  the  State,  in  the  cases  stated,  is  explicit  and  full. 
But  why  tender  the  benefits  of  this  provision  only  to  a  State 
Government  set  up  in  this  particular  way?  This  section  of 
the  Constitution  contemplates  a  case  wherein  the  element 
within  a  State  favorable  to  republican  government,  in  the  Union, 
may  be  too  feeble  for  an  opposite  and  hostile  element  external 
to  or  even  within  the  State  ;  and  such  are  precisely  the  cases 
with  which  we  are  now  dealing. 

An  attempt  to  guarantee  and  protect  a  revived  State  Govern 
ment,  constructed  in  whole,  or  in  preponderating  part,  from  the 
very  element  against  whose  hostility  and  violence  it  is  to  be 
protected,  is  simply  absurd.  There  must  be  a  test  by  which 
to  separate  the  opposing  element,  so  as  to  build  only  from  the 
sound ;  and  that  test  is  a  sufficiently  liberal  one,  which  accepts 
as  sound  whoever  will  make  a  sworn  recantation  of  his  former 
unsoundness. 

'  But  if  it  be  proper  to  require,  as  a  test  of  admission  to  the 
political  body,  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  the  Union  under  it,  why  also  to  the  laws 
and  proclamations  in  regard  to  slavery?  Those  laws  and  pro 
clamations  were  enacted  and  put  forth  for  the  purpose  of  aid 
ing  in  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion.  To  give  them  their 
fullest  effect,  there  had  to  be  a  pledge  for  their  maintenance. 
In  my  judgment  they  have  aided,  and  will  further  aid,  the 
cause  for  which  they  were  intended.  To  now  abandon  them 
would  be  not  only  to  relinquish  a  lever  of  power,  but  would 
also  be  a  cruel  and  an  astounding  breach  of  faith.  I  may  add 
at  this  point  that,  while  I  remain  in  my  present  position,  I  shall 
not  attempt  to  retract  or  modify  the  Emancipation  Proclama 
tion  ;  nor  shall  I  return  to  slavery  any  person  who  is  free  by 
the  terms  of  that  proclamation,  or  by  any  of  the  acts  of  Con 
gress.  For  these  and  other  reasons,  it  is  thought  best  that 
support  of  these  measures  shall  be  included  in  the  oath  ;  and 
it  is  believed  the  Executive  may  lawfully  claim  it  in  return  for 
pardon  and  restoration  of  forfeited  rights,  which  he  has  clear 
constitutional  power  to  withhold  altogether,  or  grant  upon  the 
terms  which  he  shall  deem  wisest  for  the  public  interest.  It 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  473 

should  be  observed,  also,  that  this  part  of  the  oath  is  subject  to 
the  modifying  and  abrogating  power  of  legislation  and  supreme 
judicial  decision. 

The  proposed  acquiescence  of  the  National  Executive  in  any 
reasonable  temporary  State  arrangement  for  the  freed  people,  is 
made  with  the  view  of  possibly  modifying  the  confusion  and 
destitution  which  must,  at  best,  attend  all  classes  by  a  total 
revolution  of  labor  throughout  whole  States.  It  is  hoped  that 
the.already  deeply  afflicted  people  in  those  States  may  be  some 
what  more  ready  to  give  up  the  cause  of  their  affliction,  if,  to 
this  extent,  this  vital  matter  be  left  to  themselves ;  while  no 
power  of  the  National  Executive  to  prevent  an  abuse,  is  abridged 
by  the  proposition. 

The  suggestion  in  the  proclamation  as  to  maintaining  the 
political  framework  of  the  States  on  what  is  called  reconstruc 
tion,  is  made  in  the  hope  that  it  may  do  good  without  danger 
of  harm.  It  will  save  labor,  and  avoid  great  confusion. 

But  why  any  proclamation  now  upon  this  subject?  This 
question  is  beset  with  the  conflicting  views  that  the  step  might 
be  delayed  too  long  or  be  taken  too  soon.  In  some  States  the 
elements  for  resumption  seem  ready  for  action,  but  remain 
inactive,  apparently  for  want  of  a  rallying  point — a  plan  of 
action.  Why  shall  A  adopt  the  plan  of  B,  rather  than  B  that 
of  A?  And  if  A  and  B  should  agree,  how  can  they  know  but 
that  the  General  Government  here  will  reject  their  plan  ?  By 
the  proclamation  a  plan  is  presented  which  may  be  accepted  by 
them  as  a  rallying  point,  and  which  they  are  assured  in  advance 
will  not  be  rejected  here.  This  may  bring  them  to  act  sooner 
than  they  otherwise  would. 

The  objection  to  a  premature  presentation  of  a  plan  by  the 
National  Executive  consists  in  the  danger  of  committals  on 
points  which  could  be  more  safely  left  to  further  developments. 
Care  has  been  taken  to  so  shape  the  document  as  to  avoid  efn- 
barrassments  from  this  source.  Saying  that,  on  certain  terms, 
certain  classes  will  be  pardoned,  with  rights  restored,  it  is  not 
said  that  other  classes  or  other  terms  will  never  be  included. 
Saying  that  reconstruction  will  be  accepted,  if  presented  in  a 
specified  way,. it  is  not  said  it  will  never  Be  accepted  in  any 
other  way. 

The  movements,  by  State  action,  for  emancipation  in  several 
of  the  States,  not  included  in  the  Emancipation  Proclamation, 
are  matters  of  profound  gratulation.  And  while  I  do  not 
repeat  in  detail  what  I  have  heretofore  so  earnestly  urged  upon 
this  subject,  my  general  views  and  feelings  remain  unchanged ; 
and  I  trust  that  Congress  will  omit  no  fair  opportunity  of  aid 
ing  these  important  steps  to  a  great  consummation. 


474  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

In  the  midst  of  other  cares,  however  important,  we  must  not 
lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  war  power  is  still  our  main  reli 
ance.  To  that  power  alone  can  we  look,  yet  for  a  time,  to  give 
confidence  to  the  people  in  the  contested  regions  that  the  insur 
gent  power  will  not  again  overrun  them.  Until  that  confi 
dence  shall  be  established,  little  can  be  done  any-where  for  what 
is  called  reconstruction.  Hence  our  chiefest  care  must  still  be 
directed  to  the  Army  and  Navy,  who  have  thus  far  borne  their 
harder  part  so  nobly  and  well.  And  it  may  be  esteemed  fortu 
nate  that  in  giving  the  greatest  efficiency  to  these  indispensable 
arms,  we  do  also  honorably  recognize  the  gallant  men,  from 
commander  to  sentinel,  who  compose  them,  and  to  whom,  more 
than  to  others,  the  world  must  stand  indebted  for  the  home  of 
freedom  disinthralled,  regenerated,  enlarged,  and  perpetuated. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

DECEMBER  8,  1863. 

During  its  first  session,  the  President  found  in  this  Congress 
the  ready  cooperation  he  needed  in  all  measures  for  the  prose 
cution  of  the  war.  A  system  of  direct  taxation,  affording  a 
firm  basis  for  all  Government  securities,  and  insuring  against 
financial  disaster,  was  carefully  matured  and  passed.  The 
enactments  required  to  carry  out  the  policy  of  the  distinguished 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  to  sustain  his  earnest  efforts, 
hitherto  successful,  to  meet  all  the  pressing  demands  upon  the 
National  exchequer,  received  the  necessary  attention.  A  con 
trolling  desire  to  further  the  energetic  exertions  of  the  Gov 
ernment  in  preparing  for  the  grand  struggle  with  rebellion  in 
its  last  desperate  campaign,  as  hoped,  was  so  manifested  in  the 
action  of  both  Houses  as  to  inspire  the  country  with  confidence 
in  a  speedy  and  favorable  issue  of  the  war. 

The  improved  temper  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  as 
compared  even  with  that  of  the  preceding  one,  was  seen  in  its 
severe  and  indignant  censure  of  the  Secessionist,  Harris,  of 
Maryland,  (whose  expulsion  was  voted  by  a  decided  majority 
of  the  members,  failing  of  the  requisite  two-thirds  only  by  the 
recusancy  of  Democrats  professedly  loyal,)  and  of  his  sympa 
thizing  coadjutor,  Alexander  Long,  of  Ohio,  both  declared 
"  unworthy  members  "  of  that  body.  It  will  be  borne  in  mind 
that  Vallandigham,  of  whom  Long  was  but  a  docile  disciple, 
habitually  belched  his  treasonable  sentiments  in  the  previous 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  475 

House  without  official  rebuke";  and  that  traitors,  like  Burnett,  of 
Kentucky,  and  Reid,  of  Missouri,  retained  their  seats  therein 
through  the  extra  session,  going  directly  after  into  the  Rebel 
military  or  civil  service.  Toleration  to  treason  in  utterance 
was  now  no  longer  a  virtue. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  session,  Mr.  Washburne,  of  Illinois, 
offered  a  joint  resolution,  reviving  the  rajik  of  Lieutenant 
General  in  the  army.  This  resolution  was  adopted  by  both 
Houses  in  the  last  days  of  February,  and  was  approved  by  the 
President.  All  eyes  were  now  turned  upon  Gen.  Ulysses  S. 
Grant,  the  hero  of  so  many  victories,  who  was  seen  to  be,  if  not 
the  most  earnest  and  the  most  unselfish,  at  least  the  most  suc 
cessful,  commander  in  a  war,  in  which  so  many  officers  had 
Tfon  a  high  place  in  popular  regard,  as  the  fit  person  to  receive 
this  chief  honor,  with  its  immense  responsibilities.  The  Presi 
dent  immediately  nominated  Gen.  Grant  as  Lieutenant  Gene 
ral,  and  he  was  unanimously  confirmed,  on  the  2d  day  of 
March,  by  the  Senate.  Having  been  called  to  Washington 
without  delay,  he  received  his  commission  with  a  rare  modesty, 
and  at  once  proceeded  to  organize  a  grand  campaign,  embracing 
the  armies  of  the  East  and  the  West  in  a  combined  effort  for 
their  closing  work. 

In  intrusting  this  great  power  to  Lieut. -Gen.  Grant,  the 
direction  of  military  affairs  was  limited  by  no  hampering  con 
ditions.  The  entire  forces  of  the  country,  with  such  subordi 
nates  and  such  preparations  as  he  chose  to  ask,  were  freely 
placed  at  his  disposal. 

The  Lieutenant  General  had  not  only  heartily  supported  the 
Administration  in  its  endeavors  to  put  down,  by  vigorous 
attacks,  a  wantonly  wicked  insurrection,  but  he  had  emphati 
cally  expressed,  in  his  correspondence,  his  personal  approval 
of  the  President's  policy  of  emancipation  and  of  enrolling  col 
ored  soldiers  in  the  armies  of  the  Government. 

Earlier  movements  in   Florida  and   in  Louisiana,   already 
undertaken,  afforded  no  very  auspicious  opening  to  the  cam 
paigning  season  ;  Fort  Pillow  on  the  Mississippi  and  Plymouth 
in  North  Carolina  were  captured  by  the  Rebels,  followed  by 
massacres  unparalleled  in  barbarism  by  the  acts  of  any  profes- 


476  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

sedly  civilized  people  since  the  darkest  ages ;  but  the  grand 
armies  of  Eastern  Tennessee  and  in  Virginia,  heavily  increased 
in  strength  by  new  levies  and  by  the  withdrawal  of  troops  from 
positions  in  which  their  action  could  not  be  effective  in  exe 
cuting  the  intended  advance  upon  the  great  central  points  of 
the  rebellion,  were  put  in  condition  for  striking  the  last  mortal 
blows  upon  a  tottering  conspiracy,  too  long  suffered  to  gather 
hope  from  the  delay  of  retribution  on  its  crimes. 

The  following  speech,  delivered  by  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  18th 
of  April,  1864,  at  a  fair  held  in  Baltimore  for  the  benefit  of  the 
United  States  Sanitary  Commission,  is  particularly  suggestive, 
in  regard  to  the  date,  place,  and  occasion  of  its  delivery.  On 
his  way  to  Washington,  in  February,  1861,  he  passed  through 
the  city  of  Baltimore  incognito^  to  escape  from  a  plot  of  assas 
sination,  of  which  he  had  been  forewarned.  On  the  19th  of 
April,  in  the  same  year,  the  blood  of  loyal  soldiers,  on  march- 
Ing  to  protect  the  National  Capital,  had  flowed  in  the  streets 
of  that  city.  He  now  stood  before  an  immense  throng  in  the 
same  city,  on  the  anniversary  eve  of  the  assault  upon  those 
soldiers,  at  the  Mr  in  aid  of  an  organization  for  the  benefit  of 
Union  soldiers  every-where.  He  spoke,  too,  of  slavery,  and 
was  loudly  cheered  when  he  referred  to  the  practically  accom 
plished  annihilation  of  that  institution  in  Maryland.  He  even 
took  this  opportunity — the  first  public  occasion  presented — to 
announce  his  determined  purpose  of  enforcing  retaliation  (long 
before  enjoined  on  the  army  by  special  orders)  for  the  crime, 
then  just  perpetrated,  of  massacreing  the  colored  garrison  of 
Fort  Pillow,  refusing  quarter. 

The  report  of  this  speech,  as  it  appeared  in  the  Baltimore 
journals  at  the  time,  is  here  given : 

After  the  cheering  had  ended,  and  after,  with  great  exer 
tions,  order  had  been  secured — every  body  being  anxious  to  seo 
the  President — he  said,  substantially: 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  Calling  it  to  mind  that  we  are  in 
Baltimore,  we  can  not  fail  to  note  that  the  world  moves.  [Ap 
plause.]  Looking  upon  the  many  people  I  see  assembled  here 
to  serve  as  they  best  may  the  soldiers  of  the  Union,  it  occurs 
to'  me  that  three  years  ago  those  soldiers  could  not  pass  through 
Baltimore.  I  would  say,  blessings  upon  the  men  who  have 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  477 

ipought  these  changes,  and  the  ladies  who  have  assisted  them. 
T&pplause.]  This  change  which  has  taken  place  in  Baltimore, 
«<nf  part  only  of  a  far  wider  change  that  is  taking  place  all  over 
,the  country. 

When  the  war  commenced,  three  years  ago,  no  one  expected 
that  it  would  last  this  long,  and  no  one  supposed  that  the  in 
stitution  of  slavery  would  be  materially  affected  by  it.  But 
here  we  are.  The  war  is  not  yet  ended,  and  slavery  has  been 
very  materially  affected  or  interfered  with.  [Loud  applause.] 
80  true  is  it  that  man  proposes  and  God  disposes. 

The  world  is  in  want  of  a  good  definition  of  the  word  liberty. 
We  all  declare  ourselves  to  be  for  liberty,  but  we  do  not  all 
mean  the  same  thing.  Some  mean  that  a  man  can  do  as  he 
•pleases  with  himself  and  his  property.  With  others,  it  means 
that  some  men  can  do  as  they  please  with  other  men  and  other 
men's  labor.  Each  of  these  things  are  called  liberty,  although 
they  are  entirely  different.  To  give  an  illustration :  A  shep 
herd  drives  the  wolf  from  the  throat  of  his  sheep  when  attacked 
by  him,  and  the  sheep,  of  course,  thanks  the  shepherd  for  the 
preservation  of  his  life  ;  but  the  wolf  denounces  him  as  despoil 
ing  the  sheep  of  his  liberty — especially  if  it  be  a  black  sheep. 
[Applause.] 

This  same  difference  of  opinion  prevails  among  some  of  the 
people  of  the  North.  But  the  people  of  Maryland  have  re 
cently  been  doing  something  to  properly  define  the  meaning  of 
the  word,  and  I  thank  them  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  for 
what  they  have  done  and  are  doing.  [Applause.] 

It  is  not  very  becoming  for  a  President  to  make  a  speech  at 
great  length,  but  there  is  a  painful  rumor  afloat  in  the  country, 
in  reference  to  which  a  few  words  shall  be  said.  It  is  reported 
that  there  has  been  a  wanton  massacre  of  some  hundreds  of  col 
ored  soldiers  at  Fort  Pillow,  Tennessee,  during  a  recent  engage 
ment  there,  and  it  is  fit  to  explain  some  facts  in  relation  to 
the  affair.  It  is  said  by  some  persons  that  the  Government  is 
not,  in  this  matter,  doing  its  duty.  At  the  commencement  of 
the  war,  it  was  doubtful  whether  black  men  would  be  used  as 
soldiers  or  not.  The  matter  was  examined  into  very  carefully, 
and  after  mature  deliberation,  the  whole  matter  resting  as  it 
were  with  himself,  he,  in  his  judgment,  decided  that  they 
should.  [Applause.] 

He  was  responsible  for  the  act  to  the  American  people,  to  a 
Christian  nation,  to  the  future  historian,  and,  above  all,  to  his 
God,  to  whom  he  would  have,  one  day,  to  render  an  account  of 
his  stewardship.  He  would  now  say  that  in  his  opinion  the 
black  soldier  should  have  the  same  protection  as  the  white  sol 
dier,  and  he  would  have  it.  [Applause.]  It  was  an  error  to 


478  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

say  that  the  Government  was  not  acting  in  the  matter.  The 
Government  has  no  direct  evidence  to  confirm  the  reports  in 
existence  relative  to  this  massacre,  but  he  himself  believed  the 
facts  in  relation  to  it  to  be  as  stated.  When  the  Government 
does  know  the  facts  from  official  sources,  and  they  prove  to 
substantiate  the  reports,  retribution  will  be  surely  given. 
[Applause.] 

A  month  earlier,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  made  the  following  happy 
response  to  a  call  of  the  assembled  multitude  at  a  fair,  for  sim 
ilar  objects,  held  in  Washington  : 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  I  appear,  to  say  but  a  word. 
This  extraordinary  war  in  which  we  are  engaged  falls  heavily 
upon  all  classes  of  people,  but  the  most  heavily  upon  the  sol 
dier.  For  it  has  been  said,  all  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give 
for  his  life ;  and,  while  all  contribute  of  their  substance,  the 
soldier  puts  his  life  at  stake,  and  often  yields  it  up  in  his  coun 
try's  cause.  The  highest  merit,  then,  is  due  to  the  soldier. 

In  this  extraordinary  war,  extraordinary  developments  have 
manifested  themselves,  such  as  have  not  been  seen  in  former 
wars ;  and  among  these  manifestations  nothing  has  been  more 
remarkable  than  these  fairs  for  the  relief  of  suffering  soldiers 
and  their  families.  And  the  chief  agents  in  these  fairs  are  the 
women  of  America.  I  am  not  accustomed  to  the  use  of  the 
language  of  eulogy  ;  I  have  never  studied  the  art  of  paying 
compliments  to  women ;  but  I  must  say  that,  if  all  that  has 
been  said  by  orators  and  poets,  since  the  creation  of  the  world, 
in  praise  of  women,  were  applied  to  the  women  of  America,  it 
would  not  do  them  justice  for  their  conduct  during  this  war. 
I  will  close  by  saying,  God  bless  the  women  of  America ! 
[Great  applause.] 

The  spring  elections  of  1864,  in  New  Hampshire,  Connect 
icut  and  Rhode  Island,  showed  still  more  decidedly  than  those 
of  the  previous  year,  that  the  Administration  had  become 
strong  in  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  people.  That  this 
gratifying  result  had  a  direct  relation  to  Mr.  Lincoln  in  per 
son,  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  the  Administration  party  in  each 
of  those  States,  had  committed  itself,  without  dissent,  in  favor 
of  his  reelection,  making  this  a  distinct  issue  of  the  canvass. 
In  twelve  other  States,  nearly  at  the  same  time,  the  popular 
voice,  as  declared  through  State  Conventions  or  Legislatures, 
demanded,  with  like  unanimity  and  enthusiasm,  that  Mr.  Lin- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  479 

coin  should  continue  in  the  Presidency  for  another  term.  A 
similar  current  of  opinion  was  seen  to  exist  in  every  other 
loyal  State.  Since  the  celebrated  "  era  of  good  feeling,"  in 
the  days  of  President  Monroe,  this  manifestation  of  popular 
sentiment  has  had  no  parallel.  Abroad,  too,  no  less  than  at 
home,  the  true  friends  of  our  Government  have  almost  univer 
sally  looked  upon  the  reelection  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  under  the 
present  circumstances  of  the  country,  as  the  manifest  interest 
and  duty  of  the  American  people. 

The  policy  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Administration  has  been  fully 
set  forth  in  his  own  words.  No  dissembling,  no  insincerity, 
gives  the  least  false  tinge  to  any  of  his  public  papers  or  ad 
dresses.  This  outspoken,  frank,  confiding  way  of  his,  has  given 
him  a  hold  upon  the  popular  heart,  and  upon  the  love  of  all 
true  men,  such  as  few  statesmen  have  ever  had.  "  Honesty"  is 
the  word  which  has  been  commonly  used  in  speaking  of  this 
trait — coupled  with  a  sterling  integrity  that  excludes  all  selfish 
and  sinister  ends  ;  yet  it  is  something  more,  as  the  Golden  Rule 
has  a  wider  scope  than  simple  justice.  He  not  only  really  be 
lieves  in  the  right  and  the  true  as  infinitely  preferable  to  the 
wrong  and  the  false,  both  in  means  and  in  end,  but  he  is  also 
sure  that  the  people  have  the  same  pure  faith,  and  will  judge 
him  with  that  degree  of  candor  which  he  uses  in  unfolding  to 
them  his  purposes  and  his  thoughts.  The  spirit  of  that  Diplo 
macy  which  conceals,  and  feigns,  and  doubles,  and  deceives, 
never  for  a  moment  darkened  his  mind. 

'  Of  necessity,  the  questions  relating  to  slavery  and  the  Afri 
can  element  of  our  population,  have  occupied  the  foremost 
ground  during  all  this  great  struggle,  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  has 
been  called  to  lead  the  organized  action  of  the  nation.  His 
whole  policy  on  this  general  subject,  and  a  concise  history  of 
his  action  and  of  the  processes  of  his  mind  thereon,  are  set 
forth,  with  admirable  frankness  and  precision,  in  the  following 
letter  to  a  gentleman  in  Kentucky: 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 

WASHINGTON,  April  4,  1864. 

A.  G.  HODGES,  Esq.,  Frankfort,  Ky. — My  Dear  Sir:  You 

ask  me  to  put  in  writing  the  substance  of  what  I  verbally  said, 


480  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

the  other  day,  in  your  presence,  to  Gov.  Bramlette  and  Senator 
Dixon.      It  was  about  as  follows  : 

I  am  naturally  anti-slavery.  If  slavery  is  not  wrong,  noth 
ing  is  wrong.  I  can  not  remember  when  I  did  not  sc  think 
and  feel.  And  yet,  I  have  never  understood  that  the  Presi 
dency  conferred  upon  me  an  unrestricted  right  to  act  officially 
upon  this  judgment  and  feeling.  It  waa  in  the  oath  I  took, 
that  I  would,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect,  and 
defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  I  could  not  take 
the  office  without  taking  the  oath.  Nor  was  it  my  view,  that  I 
might  take  an  oath  to  get  power,  and  break  the  oath  in  using 
the  power.  I  understood,  too,  that,  in  ordinary  civil  adminis 
tration,  this  oath  even  forbade  me  to  practically  indulge  my 
primary,  abstract  judgment,  on  the  moral  question  of  slavery. 
I  had  publicly  declared  this  many  times,  and  in  many  ways. 
And  I  aver  that,  to  this  day,  I  have  done  no  official  act  in  mere 
deference  to  my  abstract  judgment  and  feeling  on  slavery. 

I  did  understand,  however,  that  my  oath  to  preserve  the 
Constitution  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  imposed  upon  mt  the 
duty  of  preserving,  by  every  indispensable  means,  that  Gov 
ernment — that  Nation — of  which  that  Constitution  was  the 
organic  law.  Was  it  possible  to  lose  the  Nation,  and  yet  pre 
serve  the  Constitution  ? 

By  general  law,  life  and  limb  must  be  protected  ;  yet  often 
a  limb  must'be  amputated  to  save  a  life;  but  a  life  is  never 
wisely  given  to  save  a  limb.  I  feel  that  measures,  otherwise 
unconstitutional,  might  become  lawful,  by  becoming  indispens 
able  to  the  preservation  of  the  Constitution,  through  the  pre 
servation  of  the  Nation.  Right  or  wrong,  I  assumed  this 
ground,  and  now  avow  it.  I  could  not  feel  that  to  the  best  of 
my  ability  I  had  even  tried  to  preserve  the  Constitution,  if  to 
save  slavery  or  any  minor  matter,  I  should  permit  the-  wreck 
of  Government,  Country  and  Constitution,  all  together.  When 
early  in  the  war,  Gen.  Fromo-nt  attempted  military  emancipa 
tion,  I  forbade  it,  because  I  did  not  then  think  it  an  indis 
pensable  necessity.  When  a  little  later,  Gen.  Cameron,  then 
Secretary  of  War,  suggested  the  arming  of  the  blacks,  I 
objected,  because  I  did  not  yet  think  it  an  indispensable  neces 
sity.  When,  still  later,  Gen.  Hunter  attempted  military  eman 
cipation,  I  again  forbade  it,  because  I  did  not  yet  think  the 
indispensable  necessity  had  come. 

When,  in  March,  and  May,  and  July,  1862,  I  made  earnest 
and  successive  appeals  to  the  Border  States  to  favor  compen 
sated  emancipation,  I  believed  the  indispensable  necessity  for 
military  emancipation  and  arming  the  blacks  would  come 
unless  averted  by  that  measure.  They  declined  the  propose 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  481 

tion,  and  I  was,  in  my  best  judgment,  driven  to  the  alternative 
of  either  surrendering,  the  Union,  and  with  it  the  Constitution, 
or  of  laying  strong  hand  upon  the  colored  element.  I  chose  the 
latter.  In  choosing  it,  I  hoped  for  greater  gain  than  loss  ;  but 
of  this  I  was  not  entirely  confident.  More  than  a  year  of  trial 
now  shows  no  loss  by  it,  in  our  foreign  relations  ;  none  in  our 
home  popular  sentiment :  none  in  our  white  military  force— no 
loss  by  it  anyhow  or  any-where.  On  the  contrary,  it  shows  a 
gain  of  quite  a  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  soldiers,  seamen, 
and  laborers.  These  are  palpable  facts,  about  which,  as  facts, 
there  can  be  no  caviling.  We  have  the  men,  and  we  could  not 
have  had  them  without  the  measure. 

And  now  let  any  Union  man  who  complains  of  the  measure, 
test  himself,  by  writing  down  in  one  line  that  he  is  for  subdu 
ing  the  rebellion  by  force  of  arms,  and  in  the  next  that  he  is 
for  taking  these  130,000  men  from  the  Union  side,  and  placing 
them  where  they  would  be,  but  for  the  measure  he  condemns. 
If  he  can  not  face  his  cause  so  stated,  it  is  only  because  he  can 
not  face  the  truth. 

I  add  a  word,  which  was  not  in  the  verbal  conversation.  In 
telling  this  tale,  I  attempt  no  compliment  to  my  own  sagacity. 
I  claim  not  to  have  controlled  events,  but  confess  plainly  that 
events  have  controlled  me.  Now,  at  the  end  of  three  years' 
struggle,  the  Nation's  condition  is  not  what  either  party  or  any 
man  devised  or  expected.  God  alone  can  claim  it.  Whither 
it  is  tending,  seems  plain.  If  God  now  wills  the  removal  of 
a  great  wrong,  and  wills  also  that  we  of  the  North,  as  well  as 
you  of  the  South,  shall  pay  fairly  for  our  complicity  in  that 
wrong,  impartial  history  will  find  therein  new  cause  to  attest 
and  revere  the  justice  and  goodness  of  God. 

Yours,  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

^  When  Mr.  Lincoln's  determination  to  employ  negro  soldiers 
first  became  publicly  known,  it  encountered  "  conservative " 
opposition  in  the  loyal  States.  To  many,  even,  who  hoped 
success  from  this  movement,  it  was  a  doubtful  experiment. 
The  results  shown  in  the  foregoing  letter,  leave  this  no  longer 
an  open  question.  Prejudice  has  given  way  before  demon 
strated  fact,  until  soldiers  in  the  field  and  citizens  at  home  now 
welcome  the  aid  of  this  immense  power,  wrested  from  the 
enemy  and  added  to  the  loyal  armies. 

The  arch  conspirator  at  Richmond  had  the  sagacity  to  see 
that  serious  consequences  were  involved  in  this  policy.  Resort 
ing  to  the  methods  so  long  potent  with  the  men  of  his  class,  and 


482  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

seemingly  forgetful,  for  the  moment,  that  they  were  not  still 
equally  available,  he  fulminated  a  threatening  edict,  designed 
to  arrest  this  work  by  intimidation.  It  was  plainly  indicated 
that  neither  black  soldiers  nor  their  white  officers  need  claim  any 
of  the  immunities  recognized  under  the  laws  of  war.  This  was 
emphatically  met  by  the  President,  in  the  only  possible  way, 
by  orders  for  retaliation,  issued  to  our  armies. 

General  Order,  No.  100,  under  'date  of  April  24,  1863,  pro 
mulgating  general  instructions  for  the  government  of  our  armies, 
"  previously  approved  by  the  President,"  contain  the  following 
directions,  specially  enjoining  the  protection  of  colored  troops: 

The  law  of  nations  knows  of  no  distinction  of  color,  and*  if 
an  enemy  of  the  United  States  should  enslave  and  sell  any 
captured  persons  of  their  army,  it  would  be  a  case  for  the 
severest  retaliation,  if  not  redressed  upon  complaint.  The 
United  States  can  not  retaliate  by  enslavement ;  therefore,  death 
must  be  the  retaliation  for  this  crime  against  the  law  of  nations, 

All  troops  of  the  enemy  known  or  discovered  to  give  no 
quarter  in  general,  or  to  any  portion  of  the  army,  receive  none. 

Mr.  Lincoln  made  these  instructions  more  explicit  and  direct, 
in  the  following  order  issued  by  himself  as  Commander-in- 
Chief,  and  communicated  to  the  entire  Army,  referring  to  this 
subject  alone : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         \ 
WASHINGTON,  July  30,  1863.  J 

It  is  the  duty  of  every  Government  to  give  protection  to  its 
citizens,  of  whatever  class,  color  or  condition,  and  especially  to 
those  who  are  duly  organized  as  soldiers  in  the  public  service. 
The  law  of  Nations,  and  the  usages  and  customs  of  war,  as 
carried  on  by  civilized  powers,  permit  no  distinction  as  to  color 
in  the  treatment  of  prisoners  of  war  as  public  enemies.  To 
sell  or  enslave  any  captured  person,  on  account  of  his  color, 
and  for  no  offense  against  the  laws  of  war,  is  a  relapse  into 
barbarism,  and  a  crime  against  the  civilization  of  the  age. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  will  give  the  same 
protection  to  all  its  soldiers ;  and  if  the  enemy  shall  sell  or 
enslave  any  one  because  of  his  color,  the  offense  shall  be  pun 
ished  by  retaliation  upon  the  enemy's  prisoners  in  our  possession. 

It  is  therefore  ordered,  that  for  every  soldier  of  the  United 
States  killed  in  violation  of  the  laws  of  war,  a  Rebel  soldier 
shall  be  executed  ;  and  for  every  one  enslaved  by  the  enemy  of 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  483 

sold  into  slavery,  a  Rebel  soldier  shall  be  placed  at  hard  labor 
on  the  public  works,  and  continued  at  such  labor  until  the 
other  shall  be  released  and  receive  the  treatment  <lue  to  a  pris 
oner  of  war.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

How  completely  the  Administration  has  been  able,  under  the 
often  critical  and  complicated  situations  resulting  from  an  ex 
tended  blockade  of  our  coast,  from  a  premature  concession  of 
belligerent  rights  to  armed  Rebels  by  leading  powers  of  Europe, 
from  the  constant  and  crafty  efforts  of  Secession  emissaries  to 
secure  a  recognition  of  the  so-called  Confederacy  by  those 
powers,  and  from  all  the  incidents  of  an  unprecedented  civil 
war,  necessarily  affecting  our  foreign  relations  in  various  ways, 
to  maintain  peace  with  other  nations,  can  not  be  lost  sight  of 
in  the  excitement  of  military  events  at  home.  The  value  of 
this  successful  pacific  policy — which  has  been  attended  by  an 
increase  rather  than  a  diminution  of  respect  abroad — can  not 
be  too  highly  estimated. 

Not  less  conspicuous  is  the  success  which  has  attended  the 
financial  policy  of  the  Government.  This  is,  indeed,  a  marvel 
which  would  have  hardly  been  credited  in  advance  as  possible, 
witn  the  prospect  of  a  war  lengthened  out  beyond  the  period 
of  three  years,  and  calling  into  the  service  a  million  and  a  half  of 
men,  with  all  the  attendant  expenditures.  To-day,  however,  Gov 
ernment  securities  are  firm ;  no  one  doubts  the  full  payment  of 
every  dollar  of  the  public  indebtedness;  every  new  loan  is  speed 
ily  taken;  and  no  adjusted  claim  has  long  to  await  liquidation. 

The  operations  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  related  in  only  the 
merest  summary  of  the  more  prominent  events,  and  necessarily 
excluding  more  than  an  allusion  to  much  that  would  have  re 
quired  volumes  to  detail  at  large,  have  engrossed  a  great  por 
tion  of  the  preceding  pages.  Could  exact  justice  be  done  in 
such  a  narrative,  as  affecting  both  these  branches  of  the  service, 
it  would  clearly  appear  that  neither  has  been  wanting  in  effi 
cient  executive  management,  or  in  its  proper  share  of  the  great 
work  already  accomplished.  On  these  two  strong  arms  of  war, 
now  so  organized  by  the  President  as  to  secure  universal 
confidence,  must  mainly  depend  the  future  issues  of  the  great 
conflict. 


PA.RT    III. 


CHAPTER  I. 

A  new  Epoch  of  the  War. — Lieutenant-Gencral  Grant  in  the  East.— 
Campaign  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  from  the  Rapidan  to  Peters 
burg. — The  Wilderness. — Spottsylvania  Court  House. — The  North 
Anna. — Cold  Harbor. — Across  the  James — Sheridan's  Grand  Raid. — 
Sigei  and  Hunter  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley. — The  Army  of  the 
James. — Averill  and  Crook  in  South-western  Virginia. — Combined 
Armies  before  Petersburg. 

THE  epoch  with  which  the  third  and  last  period  of  the  life 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  opens,  in  these  pages,  was  one  of  grave 
interest  to  the  nation.  To  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion,  and  to 
its  friends  at  home  and  abroad,  it  was  a  time  of  hope.  To  the 
true  men  of  the  nation,  the  trust  in  an  ultimate  and  signal  tri 
umph  was  shadowed  by  the  dread  of  a  more  wearisome  pro 
traction  of  the  sanguinary  strife  than  was  earlier  looked  for. 
The  President,  firm  as  ever  in  faith,  earnest  as  ever  in  effort, 
anxiously  watched  the  reorganization  and  remarshaling  of  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  brave  men  now  placed  under  the 
control  of  the  new  general-in-chief.  Not  presuming  to  hope 
for  an  easy  triumph  in  the  coming  renewal  of  battle,  he  took 
care  that  Grant  should  lack  nothing  he  required,  whether  men 
or  materials  of  war,  in  order  that,  .without  hindrance  of  any 
sort,  he  might  be  able  to  inflict  mortal  blows  upon  armed  trea 
son.  A  new  call  for  two  hundred  thousand  men  had  been 
made  on  the  15th  of  March,  and  the  hearty  response  of  the 
several  States  was  already  furnishing  constant  accessions  to 
swell  the  Union  armies. 

The  main  campaigns  of  the  year  1864  were  to  be  made  by 

the  two   grand  armies  in  the  East  and  the  West,  under  the 

respective    commands   of   Maj.-Gens.    Meade    and    Sherman. 

It  was  with  the  latter  of  these  armies  that  the  Lieutenant-Gen- 

435 


486  LIFE    Or    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

eral,  prior  to  his  last  promotion,  had  exclusively  served.  He 
now  joined  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  giving  special  direction 
to  its  movements,  while  controlling  the  entire  combinations  of 
the  various  national  forces.  Widely  separated  as  was  the  one 
main  Army  from  the  other,  their  advance  was  to  be  nearly  sim 
ultaneous,  and  their  movements  were  to  be  co-operative  and 
convergent. 

The  chief  work  to  be  accomplished,  manifestly,  was  the 
destruction  of  the  veteran  insurgent  army  under  Lee.  This 
army,  sometimes  successful,  sometimes  beaten,  constantly  re 
newed  and  skillfully  commanded,  had  with  its  friends  a  bril 
liant  prestige.  It  was  the  main  stay  of  the  rebellion,  the  chief 
hope  of  the  Richmond  conspirators.  Twice  it  had  driven  in 
the  Union  forces  of  the  East  upon  the  national  capital.  Twice 
it  had  invaded  the  States  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  plun 
dering  and  destroying ;  retiring  with  only  such  losses  as  were 
readily  repaired.  And  after  three  years  of  severe  conflict,  it 
still  held,  in  perhaps  more  formidable  power  than  ever,  the 
south  bank  of  the  Rapidan  and  the  lower  Rappahannock. 
With  his  headquarters  at  Orange  Court  House,  and  his  army 
behind  the  defenses  of  Mine  llun,  Lee  tenaciously  held,  on  the 
1st  of  May,  the  position  from  which  Gen.  Meade  had  vainly 
advanced  to  dislodge  him  on  the  1st  of  December  previous, 
prior  to  going  into  winter  quarters  at  Stevensburg. 

During  the  month  of  April,  Gen.  Grant  was  occupied  with 
the  work  of  augmenting  and  reorganizing  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  and  of  making  the  necessary  preparations  for  an 
active  campaign.  If  Lee  had  contemplated  an  aggressive 
movement  northward,  his  purpose  was  anticipated  by  the  prompt 
action  of  the  new  commander  confronting;;  him.  The  Ninth 

o 

Army  Corps,  under  Gen.  Burnside,  including  several  colored 
regiments,  had  rendezvoused  at  Annapolis,  as  if  intended  for 
some  separate  movement  southward.  During  the  last  week  of 
April,  this  force  was  expeditiously  marched  through  Washing 
ton — where  it  was  reviewed  by  the  President  as  it  passed — to 
Bwell  the  main  body  now  lying  between  the  upper  Rappahan 
nock  and  the  Rapidan.  This  large  corps  had  as  yet  hardly 
reached  the  front,  when  the  general  advance  commenced  in 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  487 

earnest.     In  a  stirring  order  of  the  4th  of  May,  as  the  move 
ment  began,  Gen.  Meade  said  to  the  army: 

You  have  been  reorganized,  strengthened  and  fully  equipped 
in  every  respect.  You  form  a  part  of  the  several  armies  of 
your  country,  the  whole  under  the  direction  of  an  able  and 
distinguished  general  who  enjoys  the  confidence  of  the  Gov 
ernment,  the  people  and  the  army. 

Your  movement  being  in  co-operation  with  others,  it  is  of 
the  utmost  importance  that  no  effort  should  be  left  unspared 
to  make  it  successful. 

Soldiers,  the  eyes  of  the  whole  country  are  looking  with 
anxious  hope  to  the  blow  you  are  about  to  strike  in  the  most 
sacred  cause  that  ever  called  men  to  arms  !  Remember  your 
homes,  your  wives  and  children,  and  bear  in  mind  that  the 
sooner  your  enemies  are  conquered,  the  sooner  you  will  be 
returned  to  enjoy  the  benefits  and  blessings  of  peace  ! 

Bear  with  patience  the  hardships  and  sacrifices  you  will  be 
called  upon  to  endure.  Have  confidence  in  your  officers  and 
in  each  other.  Keep  your  ranks  on  the  march  and  on  the 
battle-field,  and  let  each  man  earnestly  implore  God's  blessing, 
and  endeavor  by  his  thoughts  and  actions  to  render  himself 
worthy  the  favor  he  seeks. 

The  main  army,  as  reorganized  after  the  appointment  of 
Lieut.-Gen.  Grant,  consisted  of  the  Second,  Fifth  and  Sixth 
Army  Corps,  respectively  commanded  by  Maj.-Gens.  Hancock, 
"Warren  and  Sedgwick.  Among  the  division  commanders  were, 
in  the  Second  Corps,  Gens.  Barlow,  Gibbons,  Birney,  and  (at  a 
later  date)  R.  0.  Tyler.  The  four  divisions  of  the  Fifth 
Corps  were  respectively  commanded  by  Gens.  Griffin,  Ayres, 
Wadsworth  (who  was  succeeded  by  Gen.  Crawford),  and  Cut 
ler.  In  the  Sixth  Corps,  Gens.  Wright  (subsequently  corps 
commander),  Getty  and  Ricketts  commanded  divisions.  The 
Ninth  Corps  was  afterward  formally  attached  to  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac.  There  was  also  a  large  cavalry  force,  in  excel 
lent  condition,  under  the  command  of  Maj.-Gen.  Sheridan, 
which  was  to  prove  a  most  valuable  arm  of  the  service  in  the 
coming  campaign.  The  total  was  not  less  than  25,000  men. 

The  three  corps  first  named  were  encamped  within  the  trian 
gular  area  lying  between  the  Rappahannock  and  the  Rapidan, 
on  two  sides,  and  the  Orange  and  Alexandria  railroad  on  the 


488  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

third,  which  crosses  these  rivers  about  twenty-five  miles  west 
and  north-west  from  the  point  of  their  confluence.  The  north 
bank  of  the  Rapidan  was  held  by  Union  pickets.  There  was 
likewise  a  small  army  at  Winchester,  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley, 
under  command  of  Maj.-Gen.  Sigel — which  might  be  called  an 
outpost  of  the  same  army,  though  nominally  belonging  to 
another  military  department — and  a  cavalry  force  under  Maj.- 
Gen.  Averill,  which  was  to  operate  beyond  Lynchburg,  and  to 
support  Sigel,  as  occasion  required. 

The  Rebel  army  of  Lee,  occupying  the  position  already  indi 
cated,  south  of  the  Eapidan,  had  been  strengthened  during  the 
winter,  probably,  in  part,  at  the  expense  of  the  army  under 
Johnston,  in  Georgia,  as  well  as  from  other  sources,  but  was 
still  somewhat  inferior  in  numbers,  it  is  believed,  to  that  which 
had  now  passed  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  Gen. 
Grant. 

Gen.  Hancock's  command,  the  Second  Corps,  crossed  the 
Rapidan  on  the  4th  of  May,  at  Ely's  Ford,  not  far  above  the 
point  of  junction  between  that  river  and  the  Rappahannock, 
and  advanced  on  the  direct  road  toward  Chancellorsville.  The 
Fifth  Corps  crossed  on  the  same  day,  at  German  na  Ford,  a  few 
miles  further  up  the  stream,  proceeding  out  the  road  toward 
Todd's  tavern,  crossing  that  from  Fredericksburg  to  Orange 
Court  House,  some  distance  west  of  Chancellorsville.  The 
Sixth  Corps,  occupying  the  right,  was  the  last  to  cross.  The 
cavalry  division,  under  Gen.  Wilson,  advanced  on  the  right  of 
Warren's  corps,  pushing  on  toward  the  enemy's  works  on  Mine 
Run.  No  serious  opposition  was  made  to  the  crossing  of  any 
portion  of  these  forces.  On  the  following  day,  May  5th,  the 
march  was  continued,  the  course  of  the  army  lying  through 
the  wide  extent  of  forest  known  as  the  Wilderness.  Wilson's 
cavalry,  having  gone  out  by  the  plank  road,  had  encamped 
near  Mine  Run  on  the  night  of  the  4th.  Resuming  their 
march  on  the  next  morning,  they  arrived,  during  the  forenoon, 
in  the  vicinity  of  Shady  Grove  Church,  some  miles  to  the 
south-west  of  Todd's  Tavern,  to  which  the  Fifth  Corps  was 
now  approaching.  The  Second  Corps  was  moving  up  as  rap 
idly  as  possible,  extending  its  right  to  form  a  junction  wkh  the 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  489 

Fifth.  This  connection,  but  for  a  prompt  movement  of  tho 
enemy,  would  have  been  effected  at  Shady  Grove  Church,  giv 
ing  possession  of  an  important  pike  before  nightfall. 

Toward  noon,  a  lively  cannonading  announced  that  the  cavalry 
advance  had  encountered  an  opposing  force.  An  attack  of 
Rebel  cavalry,  of  Wade  Hampton's  division,  compelled  Wilson 
to  fall  back  gradually,  after  a  sharp  engagement,  toward  War 
ren's  column,  which  advanced  in  support.  The  principal  fight 
ing  occurred  near  Parker's  Store,  Ewell's  corps  having  come  up 
to  oppose  Warren.  The  purpose  of  Lee  to  crush  the  central 
column,  and  to  interpose  a  heavy  force  between  our  right  and 
left,  was  now  clearly  disclosed.  The  attack  was  made  by  Ewell 
with  great  impetuosity  an d«"persistence.  He  was  supported  by 
the  corps  of  A.  P.  Hill,  which  afterward  came  up  by  the  plank 
road.  The  plan  was  well  conceived  by  the  Rebel  commander, 
and  the  danger  of  its  success  was  imminent.  Griffin's  divis 
ion  first  encountered  the  Rebel  force,  fighting  with  great 
bravery  (the  nature  of  the  country  permitting  only  the  use  of 
musketry),  and  at  length,  sustained  by  the  other  divisions 
of  the  same  corps,  forcing  back  the  enemy,  though  with  severe 
losses. 

The  next  effort  of  the  Rebel  general  was  to  prevent  the 
execution  of  the  movement  which  Hancock  was  making,  as 
already  described.  From  half-past  two  o'clock  until  after 
dark,  a  furious  attack  was  kept  up  on  the  divisions  of  Birney 
and  Gibbons,  the  entire  Second  Corps  being  more  or  less  en 
gaged.  The  assailants  were  finally  repulsed,  but  no  decisive 
advantage  was  gained,  beyond  the  maintenance  of  the  positions 
already  occupied. 

Thus  closed  Thursday,  the  5th  of  May,  after  well-planned, 
persistent,  and  concentrated  attacks  on  the  moving  and  sepa 
rated  columns  of  our  army,  which  was  fortunately  so  well 
directed,  as  not  to  be  altogether  out  of  mutually  supporting 
distance.  Both  sides  seriously  suffered.  The  opening  was  by 
no  means  disastrous,  nor  yet  was  it-  auspicious.  The  coming 
day  could  not,  but  be  looked  forward  to  with  anxiety,  the 
enemy  having  manifestly  the  advantage  in  position  and  in 
knowledge  of  the  country,  which  was  to  be  the  battle-field. 


490  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

From  such  a  scene  of  action,  so  difficult  for  the  movement  of 
troops,  so  beset  with  the  intricacies  and  entanglements  of  wild 
woods  but  imperfectly  known,  it  may  be  that  other  commanders, 
at  an  earlier  stage  of  the  war,  would  have  thought  themselves 
fortunate  in  accomplishing  a  safe  retreat.  No  such  thought  was 
now  entertained. 

Combined  with  the  movement  thus  commenced  by  Grant, 
and  an  essential  element  of  the  situation,  was  the  landing  of 
a  considerable  army  under  Butler  at  Bermuda  Hundred, 
directly  threatening  Richmond.  The  army  of  the  Potomac 
was  so  advancing  as  to  cover  Washington.  Lee  might  now 
have  retired  on  Lynchburg  as  his  base  and  assumed  the 
aggressive — and  such  was  not  improbably  his  earlier  purpose; 
but  the  formidable  movement  buath  of  Richmond,  which  he 
was  to  defend  at  all  hazards,  left  him  no  such  alternative.  It 
was  on  the  5th  of  May  that  the  new  army  of  the  James,  under 
Maj.-Gen  B.  F.  Butler,  occupied  Bermuda  Hundred.  This 
command  consisted  of  the  10th  and  18th  Army  Corps,  re 
spectively  under  Maj-Gens.  Q.  A.  Gilmore  and  W.  F,  Smith. 
The  communications  south  of  Richmond  were  immediately 
threatened,  while  a  fleet  of  gunboats,  under  Rear  Admiral  S.  P. 
Lee,  was  ready  to  advance  up  the  river  toward  that  city.  This 
combined  movement  below  the  Rebel  capital  apparently  deter 
mined  the  course  of  Lee  in  his  present  relations  to  the  army 
which  had  boldly  crossed  the  Rapidan,  threatening  the  flank 
of  his  formidably  entrenched  forces. 

Failing  in  his  efforts  to  crush  our  advancing  columns,  which 
he  had  allowed  to  cross  the  Rapidan  unopposed,  Lee  now 
found,  on  the  morning  of  the  6th,  that  it  was  too  late,  even  to 
retreat  at  once  upon  Richmond,  his  adversary  being  too  close 
upon  his  flank.  At  the  same  time,  he  could  not  abandon  that 
city  to  its  fate,  threatened  as  he  now  knew  it  was,  and  fall  back 
on  Lynchburg.  He  accordingly  determined  to  give  battle, 
resuming  the  aggressive,  availing  himself  of  his  advantages 
over  the  Union  army,  from  the  nature  of  the  ground,  for 
rapidly  concentrating  his  men  at  whatever  point  he  chose.  On 
the  morning  of  the  6th  his  troops  were  early  in  motion. 

"  The  Wilderness "  will  ever  be  memorable  as  one  of  the 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  491 

bloodiest  fields  of  the  war.  The  character  of  the  country  is 
much  the  same  as  that  on  which  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville 
was  fought,  the  battle-field  being  in  fact,  a  portion  of  the  same 
forest.  The  ill  success  of  the  advance,  which  ended  with  that 
engagement,  undoubtedly  emboldened  the  Rebel  army  to  hope 
a  like  result  on  the  present  occasion,  and  led  to  that  bravery 
and  persistence  in  assault,  which,  from  the  nature  of  the  con 
flict,  necessarily  produced  an  almost  unprecedented  harvest  of 
carnage  and  agony. 

In  the  forenoon  of  Friday,  the  6th  of  May,  Hancock's 
corps,  reinforced  by  "Wadsworth's  division  of  the  Fifth  Corps, 
L.  A.  Grant's  brigade  from  Getty's  division  of  the  Sixth 
Corps,  and  other  forces,  advanced  on  our  left,  steadily  pushing 
back  the  enemy  (at  first  apparently  only  A.  P.  Hill's  Corps), 
for  the  distance  of  about  two  miles  and  occupying  their  front 
line  of  breastworks.  Hancock  held  the  position  gained,  until, 
soon  after  noon,  he  was  impetuously  attacked  by  heavily  massed 
forces  of  the  enemy,  including  the  corps  of  Longstreet  (who 
was  severely  wounded  in  this  action),  and  in  turn  forced 
back,  with  serious  loss  to  his  former  position,  of  the  morning. 
In  like  manner,  Sedgwick,  on  the  right  drove  the  Rebel  forces 
in  his  front,  but  was  compelled  to  yield  before  the  assaults  of 
their  reinforced  column,  giving  up  all  the  ground  he  had 
gained.  Following  up  their  temporary  success,  the  Rebel 
troops  pressed  on  until  the  right  flank  of  our  army  was  partly 
turned,  and  the  danger  of  fatal  disaster  seemed  imminent.  The 
coolness  of  Sedgwick,  and  the  well-tried  valor  of  the  Sixth 
Corps,  saved  the  day.  In  addition  to  his  other  losses,  however, 
was  that  of  a  considerable  number  of  prisoners,  including  two 
commanders  of  brigades,  Gens.  Shaler  and  Seymour.  A 
stampede  among  the  teams  in  the  rear  of  this  corps  had  com 
menced  just  at  night,  and  general  confusion  was  menaced. 
But  the  incipient  panic,  which  had  not  extended  to  the  men  in 
line,  was  fortunately  stayed.  During  the  night,  all  transporta 
tion  wagons,  and  ambulances,  were  kept  in  orderly  motion 
toward  Chancellorsville.  Some  even  retired  beyond  that 
place,  to  Ely's  Ford,  but  were  promptly  recalled  in  the  morn 
ing — an  advance  being  intended,  and  not  a  retreat.  If  there 


492  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

had  been  a  thought,  in  the  minds  of  any  one,  of  returning 
north  of  the  Rapidan,  the  Lieutenant-General  himself  enter 
tained  no  such  design  for  a  moment. 

The  Rebel  assailants  closed  the  day's  work  by  a  night  attack, 
still  later  than  that  just  spoken  of,  upon  the  center,  breaking 
through  Warren's  lines,  forcing  him  backward  for  a  considera 
ble  distance,  and  compelling  Sedgwick's  corps  to  hasten  its 
withdrawal  rearward  and  to  the  left,  to  prevent  being  cut  off 
from  the  remainder  of  the  army.  A  stand  was  ere  long  made 
by  the  Fifth,  however,  and  the  final  success  of  this  overwhelm 
ing  attack  averted.  The  rout  of  the  Union  army,  and  its  pre 
cipitate  flight  across  the  Rapidan,  which  Lee  had  seemed  on 
the  point  of  accomplishing,  was  completely  foiled.  His  efforts 
to  that  end  had  cost  more  heavily  than  he  could  afford,  with 
out  the  anticipated  success. 

The  persistent  bravery  and  good  conduct  of  our  men,  no  less 
than  the  gallantry  of  our  generals  and  other  officers,  were 
conspicuous  in  the  actions  of  these  two  days.  Few  armies 
would  have  stood  against  such  odds.  It  is  a  wonder — as  the 
study  of  this  battle  will  more  and  more  disclose — that  any 
army  so  situated  and  so  assailed  should  have  escaped  annihila 
tion.  By  his  peculiar  advantages  of  communication,  Lee  was 
enabled,  by  his  command  of  roads  in  the  rear  of  the  Wilder 
ness,  as  we  have  seen,  to  precipitate  the  mass  of  his  army  first 
on  our  left,  repelling  the  temporarily  successful  advance  of 
Hancock ;  then  upon  the  right,  forcing  Sedgwick  backward, 
after  a  destructive  resistance,  ultimately  flanking  him,  partially 
doubling  up  his  force,  and  making  important  captures  ;  and 
finally  piercing  the  center,  being  seemingly  on  the  point  of 
driving  Warren's  corps  pellmell,  until  by  reinforcements  and 
skillful  dispositions,  the  latter  was  enabled  to  meet  the  shock. 

A  portion  of  Burnside's  Corps,  which  crossed  the  Rapidan 
on  the  5th,  participated  in  the  engagement,  and  aided  to  save 
the  day. 

The  total  losses  on  each  side  have  been  variously  estimated, 
but  probably  fell  little  short  of  18,000  (killed,  wounded  and 
prisoners),  during  the  two  days.  Among  the  killed  was  the 
much  lamented  Gen.  James  S.  Wadsworth,  commander  of  a 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  493 

division  in  the  Fifth  Corps — a  gentleman  of  large  estate,  and 
of  large  heart,  who  bravely  sacrificed  all  for  his  country. 

While  the  two  days'  fighting  has  many  of  the  aspects  of  a 
drawn  battle,  and  was  by  no  means  decisive  in  result,  it  may 
be  observed  that  Grant  maintained  his  purpose  of  drawing  out 
Lee  and  establishing  himself  beyond  the  Rapidan ;  while  Lee, 
on  the  contrary,  vainly  exhausted  all  his  efforts,  with  a  loss 
believed  to  be  relatively  (though  not  actually)  greater  than 
Grant's,  to  force  the  latter  to  retrace  his  steps.  The  next 
movement,  as  will  be  seen,  was,  with  Grant,  a  bold  advance, 
and,  with  Lee,  a  prompt  retreat.  The  latter  had  discovered, 
on  the  morning  of  the  7th,  the  march  of  our  cavalry  under 
Wilson  and  Gregg  toward  Spottsylvania  Court  House,  with 
indications  of  a  general  movement  in  that  direction.  He  im 
mediately  began  to  fall  back.  His  whole  line  of  works  on 
Mine  Run  was  abandoned,  and  his  intrenchments  in  the  Wil 
derness  were  only  held  by  a  rear  guard,  while  the  work  of  bury 
ing  his  own  dead,  caring  for  his  wounded  and  securing  the 
prisoners  he  had  captured,  received  hurried  attention.  An 
attempt  appears  to  have  been  made  to  embarrass  Hancock  on 
the  left,  and  a  claim  was  put  forth  by  the  Rebels  that  he  had, 
for  a  time,  been  driven.  There  can  have  been  little  more  than 
some  harassing  of  his  flank,  soon  obviated  by  the  support 
which  Burnside  rendered. 

While  the  Rebel  army  was  moving  southward,  to  take  up 
its  new  position  on  the  Po  river,  beyond  Spottsylvania  Court 
House,  the  National  forces  were  executing  a  nearly  unob 
structed  movement  toward  the  left,  by  Chancellorsville  and 
beyond  Fredericksburg — a  substantial  pursuit,  in  the  guise  of 
a  threatened  turning  of  the  enemy's  right.  Many  of  our  dead 
and  wounded  in  the  Wilderness  were  unfortunately  left  on 
parts  of  the  field  that  had  been  crossed  and  recrossed,  remain 
ing  in  hostile  possession.  In  spite  of  extraordinary  exertions, 
and  a  care  quite  unusual  in  the  midst  of  movements  so  en 
grossing,  there  were  many  whose  sufferings  remained  unalle- 
viated  for  days,  or  who  experienced  the  added  torture  of  listen 
ing  helplessly  to  approaching  fires,  which  ran  through  the 
woods,  and  from  which,  if  they  were  not  actually  intended  to  do 


404  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

£h!s  cruel  work,  the  Rebels  at  least  took  no  pains  to  rescue  the 
wounded  and  dying.  Some  were  saved  after  remaining  for  days 
in  these  wild  and  bloody  thickets,  and  there  are  those  still 
surviving,  no  doubt,  who  can  repeat  the  tale  of  the  sufferings, 
though  never  adequately  describe  the  horrors  that  followed  the 
great  contests  of  the  Wilderness. 

The  march  of  the  rear  of  our  army  from  the  position  held 
by  the  Fifth  Corps,  at  the  close  of  the  conflict  on  the  night  of 
the  6th,  to  Chancellorsville,  nine  miles  distant,  was  completed 
on  the  9th  of  May.  On  the  previous  day  the  main  army  was 
well  up  to  the  banks  of  the  Ny,  near  Spottsylvania  Court- 
House,  about  fifteen  miles  south-east  of  Chancellorsville.  The 
former  place  had  already  been  entered  by  Custer's  cavalry,  and 
temporarily  held,  but  this  force  was  soon  withdrawn.  Grant's 
headquarters  were  twenty  miles  south-eastward  from  the  battle 
field  of  the  6th,  as  early  as  noon  on  the  8th.  Our  forces 
speedily  occupied  Fredericksburg,  which  was  made  a  depot  for 
the  wounded,  a  large  number  of  the  houses  of  that  city  being 
taken  for  temporary  hospitals.  The  movement  in  this  direc 
tion — a  small  force  clearing  the  way  for  the  transportation  of 
the  wounded,  while  the  main  army  advanced  toward  Spottsyl 
vania — was  heralded  in  Richmond  prints  :  "  Grant  retreats 
towards  Fredericksburg."  In  similar  style,  it  had  been  an-, 
nounced,  at  an  earlier  day,  that  he  was  "  falling  back  on  Yicks- 
burg,"  while  driving  Pemberton  into  that  city,  preparatory  to 
the  capture  of  his  whole  army.  Communication  with  the 
Potomac,  by  way  of  Fredericksburg  and  Belle  Plain,  was  an 
essential  auxiliary  to  his  movement  on  Richmond,  and  marked 
a  rapid  advance  in  that  direction. 

The  news  of  the  unchecked  progress  of  Grant,  thus  far, 
pressing  Lee  forward  or  drawing  him  on  by  flank  movements, 
gave  an  assurance  of  the  firm  footing  our  forces  had  gained  in 
a  greatly  advanced  position,  and  of  a  determination  of  purpose, 
which,  in  spite  of  all  losses,  occasioned  a  general  satisfaction 
more  positive  than  the  true  history  of  the  case,  bating  all  exag 
gerations  of  the  moment,  would,  perhaps,  fully  warrant. 
President  Lincoln,  moderately  and  justly  estimating  the  results 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  495 

attained,  and  soberly  appreciating  the  grave  task  yet  before 
him,  issued  at  this  time  the  following  proclamation  : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  WASHINGTON,  *) 
May  9,  1864.      J 

To  THE  FRIENDS  OF  UNION  AND  LIBERTY  :  Enough  is 
known  of  army  operations  within  the  last  five  days  to  claim  our 
special  gratitude  to  God  ;  while  what  remains  undone  demands 
our  most  sincere  prayers  to  and  reliance  upon  Him,  without 
whom  all  human  effort  is  vain. 

I  recommend  that  all  patriots,  at  their  homes,  in  their  places 
of  public  worship,  and  wherever  they  may  be,  unite  in  common 
thanksgiving  and  prayer  to  Almighty  God. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Gen.  Sheridan,  directly  after  the  days  of  the  Wilderness, 
had  started  on  an  extensive  cavalry  expedition  around  and  be 
yond  the  army  of  Lee,  toward  Richmond.  The  forces  under 
his  command  had  been  brought  to  a  high  degree  of  strength 
and  efficiency,  and  were  prepared  to  test  the  vaunted  superior 
ity  of  the  cavalry  battalions  of  the  enemy.  Sheridan  pro 
ceeded  by  way  of  Fredericksburg,  to  near  the  Po  river,  en 
countering  and  defeating  Stuart's  cavalry  in  a  sharp  engage 
ment,  on  the  9th  of  May.  The  evening  of  the  same  day  found 
Sheridan  near  Beaver  Dam  Station,  on  the  Virginia  Central 
(Gordonsville)  railroad,  where  he  stopped  for  the  night.  Du 
ring  the  next  five  days,  the  expedition  continued  on  its  course 
across  the  North  and  South  Anna  rivers,  to  Ashland  Station, 
and  onward  to  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Richmond,  destroying 
railroad  tracks,  bridges  and  public  property.  On  the  llth,  a 
battle  was  fought  at  Yellow  Tavern,  in  which  Sheridan  gained 
another  victory  over  Stuart.  The  latter  was  mortally  wounded 
in  this  fight,  and  died  on  the  following  day,  having  lived  to  see 
his  boasted  arm  of  the  Rebel  service  not  only  repeatedly  beaten, 
but  permanently  surpassed  by  the  cavalry  of  Sheridan.  Con 
tinuing  his  course,  the  latter  encamped  at  Mechanicsville 
on  the  night  of  tbe  13th,  and  was  at  Bottom's  Bridge,  on 
the  Chickahominy,  the  day  following.  He  penetrated  the 
outer  fortifications  at  Richmond,  retiring  safely,  and  finally 
communicated  with  the  Army  of  the  James.  These  brilliant 


496  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

operations  between  Lee  and  Richmond,  for  a  time  seriously 
interfered  with  that  general's  communications,  and  created  no 
small  excitement  at  the  Rebel  capital.  This  famous  raid  dem 
onstrated,  also,  the  present  decided  superiority  of  the  Union 
cavalry,  and  marked  a  positive  decline  in  that  of  the  enemy, 
from  which  it  never  recovered. 

During  the  movement  of  the  main  army  to  the  Ny,  and 
while  the  different  corps  were  taking  position  and  intrenching, 
there  was  occasional  fighting  with  the  enemy.  There  was  a 
sharp  conflict,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  8th,  between  Warren 
and  Longstreet's  corps,  now  temporarily  under  Anderson,  its 
commander  being  disabled  by  the  wounds  he  had  received  on 
the  6th.  It  was  during  the  same  day  that  Maj.-Gen.  Sedg- 
wick,  while  personally  aiding  to  put  in  position  a  battery  of  his 
own  corps,  was  instantly  killed  by  a  Rebel  sharpshooter ;  a  loss 
which  occasioned  universal  sorrow  through  the  army  and  nation. 
Maj.-Gen.  Wright  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  Sixth 
Corps,  and  Gen.  Russell  was  advanced  to  the  head  of  the  First 
Division. 

On  the  9th,  skirmishing  was  continued  on  different  portions 
of  the  extended  lines.  A  more  serious  engagement  took  place 
on  the  10th,  Grant  having  ordered  an  attack  on  the  ene 
my's  works.  The  Second  and  Ninth  Corps  were  in  the 
severest  part  of  the  action,  which  prevailed  more  or  less  along 
the  whole  line.  The  wings  of  Lee  were  forced  backward,  and 
a  large  number  of  prisoners  captured.  Here,  as  on  the  previ 
ous  days,  the  forces  engaged  were  mostly  in  the  woods,  permit 
ting  only  an  occasional  use  of  artillery.  The  results  were  not 
decisive,  though  favorable  to  our  arms.  The  fighting  on  the 
following  day  was  comparatively  slight.  The  12th,  the  two 
armies  still  occupying  nearly  the  same  position  as  before,  is 
memorable  for  one  of  the  severest  contests  of  the  campaign — 
the  grand  culmination  of  battle  in  this  neighborhood. 

At  daylight,  on  the  12th,  the  combined  forces  of  Hancock 
and  Burnside,  on  the  left,  advanced  on  the  enemy's  lines.  A 
brilliant  bayonet  charge  was  made  on  the  right  and  center  of 
Lee's  intrenchments,  driving  him  back  for  miles,  capturing  sev 
eral  thousand  prisoners,  with  their  general  officers,  and  thirty 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  497 

pieces  of  artillery.  Most  of  the  noted  "Stonewall"  brigade, 
of  Swell's  corps,  was  taken  in  this  brilliant  affair.  Our  victo 
rious  forces  then  advanced  upon  Early's  division,  but  without 
equal  success.  Much  of  the  Fifth  Corps  was  also  actively  en 
gaged.  The  Sixth,  later  in  the  forenoon,  came  to  the  aid  of 
the  Second  and  Ninth,  against  which  a  heavy  Rebel  force  was 
now  massed.  The  enemy  fought  with  great  desperation,  after 
his  first  reverses,  and  the  slaughter  on  both  sides  was  great. 
The  decided  advantages  gained  in  the  early  part  of  the  day 
were  not  counterbalanced  by  any  subsequent  results.  Though 
not  a  decisive  victory,  properly  speaking,  it  was  a  substantial 
tiiumph  for  our  arms.  While  the  enemy  was  not  ultimately 
dislodged  from  his  defensive  lines,  his  losses  were  relatively 
greater.  His  prestige  was  permanently  impaired.  And  yet 
this  close  and  deadly  grapple  had  also  taught  Gen.  Grant  that, 
while  he  had  wisely  determined  persistently  to  "  fight  it  out  on 
this  line,"  and  to  aim  steadily  at  the  destruction  of  Lee's  army, 
no  less  than  at  the  capture  of  Richmond,  he  had  serious  work 
before  him,  and  a  sacrifice  of  life  which  he,  no  less  than  Pres 
ident  Lincoln,  would  gladly  have  avoided,  were  not  the  sacri 
fice  now  a  certain  gain  for  the  future,  and  a  positive  economy 
in  the  dread  losses  inseparable  from  the  war  which  traitors  had 
forced  upon  the  country.  It  does  not  appear  that  even  the 
most  unscrupulous  Rebel  leaders  ever  claimed  a  victory  in  this 
terrible  battle  of  the  12th.  Their  losses  in  prisoners  alone 
were  such  as  they  could  ill  afford,  apart  from  the  many  thous 
ands  killed  or  wounded.  From  this  day,  it  is  manifest,  the 
army  of  Lee  was  seriously  crippled,  never  fully  regaining  its 
wonted  strength  and  spirit.  Grant,  on  the  other  hand,  ere  long 
saw  his  losses  fully  repaired,  and  was  in  good  condition  to  re 
sume  his  advance — again  by  flank,  in  preference  to  trying  fur 
ther  the  enemy's  continued  series  of  works  in  the  direct  line  to 
Richmond.  In  the  absence  of  official  reports,  it  is  hazardous 
to  attempt  definite  estimates  of  the  losses  in  these  battles  at 
Spottsylvania.  The  total  aggregate,  on  the  Union  side,  can 
hardly  have  fallen  short  of  15,000.  That  of  the  Rebels,  in 
cluding  prisoners,  undoubtedly  exceeded  that  number.  Many 


498  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

valuable  Union  officers  gave  their  lives  with  the  noble  patriots 
in  the  ranks  who  fell  in  the  glorious  cause. 

After  burying  his  dead  and  duly  caring  for  the  wounded, 
during  the  13th,  Grant  advanced  a  little  by  the  left  flank 
toward  the  south-east,  to  a  position  nearer  the  Richmond  and 
Fredericksburg  railroad.  From  portions  of  the  lines  of  his 
army,  Spottsylvania  Court  House  was  seen  in  clear  prospect 
through  the  trees — in  a  region  more  open  than  that  through 
which  the  men  had  marched  and  fought  for  the  last  ten  days, 
yet  still  divided  between  cultivated  inclosures  and  unbroken 
forests.  The  Rebels  were  strongly  fortified  near  the  village, 
numerous  batteries  jealously  watching  any  further  advance  of 
the  "  invader,"  and  an  ample  series  of  earth-works  evidencing 
the  determination  to  stay  any  onward  sweep  of  the  waves  of 
assault.  On  this  new  ground,  Burnside,  with  his  corps  of  min 
gled  white  regiments  and  black,  held  the  extreme  right.  The 
Fifth  Corps,  with  its  veteran  regulars,  and  its  well-tried  vol 
unteers,  commanded  by  the  youthful  Warren,  was  next  in  order 
toward  the  left.  Then  came  Wright's  corps  (the  Sixth), 
lamenting  its  noble  commander,  Sedgwick,  who  had  added  his 
own  life  to  the  many  sacrifices  of  his  heroic  followers.  On 
the  extreme  left  was  Hancock,  worthy  leader  of  a  corps  re 
nowned  for  its  brilliant  achievements,  and  destined  to  new  hon 
ors  in  the  conflicts  to  come. 

Some  fighting  occured,  on  the  14th,  the  Rebels  attacking 
the  Fifth  Corps  in  heavy  force,  but  recoiling,  with  severe  loss, 
from  its  well-matured  intrenchments.  Ayres'  division  then 
made  a  gallant  charge  upon  the  rear  of  the  retreating  enemy, 
capturing  a  battery  and  a  number  of  prisoners.  Grant's  head 
quarters  were  now  established  on  ^  the  south  bank  of  the  Ny 
river,  Lee's  line  being  about  two  miles  beyond,  on  the  Po. 
The  position  of  the  latter,  which  it  was  impracticable  to  turn, 
was  a  strong  one,  and  he  indicated  a  purpose  of  persistently 
maintaining  his  ground.  No  material  change  in  the  position 
of  the  armies  occurred  until  the  18th. 

Meanwhile,  the  subsidiary  operations  under  Butler,  between 
Petersburg  and  Richmond  ;  those  under  Sigel  in  the  Shenan- 
doah  Valley,  and  under  Crook  and  Averill  in  South-western 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  499 

Virginia,  during  these  two  eventful  weeks,  had  .tecome  note 
worthy  elements  of  the  Eastern  Campaign.  The  two  corps 
constituting  the  Army  of  the  James,  made  up  of  18,000  men 
at  and  near  Fortress  Monroe,  and  20,000  withdrawn  from  the 
seaboard  of  North  and  South  Carolina,  had,  as  before  stated, 
landed  near  the  mouth  of  the  Appomattox,  on  the  5th  of  May. 
This  army  took  up,  and  fortified,  a  position  at  Bermuda  Hun 
dred  and  westward,  its  lines  extending  from  the  James  to  the 
Appomattox,  and  to  a  point  within  about  twelve  miles  of  Rich 
mond.  The  Rebel  force  opposed  to  this  army  was  under  the 
command  of  Beauregard. 

Butler,  while  securely  intrenching  himself,  and  during  the 
first  surprise  which  followed  his  startling  and  admirably 
execuetd  movement,  demonstrated  on  the  roads  between  Rich 
mond  and  Petersburg,  threatening  each  of  those  cities.  Still 
farther  to  weaken  the  force  opposing^  Grant,  and  to  divert 
attention  from  the  cavalry  raids  of  Sheridan  and  Kautz,  (the 
latter  of  whom  had  been  sent  out  by  Butler  to  cut  the  Danville 
road)  a  vigorous  demonstration  was  made  on  Fort  Darling,  on 
the  13th  of  May,  and  continued  during  the  two  following  days, 
ending  in  a  sally  by  Beauregard  and  a  battle  on  the  16th,  and 
in  the  retirement  of  Butler  within  his  lines  at  Bermuda  Hun 
dred  on  the  17th.  His  losses  were  somewhat  serious,  including 
many  prisoners.  This  advance  on  Richmond  followed  the 
panic  created  there  by  the  near  approach  of  Sheridan's  cavalry 
on  the  llth,  when  alarm  bells  were  rung,  and  the  greatest 
excitement  prevailed,  every  available  man  being  put  under 
arms  for  the  defense  of  the  city.  On  the  12th,  Sheridan  had 
penetrated  the  outer  fortifications,  and  attacked  the  second  line 
of  batteries  on  the  Mechahicsville  road.  Had  the  battles  of 
the  10th  and  12th  at  Spottsylvania  terminated  in  the  decisive 
victories  hoped  for  by  Grant,  his  advance  would  have  followed 
closely  upon  the  adventurous  steps  of  Sheridan,  bringing  his 
main  army  to  the  James  above  Mechanicsville — cooping  up 
Lee  within  his  capital,  should  he  continue  to  retreat  thither — 
while  Butler  should  advance  on  the  south  side  of  the  James, 
forming  a  junction  with  Grant,  and  closing  around  the  doomed 
city.  If  such  were  the  plan  entertained,  as  all  the  movements 


500  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

would  indicate,  the  Rebel  forces,  on  the  inside  of  the  circle, 
were  so  skillfully  handled,  and  so  obstinately  fought  as  to  post 
pone,  if  not  wholly  defeat  this  purpose.  The  Army  of  the 
Potomac  had  thus  far,  though  not  defeated,  been  kept  in  check, 
with  its  triumphs  chastened,  and  its  anticipations  deferred. 
The  movements  of  Butler  and  Sheridan  had  thus  but  the 
secondary  importance  of  subsidiary  operations,  instead  of  con 
stituent  parts  of  the  grand  design. 

The  advance  of  Sigel  up  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah, 
and  of  Crook  and  Averill  into  the  salt  regions,  and  on  the 
railroad  in  South-western  Virginia,  manifestly  had  but  this 
secondary  object,  of  destroying  communications  and  supplies, 
and  weakening  the  well  concentrated  force  of  the  enemy  by 
drawing  his  attention  to  the  circumference.  Gen.  Sigel  had 
met  with  but  feeble  opposition  as  he  moved  toward  Staunton, 
breaking  lines  of  transportation  and  destroying  depots  of  sup 
plies,  until  he  encountered  a  more  formidable  force  under 
Breckinridge  at  New  Market,  on  the  15th  of  May.  The 
battle  was  lost,  the  enemy  capturing  from  him  five  pieces  of 
artillery  and  fifty  prisoners  ;  and  his  killed  and  wounded  num 
bering  six  hundred  or  more.  Sigel  manifested  his  customary 
skill  in  effecting  a  retreat  across  the  Shenandoah,  without  fur 
ther  loss,  his  force  reaching  Strasburg  in  good  order. 

The  operations  in  South-western  Virginia  were  more  success 
ful.  On  the  10th,  Gen.  Averill's  cavalry  attacked  the  Rebel 
forces  under  Jones  at  Wytheville,  routing  him,  and  advancing 
to  the  destruction  of  the  railroad,  in  the  direction  of  Lynch- 
burg.  Simultaneous  with  this  movement  was  that  of  the  raid 
ing  party  under  Gen.  Crook,  who  struck  the  railroad  near  New 
river,  still  farther  eastward.  He  fought  the  Rebel  guarding 
force  near  Newbern,  on  the  10th,  capturing  seven  guns  and  a 
number  of  prisoners,  and  destroyed  the  valuable  bridge  across 
New  river. 

These  successes  were  vigorously  followed  up,  inflicting  seri 
ous  damage  on  the  railroads  and  government  works  in  the 
south-western  portion  of  Virginia.  Gen.  Hunter  was  soon 
after  placed  in  command  of  the  Department  of  West  Virginia, 
including  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  immediately  assumed 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  501 

the  direction  of  all  cne  forces  hitherto  under  Sigel,  Crook  and 
Averill,  and  speedily  organized  a  movement  upon  Lynchburg, 
which  created  no,  little  alarm  at  that  important  strategic  point 
and  depot,  drawing  away  a  considerable  force  from  the  vicinity 
of  Richmond.  The  advance  of  Hunter,  however,  did  not  com 
mence  until  some  days  later  than  the  date  to  which  the  opera 
tions  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  Grant  have  been 
brought  down. 

On  the  19th  of  May,  at  about  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  a 
sudden  and  furious  attack  was  made  by  Ewell,  on  Grant's  rear 
guard,  this  side  of  Spottsylvania,  with  the  purpose  of  capturing 
his  transportation  train,  and,  by  a  flank  movement,  interposing 
a  force  between  the  National  army  and  Fredericksburg.  This 
assault  was  promptly  met  by  the  divisions  of  Birney  and  Tyler, 
aided  by  a  portion  of  the  Fifth  Corps.  The  assailants  were 
repulsed,  leaving  their  killed  and  wounded  on  the  field,  and 
with  a  loss  of  about  three  hundred  prisoners.  The  total  Union 
loss  was  about  seven  hundred  and  fifty. 

During  the  week  intervening  since  the  severe  battle  of  the 
12th,  Grant  had  been  receiving  heavy  reinforcements  and  put 
ting  his  army  into  good  condition  for  the  work  still  before  it. 
More  than  twenty-five  thousand  veterans  had  been  sent  him 
since  the  commencement  of  the  campaign,  including  a  large 
force  from  the  Department  of  Washington  under  Gen.  Augur. 
As  the  present  movement  covered  the  national  capital,  a  large 
force  could  thus  be  spared  from  the  defenses  of  Washington, 
without  endangering  its  safety.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  earnestly 
pointed  out  this  advantage  in  the  first  campaign  against  Rich 
mond,  but  his  advice  had  been  disregarded  by  the  commander 
wh^  on  that  occasion,  led  the  army  of  the  Potomac  to  defeat 
and  disaster.  The  native  sagacity  of  Grant  had  led  him  to 
adopt  this  course  at  last,  without  dictation,' however,  or  counsel 
from  the  President.  This  is  not  the  only  occasion  during  the 
campaign  of  1864,  in  which  the  intuitive  military  judgment  of 
President  Lincoln  was  vindicated,  and  the  fatal  errors  of  hia 
first  subordinate  general-in-chief,  when  differing  in  his  opinions, 
were  demonstrated.  To  reach  the  fortifications  of  Richmond 
without  loss,  and  there  to  encounter  the  Rebel  army  not  only 


502  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

unharmed,  but  trebly  intrenched,  concentrated,  and  strength 
ened,  was  evidently  no  gain.  The  enemy  was  to  be  encoun 
tered,  and  his  strength  broken,  sooner  or  later.  While  this 
must  necessarily  cost  heavily,  the  plan  of  campaign  pursued  by 
Grant  -was  such  that  his  losses  could  be  readily  supplied  and 
his  numbers  kept  up,  while  the  army  of  his  opponent  was 
crumbling  away  under  constant  attrition.  The  protraction  of 
the  struggle  between  the  Rapidan  and  Richmond  was  thus  tell 
ing  no  less  positively  on  the  final  result — but  rather  the 
reverse — than  a  lengthened  siege  of  Richmond.  The  test  of 
comparative  strength  and  resources  might  as  well  come  here  as 
elsewhere.  It  was  thus  no  mere  bravado,  but  the  expression 
of  sound  practical  wisdom,  when  Grant  declared  it  to  be  his 
purpose  to  "  fight  it  out  on  this  line,"  though  it  should  "take 
all  the  summer."  It  was  for  a  campaign  against  Lee  and 
Richmond,  fought  out  in  this  resolute  spirit,  with  no  postpone 
ment  or  evasion  of  the  struggle  that  must  inevitably  coine  at 
last,  that  the  country  had  long  been  waiting.  It  was  nothing 
less  than  this  that  could  bring  the  war  to  a  close.  People  had 
occasional  misgivings.  The  loss  of  life  was  felt  to  be  fearful. 
But,  through  all,  there  remained  an  abiding  faith  in  the  course 
pursued,  and  a  conviction  that  unwise  economy,  even  of  life, 
at  this  juncture,  could  only  end  in  more  terrible  sacrifices  in 
the  final  aggregate. 

On  the  evening  of  the  20th,  Grant  began  the  new  advance 
which  he  had  been  preparing  for,  to  Guiney's  Station,  on  the 
Richmond  and  Fredericksburg  Railroad,  and  southward, 
flanking  the  enemy's  strong  lines  at  Spottsylvania.  The  move 
ment  was  handsomely  executed  without  opposition.  The  Rebel 
commander  discovering  what  was  transpiring,  Longstre^t's 
corps  was  started  southward  late  the  same  night.  Swell's 
corps  followed  on  Saturday,  the  21st.  The  whole  force  of  Lee 
made  haste  to  get  in  a  position,  apparently  heretofore  fortified, 
between  the  North  and  South  Anna,  the  rapid  marches  of 
Grant  threatening  an  interception  of  his  progress  toward  that 
stronghold.  The  Union  army,  on  the  other  hand,  proceeding 
by  Guiney's  Station  and  Bowling  Green,  reached  Milford  Sta 
tion,  the  advance  crossing  the  Mattapony,  by  the  morning  of 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  503 

the  22d.  "Warren's  corps  had  the  lead,  following  the  telegraph 
road  southward  from  Guiney's  Station,  and  capturing  some 
prisoners  in  occasional  skirmishes  with  the  rear  of  Ewell's 
corps.  Hancock  had  the  advance  on  the  Bowling  Green  road, 
and  remained  at  Milford  until  the  afternoon  of  the  22d,  when 
his  corps  moved  on  and  took  position  next  day  on  the  left  of 
Warren,  who  had  now  crossed  the  Mattapony  and  advanced  to 
the  North  Anna.  The  enemy's  rear,  under  Ewell,  was  found 
intrenched  on  both  banks  of  that  river.  Skirmishing  began  the 
same  evening.  The  batteries  in  the  center  of  Hancock's  corps, 
on  the  left,  commenced  shelling  the  enemy  at  4  o'clock,  while 
Birney's  division,  charging  through  storms  of  bullets  from  the 
rifle  pits,  and  of  shells  from  the  batteries  on  the  opposite  bank 
of  the  river,  drove  the  enemy  across  the  bridge  and  secured  its 
possession.  At  5  o'clock,  Warren,  who  had  proceeded  out  a 
road  leading  to  Jericho  Ford,  a  mile  or  two  farther  up  the 
stream,  threw  a  force  across  to  the  south  bank  of  the  river, 
which  immediately  intrenched  itself,  and  successfully  resisted  a 
heavy  assault  of  the  enemy  on  the  same  evening,  repulsing  the 
assailants  with  serious  loss,  who  left  their  killed  and  wounded 
on  the  field.  At  dark,  the  corps  of  Burnside  arrived,  and  took 
its  place  between  the  Second  and  Fifth  Corps,  preparatory  to  the 
general  advance  intended  for  the  next  morning.  Wright  took 
position  near  the  Fifth  Corps,  having  crossed  at  the  same  ford 
as  Warren.  The  Union  losses  in  these  spirited  engagements 
were  comparatively  light,  probably  not  exceeding  seven  hun 
dred  in  the  aggregate  of  killed  and  wounded.  The  Rebel  loss 
was  hardly  less,  exclusive  of  a  number  of  prisoners  taken  by 
Birney, 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  24th  a  general  advance  was 
made  to  the  south  side  of  the  river,  when  the  fact  was  disclosed 
that  the  enemy  had  retired  from  his  works,  and  no  opposition 
was  made.  The  impression,  at  first,  prevailed  that  Lee  was 
retiring  beyond  the  South  Anna,  and  hastening  toward  the 
Bebel  capital.  An  order  from  Lee  to  Ewell  directing  him  to 
fall  back  rapidly  within  the  defenses  of  Richmond  was  found 
on  the  person  of  a  captured  orderly  of  the  former  general,  but 
this  appears  to  have  been  a  ruse  de  guerre.  In  truth,  Lee  had 


504  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

now  taken  up  a  stronger  position  than  any  he  had  held  hereto 
fore,  since  leaving  Mine  Run,  and  he  desired  Grant's  entire 
force  to  cross  the  North  Anna,  to  meet  the  unexpected  recep 
tion  which  was  thought  to  have  been  prepared  for  him. 

The  lines  of  Grant  now  extended  from  the  Richmond  and 
Fredericksburg  railroad,  near  Chesterfield  Station,  westward 
some  miles,  to  Jericho  Ford  of  the  North  Anna.  Three  miles 
south  of  the  point  at  which  the  railroads  cross  this  stream,  is 
Sexton's  Junction,  where  the  Fredericksburg  and  Gordon sville 
roads  intersect  each  other.  The  latter  road  runs  nearly  paral 
lel  with  the  river,  about  three  miles  southward  therefrom,  for 
the  distance  of  fifteen  or  twenty  miles.  Directly  south  of  the 
Gordonsville  railroad,  again,  is  a  stream  called  Little  river, 
much  of  the  way  only  two  or  three  miles  distant,  though  grow 
ing  more  remote  as  it  approaches  the  point  where  the  Frede 
ricksburg  railroad  crosses.  Further  eastward  it  is  crossed  by 
the  Gordonsville  road,  just  before  entering  the  North  Anna, 
three  or  four  miles  above  its  junction  with  the  South  Anna,  to 
form  the  Pamunkey.  The  complication  of  railroads  and  rivers 
in  this  vicinity  is  peculiar,  remarkably  well  adapting  this  coun 
try  between  the  Annas  for  defensive  operations. 

On  the  25th,  the  firing  between  the  two  armies  was  chiefly 
by  artillery.  The  enemy  held  his  advance  works  north  of  the 
Little  river  quietly,  for  the  most  part,  not  caring  to  hasten  an 
engagement — choosing,  probably,  in  fact,  to  maintain  the  ap 
pearance  of  having  only  a  feeble  rear-guard  left  behind  to  de 
lay  pursuit.  It  was  ascertained,  however,  by  reconnoissances 
made  beyond  the  Gordonsville  road,  that  the  three  corps  of 
Longstreet,  Hill  and  Ewell  were  yet  at  hand.  Meanwhile,  the 
time  was  busily  employed  by  detachments  in  destroying  the 
Gordonsville  road  for  several  miles  westward. 

It  now  became  manifest  to  Grant,  if  such  had  not  from  the 
first  been  his  conviction,  that  an  attempt  to  force  the  passage 
of  fortifications  and  positions  of  such  strength  and  complica 
tion,  would  involve  too  great  a  disadvantage  to  his  army,  and 
was  to  be  avoided  by  drawing  his  opponent  upon  more  equal 
ground.  Under  the  cover  of  skillful  demonstrations  to  the 
ri^ht  and  left,  therefore,  Grant  withdrew  the  main  portion  of 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  505 

his  army,  and  began  a  new  flanking  movement,  which  had 
nearly  surprised  Lee.  On  the  night  of  the  26th,  the  Union 
forces  recrossed  to  the  north  side  of  the  North  Anna,  crossed 
over  the  Mattapony,  and  with  that  stream,  and  subsequently 
the  Pamunkey,  between  itself  and  the  enemy,  marched  rapidly 
southward,  in  nearly  the  reverse  order  of  the  advance  from 
Spottsylvania,  Hancock's  corps  bringing  up  the  rear,  and 
Wright's  taking  the  van.  The  movement  was  directed  toward 
Uanovertown,  where  the  entire  force  was  to  cross  the  Pamunkey, 
and  move  forward  to  Richmond,  which  is  about  eighteen  miles 
distant  from  the  river  at  this  point.  Sheridan,  with  the  First 
and  Second  Divisions  of  his  cavalry,  took  possession  of  the 
Hanover  Ferry  at  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  27th,  and 
the  First  Division  of  Wright's  corps  arrived  an  hour  later,  and 
held  the  place  until  the  remainder  of  the  army  came  up. 

In  throwing  his  vast  army  across  the  Rapidan,  Grant  broke 
altogether  his  communications  with  Washington  by  the  Orange 
and  Alexandria  railroad.  The  communication  was  first  re 
opened  by  way  of  Belle  Plain  and  Fredericksburg,  while  the 
army  remained  in  Spottsylvania  county,  and  its  base  of  supplies 
was  next  transferred  to  Port  Royal,  on  the  Rappahannock,  as 
the  advance  was  made  to  the  North  Anna.  The  new  and  adroit 
movement  to  the  Pamunkey  made  a  still  further  transfer  neces 
sary,  the  communication  being  now  resumed  by  the  York  and 
Pamunkey  rivers,  with  such  railway  helps  as  a  further  advance 
toward  Richmond  rendered  practicable.  The  sick  and  wounded 
were  all  removed  from  the  vicinities  of  Fredericksburg  and 
Port  Royal,  and  the  large  number  of  prisoners  in  our  posses 
sion  were  taken  to  Point  Lookout,  Maryland,  and  elsewhere. 
Grant  thus  secured,  whenever  he  moved,  a  secure  base,  with 
the  least  possible  embarrassment  and  loss  in  the  matter  of 
transportation  and  movable  property — showing  a  great  im 
provement  in  the  art  of  making  war  since  the  first  disastrous 
campaign  on  the  Peninsula,  to  which  locality  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  had  again  arrived.  Our  forces  were  now  in  full 
strength  and  excellent  spirit,  and  the  immediate  work  in  hand 
was  again  renewed,  with  such  mortal  injuries  already  inflicted 
on  the  opposing  army  as  it  had  no  means  to  recover  from  with 


506  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

corresponding  promptitude  and  perfection.  It  may,  in  fact,  be 
said,  in  view  of  the  results  now  known,  that  the  crisis  in  the 
fate  of  the  rebellion  was  reached,  and  the  fatal  blows  given 
during  the  month  of  May,  18G4.  Grant  had  fought  out  the 
issue  on  his  chosen  line,  and  the  final  victory  is  a  decisive  dem 
onstration  of  the  mistake  of  those  who  maintained  that  his 
present  position  might  have  been  equally  as  well  gained  with 
out  loss,  by  water  transportation — involving,  first,  a  great  dim 
inution  of  his  strength,  by  leaving  a  defensive  force  of  60,000 
for  the  protection  of  Washington,  which  he  had  steadily  covered 
during  every  step  of  his  course ;  and,  secondly,  the  full,  unim 
paired,  concentrated  strength  of  Lee's  army,  had  he  chosen  to 
rush  to  Richmond,  foregoing  an  almost  invited  invasion  of  Ma 
ryland,  Pennsylvania,  West  Virginia,  or  even  Ohio. 

Eapid  as  was  the  execution  of  this  last  movement  by  the 
left  fiaiik,  Lee,  having  the  inner  line,  was  apprised  of  it  in  sea 
son  to  prevent  any  serious  interruption  of  his  retreat  upon  the 
lines  about  Richmond.  He  hastily  abandoned  his  formidable 
works  on  and  before  the  South  Anna,  from  which  he  had  appa 
rently  expected  so  much,  and  fell  back,  with  little  intermediate 
skirmishing,  Grant's  movement  having  for  the  moment  widely 
separated  the  main  portions  of  the  two  armies,  toward  his  last 
defenses.  At  the  same  time,  he  saw  his  communications  seri 
ously  impaired  or  imminently  endangered.  Hunter  was  moving 
on  Lynchburg.  Kautz  had  already  cut  the  Danville  road. 
The  Gordonsville  and  Fredericksburg  roads  were  now  rendered 
entirely  useless,  and  whether  they  should  so  continue  through 
the  season  depended  on  events  which  he  could  hardly  hope  to 
control.  He  had  still,  however,  the  James  river  canal,  extend 
ing  westward,  and  the  Richmond  and  Petersburg  road,  contin 
ued  by  the  Weldon  and  other  roads  southward.  It  became  of 
the  last  importance  to  him  to  maintain  these  lines  of  trans 
portation  intact,  and  to  reopen  the  Danville  and  other  routes 
with  the  utmost  possible  expedition,  preventing  the  close  siege 
at  which  the  Union  general  appeared  to  be  aiming. 

Hanovertown,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Pamunkey,  is  twelve 
miles  distant  from  Meadow  Bridge  across  the  Chickahominy, 
as  also  from  Mechanicsvifle,  east  of  that  locality,  a  little  dia> 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  507 

tant  from  the  river,  and  about  twenty  miles  from  the  new  base ' 
of  supplies,  White  House — places  already  made  familiar  by  the 
campaign  of  1862.  In  order  to  carry  out  what  seems  to  have 
been  part  of  his  original  purpose,  it  was  now  necessary  for  Grant 
to  cross  the  Chickahominy  at  or  near  Meadow  Bridge,  or  fur 
ther  up  the  stream,  and  to  proceed  across  the  two  railroads 
leading  northward  from  Richmond,  to  the  left  bank  of  the 
James,  above  the  city.  How  far  the  details  of  his  plan  had 
come  to  be  modified  by  the  delays  interposed  by  the  enemy's 
obstinate  resistance,  and  by  the  results  of  subsidiary  move 
ments  elsewhere,  need  not  be  conjectured  here.  The  first  ope 
rations,  however,  after  reaching  the  Pamunkey,  appear  to  have 
looked  toward  the  cutting  of  the  Gordonsville  and  Fredericks- 
burg  railroads,  just  north  of  Richmond,  and  its  close  invest 
ment  by  the  aid  of  the  Army  of  the  James. 

On  Friday,  the  27th,  Meade's  headquarters  were  at  Mongo- 
hick  Church,  ten  miles  north  of  Hanovertown.  The  cavalry 
advance  which  had  crossed  the  Pamunkey  in  the  morning,  was 
pressing  forward,  and  the  entire  force  under  Sheridan,  which 
had  rejoined  the  army  on  the  25th,  was  busily  occupied  in  its 
appropriate  work.  Before  night,  on  Saturday,  the  whole  army 
was  across  the  Pamunkey,  elated  with  the  prospect  before  them, 
and  in  good  condition  for  immediate  action.  It  was  soon  ap 
parent,  from  the  cavalry  reconnoissances,  that  Lee  had  promptly 
occupied  Hanover  Court  House,  five  miles  south  of  the  South 
Anna,  and  fifteen  miles 'north-west  of  Hanovertown,  and  was 
swinging  around  to  confront  the  forces  of  Grant.  Breckin- 
ridge's  command,  fresh  from  its  victory  over  Sigel,  was  in  the 
van,  with  the  support  of  the  cavalry  of  Lomax  and  Wickham. 
To  ascertain  more  definitely  whether  the  enemy  was  extending 
his  line  from  Hanover  Court  House,  or  abandoning  that  place 
to  move  on  Richmond  in  full  force,  the  cavalry  divisions  of 
Torbert  and  Gregg  were  sent  out  by  the  road  on  the  north  of 
Tolopotamoy  creek.  They  became  briskly  engaged  with  Rebel 
cavalry  under  Hampton  and  Fitzhugh  Lee,  about  noon  of  Sat 
urday,  near  Hawes'  store,  six  or  eight  miles  south-west  of  Han 
overtown.  After  a  conflict  of  over  two  hours,  the  enemy  was 
defeated,  and  retired,  leaving  the  field  in  possession  of  our 


508  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

forces,  with  part  of  his  killed  and  wounded.  The  total  casu 
alties  on  each  side  numbered  about  four  hundred.  Wilson'a 
division  of  cavalry  was  meanwhile  continuing  the  destruction 
of  the  railroads  west  and  north  of  Sexton's  Junction. 

On  the  29th,  the  main  army  was  in  position  about  three  miles 
from  Hanovertown,  looking  south-westward.  Its  movements 
were  now  deliberate,  a  possible  attack  from  Lee  being  regarded 
as  imminent.  By  careful  reconnoissances  it  was  at  length 
found  that  the  main  rebel  force  was  lying  a  few  miles  distant 
beyond  Tolopotamoy  creek,  the  right  resting  on  Mechanics- 
ville  and  Shady  Gro.ve  Church,  the  right  center  near  Atlee's 
Station,  on  the  Gordonsville  Railroad,  and  the  left  still  cover 
ing  Hanover  Court  House.  Tolopotamoy  creek  is  a  small 
sluggish  stream,  first  running  south-east,  passing  nearly  oppo 
site  Atlee's  Station,  for  a  distance  of  about  five  miles,  then 
turning  at.  right  angles  and  running  north-eastwardly,  falling 
into  the  Pamunkey  four  or  five  miles  below  Hanovertown. 
Atlee's  Station  is  six  miles  from  Mechanicsville,  ]?y  a  road 
running  nearly  parallel  with  the  first  named  portion  of  the 
creek  and  with  the  Gordonsville  Railroad,  intermediate  between 
them.  Hanover  Court  House  is  eight  miles  further  north.  It 
it  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  line  was  long,  and,  with  Lee's 
force,  rather  attenuated — there  being  an  apparent  anxiety  to 
protect  the  railroads,  and  to  prevent  a  flanking  movement 
around  the  Rebel  left.  This  position  was  somewhat  modified 
on  the  30th,  as  officially  stated,  thougli  the  extremes  were  still 
Shady  Grove  Church  as  its  right,  and  Hanover  Court  House 
as  its  left. 

In  the  Union  line,  Wright's  Corps  held  the  extreme  right, 
extending  toward  Hanover  Court  House  (part  of  Getty's 
division  having  moved  on  that  place  on  the  29th,  and  to  Pease 
Station  on  the  30th),  Hancock's  corps  the  right  center,  on 
the  Shady  Grove  road,  Warren's  the  left  center,  on  the 
Mechanicsville  road,  and  Burnside's  the  extreme  left,  a  little 
to  the  rear,  and  threatening  an  advance  on  Richmond.  The 
right  and  rear  were  covered  by  the  Third  Cavalry  Division, 
under  Wilson,  while  the  Divisions  of  Gregg  and  Torbert  were 
moved  out  beyond  the  left.  The  latter  held  the  cross  roads  af 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  509 

Bethesda  Church,  six  miles  north  of  Cold  Harbor,  two  squad 
rons  doing  picket  duty  on  the  road  leading  from  the  former 
place  to  the  latter.  About  noon  on  the  30th,  these  pickets 
were  driven  in,  when  a  spirited  engagement  followed,  the 
brigades  of  Devins,  Merritt  and  Custer  coming  into  action 
before  the  enemy  was  finally  driven  back  toward  Cold  Har 
bor,  averting  his  intended  raid  around  our  left.  The  loss 
hardly  reached  one  hundred  men  on  the  Union  side. 

The  Fifth  corps,  also,  while  moving  to  the  left  by  the 
JVIeehanicsville  road,  was  attacked  by  Ewell,  about  five  o'clock 
on  the  same  day,  Rhodes'  division  being  supported  in  this 
assault  by  two  brigades  of  cavalry.  Crawford's  division,  hold 
ing  the  advance,  was  forced  back,  and  this  success  of  the 
enemy  was  so  vigorously  followed  up,  that  the  corps  of  War 
ren  was  in  danger  of  being  flanked.  Reinforcements  averted 
this  disaster,  and  the  enemy  was  compelled,  after  a  brisk  con 
test,  to  fall  back  in  the  direction  of  Cold  Harbor,  on  a  road 
nearly  parallel  with  that  down  which  Torbert  had  driven  his 
assailants.  While  the  engagement  of  Warren  with  Ewell  was 
going  on,  General  Meade  ordered  an  attack  along  the  entire 
line.  Only  Hancock  received  the  order  in  time  to  execute  it 
before  dark.  Dashing  upon  the  skirmish  line  of  his  adver 
sary,  he  captured  the  Rebel  rifle  pits,  and  kept  them  through 
the  night,  despite  a  midnight  attempt  to  dislodge  him.  War 
ren  meanwhile  held  his  ground  near  Mechanicsville,  seven  or 
eight  miles  from  Richmond,  while  the  enemy  was  hurrying 
troops  in  that  direction  to  save  his  right.  Burnside,  at  the 
same  time,  moved  forward  to  the  support  of  Warren. 

On  Tuesday  afternoon,  the  31st,  at  five  o'clock,  Sheridan 
attacked  a  force  of  Rebel  cavalry,  under  Fitzhugh  Lee,  near 
Cold  Harbor,  and,  after  a  sharp  battle,  routed  Lee,  together 
with  a  brigade  of  infantry  that  had  come  to  his  support,  and 
carried  the  position  assailed.  Sheridan  was  directed  to  hold 
his  ground,  and  Wright's  corps  withdrawn  from  the  extreme 
right,  was  sent  to  occupy  the  place.  Wilson,  the  same  even 
ing,  encountered  and  routed  a  brigade  of  Rebel  cavalry  near 
Hanover  Court  House. 

Cold  Harbor,  as  the  place  of  junction  of  several  roads,  and 


510  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

from  its  proximity  to  the  Chickahominy,  was  a  place  of  great 
military  importance,  in  the  movements  now  going  on.  The 
attempt  to  make  this  a  sallying  point  for  the  interruption  of 
our  communication  with  the  White  House,  or  for  cutting  off 
reinforcements  from  the  army  of  the  James,  had  thus  far  been 
foiled.  Meanwhile  it  was  not  actually  in  our  possession,  and 
the  enemy  was  moving  large  forces  in  that  direction,  on  the  1st 
of  June,  as  if  determined  to  prevent  its  permanent  occupation 
by  our  troops.  A  corresponding  movement  on  our  side  showed 
that  an  important  battle  was  soon  to  be  fought  in  that  neigh 
borhood. 

In  obedience  to  an  order  of  the  Lieutenant-General,  a  force 
of  seventeen  thousand  men,  under  command  of  Gen.  W.  F. 
Smith,  was  withdrawn  from  Butler's  command  at  Bermuda 
Hundred,  to  reenforce  the  army  of  the  Potomac.  Setting  out 
on  the  20th  of  May,  Smith  effected  a  junction  with  Wright's 
corps,  now  moving  to  the  left,  on  the  1st  of  June,  in  good  sea 
son  to  take  part  in  the  impending  engagement.  The  aid  thus 
brought  was  most  opportune. 

The  Sixth  Corps,  instead  of  finding  Cold  Harbor  merely 
awaiting  occupation,  as  appears  to  have  been  first  anticipated  by 
the  commanding  general,  from  the  report  he  had  received,  soon 
learned  that  the  position  was  to  be  contended  for  with  despera 
tion  by  the  enemy.  Wright  attacked  the  enemy's  works  there, 
as  ordered,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  June  1st,  while 
the  forces  under  Smith,  Hancock,  Burnside  and  Warren,  were 
prepared  to  advance  on  their  respective  fronts  at  the  word  of 
command.  The  enemy's  works  on  the  right  of  the  Sixth  Corps, 
were  carried,  and  the  first  line  in  front  of  Smith's,  after  severe 
fighting,  which  lasted  until  dark.  Smith,  however,  found  the 
position  he  had  gained  untenable.  While  these  operations 
were  going  on,  the  enemy  repeatedly  attacked  each  corps  not 
engaged  in  the  assault  at  the  left,  but  was  constantly  repulsed 
with  loss.  Several  hundred  prisoners  were  taken  from  the 
Bebels,  and  their  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  must  have  been 
very  considerable.  During  the  night,  they  lost  still  further  by 
several  ineffectual  attempts  to  regain  what  the  Sixth  Corps  had 
taken  from  them. 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  511 

On  the  2d,  in  the  afternoon,  there  was  a  spirited  action 
near  Bethesda  Church,  in  which  the  Ninth  Corps  was  engaged, 
and  some  skirmishing  took  place  at  other  points  during  the  day, 
the  two  armies  now  concentrating  for  a  more  determined  strug 
gle,  for  the  possession  of  Cold  Harbor.  The  Rebel  move 
ments  threatened,  as  we  have  seen,  the  maintenance  of  un 
obstructed  communication  with  White  House,  and  opposed  the 
advance  of  our  forces  on  the  left  to  the  Chickahominy,  the 
hither  side  of  which  Lee  was  endeavoring  to  defend.  To  Gen. 
Grant  it  seemed  essential  to  hold  this  ground,  and  the  struggle 
in  this  vicinity  was  one  of  the  most  desperate  of  the  campaign. 
Destructive  as  had  been  the  engagements  in  the  Wilderness 
and  at  Spottsylvania,  the  mortality  of  the  four  days,  from  the 
31st  of  May  to  the  close  of  the  3d  of  June,  was,  perhaps,  un 
surpassed  by  that  of  any  like  period  during  the  war.  Nor 
were  the  ten  days  immediately  following  unattended  with  seri 
ous  losses. 

Between  the  Fifth  Corps,  on  the  Mechanicsville  road,  and 
the  Sixth,  which  had  carried  a  portion  of  the  enemy's  work'a 
before  Cold  Harbor,  the  Eighteenth  Corps,  under  Smith,  had 
intrenched  itself,  closing  up  the  line.  Part  of  the  corps  wag 
deployed  along  the  road,  on  the  night  of  the  2d,  to  patrol  the 
transportation  trains  of  the  Fifth. 

At  five  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  June,  the  10th 
Massachusetts  Light  Battery  fired  the  signal  gun,  which  noti 
fied  the  waiting  lines  that  the  moment  had  come  for  a  simul 
taneous  advance  to  the  general  attack  which  had  been  ordered. 
Every  corps  in  the  front,  promptly  and  cheerily  responded  to 
the  call.  The  works  in  front  of  the  Second  Corps  were  too 
formidable  to  be  carried,  though  bravely  assailed,  and  our  forces 
retired  at  length  with  serious  loss.  Some  of  the  troops,  coming 
within  fifty  or  a  hundred  yards  of  the  enemy's  position,  halted, 
and  intrenched,  commencing  a  "  siege,"  instead  of  returning 
under  a  destructive  fire.  Even  here,  the  Rebel  sharpshooters 
picked  off  many  men.  Griffin's  division  of  the  Fifth  Corps, 
charged  across  an  open  field,  in  spite  of  a  deadly  artillery  fire, 
driving  the  enemy  from  the  woods,  and  occupying  his  first  line 
of  works.  This  position  was  persistently  held  by  our  forces, 


612  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

under  a  galling  fire,  until  dark.  The  remainder  of  the  corps 
was  chiefly  engaged  with  similar  results.  The  Ninth  Corps 
charged  bravely  up  to  the  enemy's  works,  intrenching,  in  por 
tions  of  its  line,  within  less  than  a  hundred  yards  of  the 
Rebel  works,  which  were  found  too  formidable  to  be  success 
fully  assaulted.  The- infantry  and  artillery  of  this  corps  were 
warmly  engaged  during  the  entire  day.  The  Eighteenth  Corps 
again  made  a  courageous  and  persistent  attack  on  the  Rebel 
lines  in  its  front,  under  a  terrible  fire  of  musketry  and  artillery, 
but  only  gained  an  advanced  line  of  rifle  pits,  after  severe 
losses.  The  Sixth  Corps  continued  to  hold  the  works  it  had 
taken  on  the  1st,  and  was  to-day  less  actively  engaged. 

During  the  night,  the  enemy  violently  assaulted  different 
portions  of  our  lines,  but  was  unable  to  dislodge  any  portion 
of  the  Union  army  from  its  position,  and  paid  dearly  for  the 
attempt.  Under  cover  of  this  attack,  it  is  probable  that  a 
withdrawal  had  already  been  commenced  by  those  parts  of  the 
Rebel  forces  in  front  of  the  Fifth,  Ninth  and  Eighteenth 
Corps.  In  the  morning,  at  least,  they  were  found  to  have 
retired  to  new  ground.  Lee  was  not  yet  prepared  to  fall  back 
beyond  the  Chickahominy,  but  still  showed  a  determined  pur 
pose  to  cover  Mechanicsville  and  the  railroads  and  canal,  run 
ning  northward  and  westward.  Both  parties  might  naturally 
claim  a  victory.  Each  had  prevented  his  adversary  from  ac 
complishing  his  main  purpose,  and  each  had  inflicted  serious 
loss  on  the  other.  The  prestige,  however,  was  clearly  with  the 
Union  army,  which  had  compelled  its  opponent  to  take  up  a 
new  position,  and  had  evinced  that  unconquerable  determina 
tion  which  actuated  its  great  leader,  showing  conclusively  that 
the  purpose  in  hand  would  never  be  abandoned. 

On  the  following  evening  an  attack  was  made  on  the  Second 
Corps,  and  on  a  portion  of  the  Sixth,  but  was  repulsed  ;  and 
though  again  and  again  renewed,  each  assault  was  attended 
with  severe  slaughter  to  the  enemy.  These  conflicts  were  re 
newed,  more  or  less,  during  several  days  following,  with  similar 
results,  the  Union  losses  being  comparatively  slight.  Our 
forces  were  engaged  in  mining  approaches  to  the  Rebel  lines, 
while  neither  side  abandoned  any  part  of  its  works. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  513 

After  the  succession  of  desperate  conflicts,  ending  with  the 
3d  of  June,  however,  Gen.  Grant  had  decided  on  another  move 
ment  by  the  left  flank,  more  startling  than  any  that  had  prece 
ded.  This  purpose  was  so  well  concealed  from  the  Rebel  com 
mander,  that  he  knew  nothing  of  it  until  the  entire  army  of 
Grant  was  found,  one  morning,  to  be  gone.  Nor  was  this  tardy 
information  accompanied  by  any  clue  to  the  place  toward  which 
the  new  movement  was  tending.  It  appears,  in  fact,  that  Lee 
at  first  surmised  an  approach  to  Richmond  by  Malvern  Hill  as 
the  design  of  his  opponent,  and  lost  no  time  in  a  transfer  of 
his  army  to  meet  that  false  expectation,  to  which  countenance 
was  given  by  a  covering  advance  in  that  direction,  on  the  part 
of  a  small  Union  force. 

On  the  evening  of  the  12th  of  June,  every  thing  having  been 
prepared  for  this  change  during  the  preceding  days,  a  general 
movement  to  the  south  side  of  the  James  was  commenced. 
The  Eighteenth  Corps  marched  directly  to  the  White  House, 
embarking  thence  on  transports  for  Bermuda  Landing,  where 
they  arrived  on  Tuesday,  the  14th.  Gen.  Grant  in  person 
reached  the  headquarters  of  Gen.  Butler  on  the  same  day. 
The  Second  and  Fifth  Corps  advanced  by  the  way  of  Long 
Bridge,  below  the  White  Oak  Swamp,  across  the  Chickahominy, 
to  Wilcox's  Landing,  on  the  James  river.  The  Sixth  and 
Ninth  Corps  crossed  the  Chickahominy  at  Jones'  Bridge,  two 
miles  farther  down  the  river,  and  moved  directly  south  by  Charles 
City  Court  House  to  the  James.  The  entire  movement  was 
executed  with  celerity  and  in  excellent  order,  no  casualty  of  any 
kind  having  occurred  during  the  march.  The  wounded  had 
been  previously  removed,  and  the  government  property  on  the 
Pamunkey  secured.  On  the  14th  the  troops  commenced  cross 
ing  the  James,  and  arrived  promptly  on  the  south  bank,  while 
the  enemy,  apparently  preparing  for  an  attack  on  Richmond 
from  the  north  side,  by  way  of  Malvern  Hill,  immediately 
moved  in  that  direction,  without  dispatching  any  troops  south 
ward  from  the  city  toward  Petersburg,  now  actually  threatened 
in  heavy  force. 

While  these  operations  were  going  on  near  the  Rebel  capital, 
Hunter  was  advancing  up  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  sweeping 
33 


614  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

before  him  the  little  force  now  left  in  his  front.  At  Stauufon, 
prior  to  the  13th,  after  a  decisive  victory  at  Piedmont,  he  had 
taken  possession,  and  destroyed,  several  valuable  factories  and 
founderies  engaged  in  furnishing  supplies  to  the  Rebel  armies. 
The  amount  of  property  destroyed  was  estimated  at  three  mil 
lions  of  dollars.  An  expedition  had  been  sent  out  to  Waynes- 
boro,  on  the  railroad  leading  to  Gordonsville,  which  destroyed 
bridges  and  tore  up  the  track  for  miles.  Over  one  thousand 
prisoners,  from  Imboden's  and  other  Rebel  commands,  were 
sent  backward  by  Buffalo  Gap  and  Huttonsville,  to  be  trans 
ferred  to  Washington.  On  the  13th,  Hunter  again  moved  his 
forces,  advancing  rapidly  toward  Lynchburg,  to  the  defense  of 
which  Lee  was  obliged  to  detach  part  of  the  troops  now  oper 
ating  with  him  at  Richmond. 

The  bold  attempt  to  capture  Petersburg,  which  now  had  a 
slender  defense,  aside  from  the  hastily  organized  militia  of  the 
town,  and  some  not  very  important  works  on  the  south  side, 
not  heretofore  menaced,  seemed  on  the  point  of  success.  So 
well  assured,  apparently,  was  the  result,  that  the  very  winds 
were  charged  with  the  tale,  and  rumor  proclaimed  it  through 
the  land  as  an  accomplished  fact. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  of  June,  soon  after  mid 
night,  a  cavalry  column,  under  Gen.  Kautz,  of  Gillmore's  corps 
(the  Tenth),  with  a  battery,  set  out  for  a  reconnoissance  south 
of  Petersburg.  After  a  toilsome  march  of  twenty-five  miles, 
by  winding  routes,  this  force  reached  the  outer  picket  lines, 
three  miles  from  the  city,  and  drove  the  outposts  within  the 
outer  intrenchrnents,  a  mile  distant.  After  a  lively  contest  for 
half  an  hour,  these  intrenchrnents  were  captured,  the  enemy 
again  retiring  to  their  inner  line.  The  object  of  this  dash 
having  been  accomplished,  and  the  force  being  manifestly  inad 
equate  to  take  the  place,  which  was  now  astir  with  preparations 
for  defense,  Kautz  promptly  returned  again  to  his  camp  near 
Point  of  Rocks,  arriving  the  next  day.  An  immediate  ad 
vance  of  Gilimore's  corps,  had  that  been  possible,  might,  per 
haps,  have  secured  possession  of  the  city,  before  sufficient 
reinforcements  could  arrive.  But  the  position  of  Bermuda 
Hundred  could  not  be  abandoned.  Without  such  an  advance. 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  515 

the  alarm  now  given  must  nave  been  injurious  rather  than  oth 
erwise. 

On  the  16th,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  being  now  well  up  in 
the  vicinity  of  City  Point,  and  the  enemy  having  abandoned 
his  works  in  front  of  our  lines  at  Bermuda  Hundred,  Gen. 
Butler  ordered  an  advance  on  the  Richmond  and  Petersburg 
railroad,  with  a  view  to  cut  the  communications  between  the 
two  cities.  After  destroying  two  miles  of  the  track,  however, 
this  force  (a  portion  of  GillmoreV  corps),  was  obliged  to  retire 
to  its  former  position,  the  advance  of  Lee's  army  having  now 
come  up,  on  the  way  from  its  position  at  Cold  Harbor,  to  the 
rescue  of  Petersburg. 

Meanwhile,  on  the  14th,  Gen.  Smith,  with  fifteen  thousand 
men,  including  "Wilde's  colored  division,  had  begun  to  move  on 
Petersburg  on  the  south,  and  Hancock  was  to  follow  as  rapidly 
as  possible  with  his  corps.  The  city  of  Petersburg,  on  the 
south  bank  of  the  Appomattox  river,  is  about  twelve  miles 
south-west  from  City  Point,  at  the  confluence  of  that  river 
with  the  James.  The  two  places  are  connected  by  railway, 
running  along  the  left  bank  of  the  Appomattox — part  of  the 
way  at  some  distance  from  the  river.  The  city  is  about  twenty- 
six  miles  from  Richmond,  by  railroad,  and  its  position  is  strat 
egically  important  with  reference  to  the  latter  place,  from 
the  fact  that  three  of  the  principal  railroads  running  south 
ward  radiate  from  this  point,  leaving  only  the  Danville  railroad 
(not  fully  completed  until  since  the  commencement  of  the  re 
bellion),  as  the  only  one  southward  connecting  directly  with 
Richmond,  or  available  after  the  occupation  of  Petersburg. 
It  was  not  without  reason,  therefore,  that  this  place  was  re 
garded  as  substantially  the  key  to  the  Rebel  capital. 

Gen.  Smith  appeared  before  the  defenses  of  Petersburg  on 
the  morning  of  the  15th.  The  enemy's  works  had  now  been 
greatly  strengthened,  and  were  well  manned.  Smith  carried  a 
line  of  works  at  Beatty's  House,  the  colored  troops  leading  the 
assault  with  great  intrepidity,  and  driving  the  enemy  from  the 
rifle  pits.  Their  gallantry  was  specially  commended  by  their 
commanding  general.  There  was  a  heavy  fire  of  Rebel  artil 
lery,  and  the  main  lines  of  the  enemy  were  obstinately  held 


616  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

till  the  close  of  the  day.  At  about  half-past  seven  o'clock,  in 
the  evening,  our  forces  attacked  and  succeeded  in  carrying  the 
principal  line  of  intrenchments,  taking  thirteen  cannon,  and 
over  three  hundred  prisoners  from  the  command  of  Beaure- 
gard.  The  line  thus  taken  was  two  miles  from  the  city.  Han 
cock,  through  an  unforeseen  delay,  having  encamped  for  the 
night,  on  the  14th,  a  short  distance  from  the  James,  did  not  get  up 
until  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  16th,  when  he  formed 
his  line  of  battle  on  Smith's  left.  At  sunrise,  before  the  Sec 
ond  Corps  had  thrown  up  any  intrenchments,  the  enemy  opened 
a  terrific  fire  on  our  men,  who  were  in  an  open  field  about  five 
hundred  yards  from  the  Rebel  batteries.  Skirmishers  were 
subsequently  thrown  out,  and  the  batteries  quieted,  while,  the 
corps  was  intrenching  itself.  In  the  evening,  a  charge  was 
made  on  the  enemy's  works,  and  one  line  carried,  but  the  as 
sailing  party  was  unable  to  advance  further.  The  Eighteenth 
Corps  gained  no  decided  advantage  during  the  day. 

The  opportunity  for  the  capture  of  Petersburg  by  surprise 
ended  with  the  reconnoitering  expedition  under  Kautz.  There 
still  remained,  apparently,  the  chance  for  getting  into  the  city 
before  any  considerable  portion  of  Lee's  army  could  come  up. 
This  was  to  have  been  attempted  by  the  corps  of  Smith  and 
Hancock,  on  the  15th.  As  demonstrated  by  the  movement 
under  Gillmore  to  cut  the  Richmond  and  Petersburg  railroad, 
on  the  16th,  Lee's  army  was  close  at  hand  on  that  day,  and 
thereafter  the  whole  power  of  the  enemy,  under  Lee  and  Beau- 
regard  combined,  was  to  be  met,  and  once  more  in  strongly 
intrenched  positions.  The  loss  of  the  twenty-four  hours, 
between  the  mornings  of  the  15th  and  16th,  postponed  the  final 
result  for  many  wearisome  months,  and  greatly  disheartened 
the  many  in  whose  anticipations  Petersburg  was  already  taken 
by  shrewd  strategy,  and  with  little  loss.  Smith's  corps  was 
promptly  on  the  ground,  all  that  fateful  day.  Hancock's  corps, 
also  expected,  was  absent  until  the  following  morning.  This 
is  said,  not  in  censure,  but  as  a  historical  fact,  which  at  the 
time  was  a  source  of  popular  regret,  and  which  seems  to  be 
the  hinging  point  of  the  new  campaign  now  about  to  open. 
The  combined  Armies  of  the  Potomac  and  the  James  now 


LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  517 

assumed  once  more  the  attitude  of  what  has  been  popularly, 
though  inaccurately,  termed  a  "  siege."  The  Tenth  Corpg 
held  its  fortified  position  at  Bermuda  Hundred,  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Appomattox.  The  right  of  the  Eighteenth  Corps, 
in  the  position  it  had  gained  on  the  15th,  extended  near  that 
river.  Our  Navy  forces  commanded  the  mouth  of  that  river, 
and  the  space  intervening  between  these  two  corps  was  prac 
tically  occupied.  The  Second  Corps,  as  we  have  seen,  had 
taken  position  on  the  immediate  left  of  the  Eighteenth,  on  the 
morning  of  the  16th.  The  Ninth  Corps  arrived  on  the  left  of 
the  Second,  in  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  and  made  a  suc 
cessful  charge,  on  the  17th,  gaining  a  position  deemed  of  spe 
cial  value,  and  taking  two  redoubts.  The  Fifth  and  Sixth 
Corps  came  into  position  on  the  17th,  still  further  to  the  left. 
All  these  forces  were  at  once  busily  engaged  in  fortifying,  with 
occasional  skirmishes  or  assaults  during  several  days  following. 
Thus  had  passed  six  weeks  of  great  activity,  of  constant 
marching  or  fighting,  of  severe  losses,  and  of  apparently  inde 
cisive  results.  But  Lee,  for  the  first  time,  had  thus  far  been 
kept  exclusively  on  the  defensive.  The  country  had  hoped, 
under  the  generalship  of  Grant,  an  early  capture  of  Richmond, 
with  the  destruction  of  Lee's  grand  army.  There  was  a  feel 
ing  of  uncomplaining,  and  mostly  unexpressed,  disappointment. 
The  President,  trusting  the  well-tested  military  qualities  of  the 
Lieutenant-General,  confident  in  the  valor  of  our  soldiers,  in 
stant  in  providing  that  the  necessary  reinforcements  and  sup 
plies  should  not  be  lacking,  had  less  sanguine  expectations,  at 
the  outset  of  this  movement,  and  an  unshaken  faith  always  in 
the  great  cause,  and  in  the  strong  hand  to  which  the  guidance 
of  our  armies  had  been  specially  intrusted.  He  felt  this  no 
less  with  the  army  at  bay  before  Petersburg,  than  when  it  de 
fiantly  crossed  the  Rapidan.  And,  in  truth,  this  campaign  was 
the  one  which,  tardily  though  the  result  may  be  thought  to 
have  appeared,  yet  actually  turned  the  crisis  of  the  war. 


518  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Campaign  in  Georgia. — From  Chattanooga  to  Marietta. — Early 
Movements  of  Sherman  and  Thomas. — Capture  of  Dalton. — Battle 
of  Resacca. — Retreat  of  Johnston. — Slight  Engagements. — Occu 
pation  of  Kingston. — Destruction  of  Rebel  Works  at  Rome. — Ad- 
Vance  to  Cassville. — Battle  near  Dallas  and  Powder  Spring. — Oc 
cupation  of  Acworth  and  Big  Shanty. — Attempts  on  Sherman's  line 
of  Communications. — Kenesaw  Mountain. — Battle  of  Nickojack 
Creek. — Pause  at  Marietta. — Louisiana  and  Arkansas. — Another 
Invasion  of  Kentucky. — Movements  of  the  Navy. 

ON  the  promotion  of  Gen.  Grant  to  the  chief  command  of 
all  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  the  direction  and  control 
of  the  main  army  of  the  West,  at  and  beyond  Chattanooga, 
devolved  upon  Maj.-Gen.  William  T.  Sherman.  This  officer 
had  borne  a  conspicuous  part  in  most  of  the  military  move 
ments  of  Grant  in  the  West,  from  the  field  of  Shiloh,  on  which 
his  services  were  invaluable,  to  the  movement  from  Port  Gib 
son,  ending  in  the  siege  and  capture  of  Vicksburg ;  and,  at  a 
later  period,  had  succeeded  him  as  commander  of  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee,  on  the  consolidation  of  the  Western  armies  un 
der  Grant,  after  the  capture  of  Chattanooga.  The  grand  army 
now  placed  under  command  of  Sherman,  originally  comprised 
the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  to  the  command  of  which  Maj.- 
Gen.  James  B.  McPherson  succeeded ;  the  Army  of  the  Cum 
berland,  under  Maj.-Gen.  George  H.  Thomas;  and  the  Army 
of  the  Ohio,  under  Maj.-Gen.  John  M.  Schofield.  This 
army  was  strengthened,  in  preparation  for  a  campaign  into 
Georgia,  by  the  addition  of  the  Twentieth  Army  Corps,  under 
Maj.-Gen.  Joseph  Hooker,  comprising  the  consolidated  Eleventh 
and  Twelfth  Corps,  transferred  from  the  East,  and  attached  to 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland ;  and  by  troops  newly  raised  in 
several  Western  States.  A  large  cavalry  force  had  also  been 
gathered  and  well  equipped,  under  Gens.  Stoneman,  Rousseau, 
Garrard,  Kilpatrick,  and  others.  In  numbers,  organization. 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

and  condition,  this  army  was  hardly  surpassed  by  any  as  yet 
brought  into  the  field  during  the  war. 

After  the  capture  of  Lookout  Mountain  and  Mission  Ridge, 
near  the  close  of  November,  giving  entire  security  to  the  com 
munications  of  the  army,  previously  threatened,  no  material 
advance  southward  had  been  attempted  during  the  winter. 
The  close  of  February,  1864,  found  Sherman  returned,  with 
the  portion  of  the  army  then  under  his  command,  to  Vicks- 
burg,  after  a  bold  movement  eastward  from  that  place  to  Me 
ridian,  occupying  three  weeks.  For  the  want  of  successful  co 
operation  on  the  part  of  the  cavalry  force  which  was  to  sustain 
him,  or  from  other  causes,  his  purpose,  whatever  it  may  have 
been,  was  substantially  defeated,  and  it  was  now  his  first  work' 
to  return  with  dispatch  to  the  main  army.  This  he  success 
fully  accomplished.  Meanwhile,  on  the  21st  of  February,  a 
force  under  Gen.  Palmer  had  been  advanced  by  Grant  to  Ring- 
gold,  eighteen  miles  south  of  Chattanooga,  permanently  occu 
pying  that  place.  Tunnel  Hill  having  been  taken  on  the  26th, 
after  severe  skirmishing,  Thomas  moved,  on  the  1st  of  March, 
toward  Dalton,  a  town  situated  about  twenty  miles  south-east 
from  Ringgold,  at  the  point  where  the  East  Tennessee  railroad 
crosses  the  Georgia  State  road,  as  well  as  the  point  of  junction 
of  that  branch  of  the  railroad  extending  to  Chattanooga  with 
the  former  road.  As  this  advance  was  manifestly  cooperative 
with  that  of  Sherman  eastward  from  Vicksburg  toward  Ala 
bama,  the  abandonment  of  the  latter  expedition  was  speedily 
followed  by  the  withdrawal  of  Thomas  from  beyond  Tunnel 
Hill  to  Ringgold,  which  was  accomplished  on  the  7th  of  March. 
The  Army  of  the  Ohio,  in  the  command  of  which  Gen.  Scho- 
field  had  succeeded  Gen.  Foster,  had  been,  during  the  winter, 
in  East  Tennessee,  but  advanced  to  take  part  in  the  concen 
trated  movement  into  Georgia,  which  was  now  to  be  made  by 
the  grand  army  of  Sherman. 

The  primary  objective  point  of  the  campaign,  in  regard  to 
which,  and  other  military  plans,  Grant  made  a  visit  to  Chatta 
nooga,  after  assuming  the  duties  of  generalrin-chief  at  Wash 
ington,  was  Atlanta.  This  was  one  of  the  most  thriving  cities 
in  Georgia  prior  to  the  war,  being  a  prominent  point  in  tho 


520  LITE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

railroad  system  of  the  Southern  States,  and  a  place  of  great 
use  to  the  rebellion,  no  less  for  its  manufactures  than  as  a  de 
pot  of  supplies.  To  capture  Atlanta,  and  to  break  up  the 
railroad  communications  there  centering,  was  to  strike  a  blow, 
not  only  at  the  heart  of  the  Empire  State  of  the  South,  but 
also  at  whatever  of  "  Confederate  "  vitality  now  remained  be 
tween  the  Savannah  river  and  the  Mississippi.  The  occupation 
of  this  point  also  looked  directly  toward  ulterior  objects  still 
more  important  than  the  capture  of  a  place  which  it  seemed 
likely  to  cost  as  much  to  hold  as  to  take. 

During  the  month  of  April,  the  final  preparations  for  the 
advance  were  completed.  On  the  last  few  days  of  the  month, 
concentrating  movements  were  made,  and  the  various  com 
mands  were  in  readiness  for  the  order  to  march.  The  First 
Division  of  the  Twentieth  Corps,  under  Gen.  Williams,  had 
been  doing  duty  along  the  line  of  the  Nashville  and  Chatta 
nooga  railroad ;  the  Second  (Geary's)  had  been  stationed  at 
Bridgeport,  Alabama ;  and  the  Third  (Butterfield's)  at  Lookout 
Valley.  All  united  at  the  latter  point,  on  the  3d  of  May,  and  the 
whole  corps  began  its  march  on  the  same  day,  crossing  Lookout 
Mountain,  and  encamping  for  the  night  in  Chattanooga  Valley, 
two  miles  south-eastward  from  the  town  of  Chattanooga ;  while 
McPherson,  with  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  was  executing  a 
movement  still  further  to  the  right,  by  Snake  Creek  Gap,  with 
a  view  to  flank  the  enemy  in  his  defensive  line  before  Dalton. 
Hooker  advanced  on  the  4th  and  5th,  by  Gordon  s  Mills,  to 
the  foot  of  the  north-western  slope  of  Taylor's  Ridge,  at  a 
point  twelve  miles  south-west  from  Ringgoid.  His  corps  en 
camped  here  during  the  next  day,  reducing  its  transportation 
train  to  the  minimum,  and  advanced  across  Taylor's  Ridge  on 
the  7th,  at  Nickojack  trace,  five  miles  south-westward  from  the 
last  camping  ground.  On  completing  this  movement,  the  en 
emy  was  found  in  a  very  strong  position  at  Buzzard's  Roost, 
directly  in  front.  The  corps  remained  here  in  position,  three 
or  four  miles  from  the  enemy's  works,  until  the  morning  of 
the  10th. 

Meanwhile,  Thomas,  in  the  center,  from  his  advanced  position 
at  Ringgoid,  had  marched  to  Tunnel  Hill,  dislodging  the  en- 


LITE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  521 

emy  with  no  great  difficulty,  and  occupying  the  place  on  the 
6th  of  May.  Schofield  held  the  left,  advancing  by  way  of 
Cleveland  and  the  line  of  the  East  Tennessee  and  Georgia 
railroad,  encountering  Wheeler's  Rebel  cavalry  on  the  9th,  the 
advance  being  temporarily  interrupted,  with  the  loss  of  a  small 
number  of  prisoners.  The  enemy,  however,  was  repulsed 
without  any  severe  fighting.  As  our  forces  advanced,  both  the 
railroads  were  put  in  repair.  Thomas  advanced  from  Tunnel 
Hill,  and  appeared  before  the  enemy's  position  north  of  Dai- 
ton,  supported  by  Schofield's  forces  on  the  left,  and  by  Hook 
er's  corps  on  the  right,  May  9th  ;  McPherson,  meantime,  was 
executing  his  important  movement  on  the  extreme  right.  The 
Rebel  position  on  Rocky-face  Ridge,  and  at  Buzzard's  Roost, 
was  of  the  most  formidable  character,  and  was  apparently 
thought  by  the  enemy  sufficiently  impregnable  to  withstand  a 
siege,  and  to  delay  further  movements  into  Georgia,  if  not  alto 
gether  to  arrest  them.  Here  they  first  seriously  contested  the 
advance  of  Sherman. 

The  Rebel  army  in  Georgia  was  now  commanded  by  Gen. 
Joseph  E.  Johnston,  who  had  succeeded  Bragg  after  his  fatal 
failure  which  gave  our  armies  possession  of  East  Tennessee, 
and  a  foothold  on  the  border  of  Georgia.  His  leading  gen 
erals  were  Hood,  Polk  and  Hardee,  each  in  command  of  an 
army  corps.  He  had  also  a  large  cavalry  force  under  Gens. 
"Wheeler,  Forrest,  Rhoddy,  and  other  commanders.  The  en 
emy's  great  advantage  in  position,  in  knowledge  of  the  country, 
and  in  the  fact  that  every  mile's  advance  by  Sherman  added  a 
new  difficulty  and  hazard  to  his  communications,  was  partly 
balanced  by  the  superiority  of  numbers  on  the  Union  side. 
The  result  of  this  advance  was  regarded  by  President  Lincoln 
rather  with  hope  than  with  any  assured  expectation.  The 
Rebel  leaders,  on  the  other  hand,  affected  a  consciousness  of 
entire  security,  so  utterly  impracticable  did  they  pronounce  the 
advance  of  so  large  an  army  so  far  away  from  its  base,  with 
such  force  to  encounter  as  that  now  confronting  Sherman.  In 
fact,  serious  difficulty  had  for  a  time  been  experienced  in  keep 
ing  up  the  line  from  Nashville  to  Chattanooga,  without  its  fur 
ther  prolongation.  The  accumulation  of  supplies  at  the  latter 


522  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

place,  however,  rendered  it  practically  a  new  base,  for  the  time, 
and  more  especially  since  the  enemy  had  been  almost  entirely 
driven  out  from  East  Tennessee. 

While  the  several  movements  on  the  left  and  center,  just 
indicated,  were  taking  place,  McPherson,  with  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  moving  by  the  road  to  Lafayette,  on  the  extreme 
right,  had  passed  through  Snake  Creek  Gap,  turning  the  Rebel 
position.  Hooker's  corps,  moving  south  about  twelve  miles 
from  its  location  in  front  of  the  enemy's  lines,  where  it  had 
remained  since  crossing  Taylor's  Ridge,  on  the  7th,  passed 
through  Snake  Creek  Gap  on  the  10th  and  llth,  effecting  a 
junction  with  McPherson.  On  discovering  this  completely 
successful  flanking  movement  in  heavy  force,  the  Rebel  general 
ordered  a  retreat  to  Resacca,  which  commenced  on  the  10th. 
Sherman  occupied  Dalton  on  the  12th,  having  at  once  secured 
an  important  point,  and  dislodged  the  enemy  from  a  position 
of  great  strength,  without  any  more  serious  engagement  than 
had  attended  his  steady  pressure  on  the  front  of  the  enemy's 
position  north  of  Dalton. 

Resacca  is  an  important  railroad  station,  about  fifteen  miles 
south  of  Dalton,  and  some  distance  north  of  the  Oostenaula 
river.  The  new  position  taken  by  the  enemy  near  this  point 
was  on  a  commanding  ridge,  densely  covered  with  woods  and 
thickets,  and  both  naturally  and  artificially  of  great  strength. 
On  the  13th,  Hooker's  corps  moved  toward  the  front  of 
the  enemy's  position,  and  skirmishers  were  thrown  out,  who 
became  partially  engaged  with  the  opposing  skirmish  line, 
without  bringing  on  any  serious  fighting.  On  the  same 
day,  McPherson's  command  advanced,  a  force  sent  out  by  him 
striking  the  railroad  and  capturing  nine  trains  with  supplies, 
retiring  from  Dalton.  On  the  14th,  Howard's  corps  (the 
Fourth),  now  on  the  left  of  Hooker,  became  heavily  engaged 
with  the  enemy  at  Resacca,  and  in  the  afternoon  was  forced 
back  for  some  distance,  when  the  First  and  Second  Divisions 
of  the  Twentieth  Corps  were  moved  up  in  support.  These  re- 
enforcements  arrived  at  nightfall,  and  the  enemy's  column  was 
checked  and  forced  back,  the  Union  forces  sleeping  on  their 
arms.  Early  in  the  morning,  a  reconnoissance  was  sent  out  to 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  523 

discover  tne  enemy's  position,  and  soon  after  noon,  the  Third 
Division  of  Hooker's  corps  having  in  the  meantime  been 
brought  up,  a  combined  attack,  in  which  the  latter  division  led 
the  way,  was  made  upon  the  enemy's  works,  which  forced  him 
to  abandon  his  outer  line.  Wood's  brigade,  of  Butterfield's 
division,  also  captured  one  of  the  inner  forts,  with  a  battery  of 
five  guns,  but  being  exposed  to  a  concentrated  fire,  was  obliged 
to  withdraw.  Still  strong  in  his  inner  mtrenchnients,  the  en 
emy  made  three  successive  sallies,  in  heavy  masses,  but  was 
repulsed  each  time  with  severe  loss.  Darkness  closing  upon 
the  field,  our  men  again  lay  down  in  line  of  battle,  with  their 
arms  at  their  side.  Before  daylight  on  the  next  morning,  our 
skirmishers  discovered  that  Johnston  had  hastily  retreated, 
leaving  his  dead  unburied,  and  his  wounded  on  the  field.  Thus 
terminated  the  battle  of  Resacca,  the  first  heavy  engagement 
of  the  campaign.  The  losses  were  considerable  on  each  side, 
those  of  the  Union  forces  being  somewhat  the  most  bevere  in 
killed  and  wounded  (estimated  at  3,600).  Gens.  Hooker, 
"VVillich,  Kilpatrick  and  Manson  were  wounded ;  the  three  latter 
seriously.  The  Rebel  corps  of  Polk  and  Hardee  lost  several 
hundred  prisoners,  and  the  killed  and  wounded  on  that  side 
were  estimated  at  2,000.  Seven  pieces  of  artillery  were  cap 
tured  from  the  enemy,  and  three  of  his  general  officers  were 
reported  killed. 

Pursuit  was  commenced  on  the  morning  of  the  16th,  How 
ard  leading  the  advance  in  the  center,  but  the  main  army  of 
Johnston  was  not  overtaken  during  the  next  three  days.  If 
we  except  a  little  unimportant  skirmishing  with  his  rear  guard, 
near  the  close  of  that  day,  some  fighting  at  Adairsville  on 
the  railroad,  about  ten  miles  north  of  Kingston,  and  a  brief 
engagement  with  Newton's  division  of  the  Fourth  Corps,  on 
the  17th,  three  miles  beyond  Calhoun,  the  enemy  made  no 
stand  until  he  had  reached  Cassville.  Near  this  place,  toward 
night,  on  the  19th  of  May,  an  attack  on  Hooker's  foremost 
division,  advancing  on  the  right  center,  was  made  by  Hardee's 
corps,  and  some  skirmishing  followed,  but  a  general  engage 
ment  was  avoided,  the  remainder  of  Hooker's  corps  not  having 
come  up.  Our  advanced  forces  intrenched  themselves  in  front 


524  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

of  the  enemy's  lines  at  Cassville,  but  the  morning  of  the  20th 
again  found  Johnston's  army  gone.  Here,  as  before  Dal  ton,  a 
retreat  without  giving  earnest  battle  had  been  compelled  by  a 
rapid  advance  of  McPherson  on  the  right,  threatening  John 
ston's  left  flank.  Cassville,  not  far  from  the  Etowah  river,  is  a 
few  miles  beyond  Kingston,  the  point  from  which  a  branch 
railroad  diverges  westward  to  the  important  manufacturing 
town  of  Rome,  at  the  junction  of  the  Oostenaula  and  Etowah, 
forming  the  Coosa  river.  Kingston  and  Rome  were  occupied 
on  the  20th  of  May,  Howard's  corps  first  entering  tho  former 
town,  while  the  Twentieth  and  the  Twenty-third  Corps,  mov 
ing  forward  on  the  left,  entered  Cassville  th#  same  day.  A 
large  portion  of  the  army  remained  encamped  at  these  places 
for  the  three  days  following,  while  McPherson  demolished  the 
Rebel  manufactories  at  Rome,  and  prepared  to  continue  his 
effective  movements  southward — steadily  threatening  the  en 
emy's  flank,  and  pressing  on  with  all  convenient  speed  toward  the 
Chattahoochee.  The  railroad  was,  meanwhile,  put  in  running 
order  to  Cassville,  and  the  telegraph  lines  were  extended  with 
Sherman's  advance. 

Continuing  the  march  on  the  23d  of  May,  Hooker  crossed 
the  Etowah  river,  his  entire  corps  encamping  at  night  on  the 
south  side  of  that  stream.  On  the  24th  and  25th,  his  corps 
was  crossing  over  the  Allatoona  Mountains,  while  Sherman's 
center  occupied  Dallas.  This  movement  to  turn  Allatoona 
drew  out  the  enemy,  who  attacked  Hooker's  First  Division  near 
Pumpkin  Vine  Creek,  about  three  miles  from  Dallas,  on  the 
25th.  A  general  action  ensued,  sometimes  designated  as  the 
battle  of  New  Hope  Church.  The  enemy  was  driven  back 
three  miles,  and  at  nightfall  had  been  forced  within  his  inner 
line  of  intrenchments.  The  new  position  taken  up  by  John 
ston  was  a  strong  one  at  the  fork  of  the  roads  to  Marietta  and 
Atlanta,  in  a  thickly  wooded  and  broken  country,  with  scarcely 
any  roads,  among  the  Etowah  mountains.  The  center  of  Sher 
man's  army  was  now  about  three  miles  north  of  Dallas,  his 
right  being  at  that  place.  This  situation,  with  occasional  sharp 
conflicts,  was  maintained  for  several  days. 

McPherson's  flanking  column,  meanwhile,  moving  forward 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  525 

from  Rome,  by  a  wide  circuit  to  the  right,  had  passed  beyond 
Dallas,  toward  the  Chattahoochee  river.  At  Powder  Spring,  a 
dozen  miles  north  of  Sandtown,  on  the  Chattahoochee, 
McPherson  encountered  a  considerable  force  of  the  enemy, 
a  sharp  engagement  following,  in  which  the  Rebels  were  driven 
toward  Marietta,  with  the  loss  of  2,500  killed  and  wounded 
left  on  the  field,  and  about  300  prisoners.  The  total  Union 
loss  did  not  exceed  300,  as  officially  stated.  After  this  victory, 
it  appears  that  a  cavalry  force  advanced  to  the  Chattahoochee, 
at  Sandtown,  but  was  subsequently  withdrawn. 

On  the  1st  of  June,  a  movement  was  commenced  by  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee  toward  the  left,  Sherman  concentrating 
his  forces  for  the  purpose  of  flanking,  by  a  general  advance  to 
the  left,  the  enemy's  position,  from  which  he  could,  with  great 
difficulty,  be  dislodged.  His  works  were  firmly  held  during 
several  days,  in  which  more  or  less  fighting  occurred.  The 
approaches  to  the  Chattahoochee  by  our  right  were  especially 
guarded  against,  and  McPherson's  advance  in  that  direction 
was  suspended.  On  the  5th,  the  enemy  was  again  found  to 
have  withdrawn,  to  avoid  the  new  menace,  now  on  their  right, 
toward  the  railroad,  and  Sherman  advanced  his  army  to  Ac- 
worth,  on  the  railroad,  north  of  the  Kenesaw  Mountain,  about 
fifteen  miles  from  Marietta.  Headquarters  remained  at  this 
place  during  the  next  five  days,  while  supplies  were  brought 
up,  and  preparations  made  for  a  further  advance.  On  the 
morning  of  the  llth,  Big  Shanty  was  occupied,  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee  proceeding  southward  on  the  railroad,  until  within 
sight  of  the  enemy's  lines  at  a  point  called  the  Peach  Orchard, 
when  our  forces  formed  in  line  of  battle,  throwing  up  intrench- 
ments  at  the  edge  of  an  open  field.  The  enemy's  left  now 
rested  on  Lost  Mountain,  and  his  right  on  Kenesaw.  From 
this  point  the  army  gradually  advanced  by  the  usual  slow  ap' 
proaches  toward  the  opposing  intrenchments,  with  some  losses, 
until  the  19th,  when  Johnston  was  found  to  have  fallen  back. 
During  this  period  (on  the  14th  of  June)  Gen.  Polk  was 
killed.  Sherman  at  once  ordered  an  advance  toward  Marietta, 
in  the  hope  of  occupying  that  place  without  further  serious 
opposition. 


526  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

The  enemy  had  now  also  put  in  motion  a  cavalry  cohjtnn  tc 
strike  the  railroad  northward,  and  to  break  Sherman's  commu 
nications  with  his  base.  Wheeler  made  his  appearance  at  Cal- 
houn  on  the  10th  of  June,  cut  the  railroad  and  seized  a  train 
of  cars  laden  with  grain,  which  was  on  its  way  to  the  army. 
A  train  going  northward  was  telegraphed  and  stopped  at 
Adairsville,  about  twelve  miles  below,  when  Gen.  Hovey,  who 
was  on  board,  collected  a  battalion  of  two  hundred  convales 
cent  soldiers,  who  proceeded  with  the  train,  moving  cautiously 
on.  About  half  way  t@  Calhoun,  a  torpedo  exploded  under  the 
train,  throwing  the  locomotive  from  the  track,  and  demolishing 
four  cars — no  person  on  board  being  seriously  injured.  On 
reaching  Calhoun,  the  enemy  was  found  to  have  retreated,  and 
the  train  passed  on  uninterruptedly  to  Resacca.  Wheeler  ap 
peared  again  the  same  evening,  destroying  the  track  below 
Calhoun.  This  raid,  however,  only  delayed  the  trains  for  two 
or  three  days.  Meanwhile,  there  were  reports  of  a  much  more 
formidable  expedition  under  Forrest,  aiming  at  the  communi 
cations  farther  north,  and,  perhaps,  across  the  Tennessee. 
Early  in  the  month  of  June  a  large  cavalry  force,  under  Gen. 
Grierson,  had  set  out  eastward  from  Memphis,  with  the  evi 
dent  purpose  of  watching  Forrest  and  keeping  him  in  check. 

A  campaign,  undertaken  by  the  Rebel  Gen.  Pillow,  with  all 
the  confidence  of  a  Burgoyne,  to  force  Sherman  into  hasty  re 
treat,  prematurely  ended  in  his  mortifying  repulse,  with  severe 
loss,  before  Lafayette,  on  the  24th  of  June. 

Instead  of  continuing  his  retreat,  on  the  19th,  Johnston  had 
established  his  lines  in  a  position  of  great  strength  upon  the 
crest  of  Kenesaw,  defying  assault  and  arresting  a  further  ad 
vance.  Sherman  intrenched  again,  and  remained  in  this  posi 
tion,  with  only  occasional  skirmishing,  until  the  27th  of  June, 
when  an  attempt  was  made  to  carry  the  enemy's  lines  by  assault. 
The  battle  of  this  day,  in  which  our  losses  were  somewhat 
severe,  resulted  in  a  repulse  at  all  the  intrenched  points  at 
tacked.  Schofield,  however,  with  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  suc 
ceeded  in  flanking  the  enemy,  driving  a  column  of  Rebel 
cavalry  before  him.  On  the  3d  of  July,  Johnston's  forces 
evacuated  their  works  on  Kenesaw  Mountain,  and  fell  back  to 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  527 

a  position  designed  to  cover  the  crossing  of  the  Chattahoocheo. 
On  the  morning  of  the  4th,  McPherson's  column  crossed  Nick- 
ojack  Creek,  at  Ruff's  Mills,  and  forming  on  the  south  bank, 
assailed  the  enemy,  who  retired  within  his  intrenchments. 
During  the  day  our  forces  constructed  rifle  pits,  and,  just  nt 
dark,  a  brilliant  charge,  made  by  the  39th  and  27th  Ohio  Regi 
ments,  grandly  carried  the  enemy's  works.  So  complete  a 
success,  in  a  direct  assault  upon  formidable  works,  had  rarely, 
if  ever,  occurred  during  the  war.  It  cost  many  losses  in  killed 
and  wounded.  Among  the  latter  was  Col.  Noyes,  of  the  39th, 
who  lost  a  foot. 

The  army  now  advanced  on  the  right,  pressing  closely  upon 
the  lines  of  the  enemy,  the  right  and  left  of  which  rested  on 
the  Chattahoochee.  Marietta  was  now  securely  in  the  posses 
sion  of  Sherman,  who  had  driven  ack  the  enemy  from  one 
stronghold  after  another,  with  a  steadily  lengthening  line  of 
communication,  for  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  miles,  during  a  campaign  of  two  months.  Many  were  the 
complaints  of  Rebel  observers,  and  great  the  discontent 
manifested  at  Richmond,  by  reason  of  the  repeated  evacuations 
and  retreats  of  Johnston's  army,  from  positions  of  almost 
unparalleled  strength.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  was  some  anxiety  among  loyal  men,  as  the 
season  wore  on,  and  the  difficulties  in  Sherman's  path  were 
apparently  increasing,  instead  of  his  achieving  the  prompt  cap 
ture  of  Atlanta,  which  the  too  sanguine  had  anticipated.  So 
much  as  this  is  now  manifest:  Johnston  handled  his  army  with 
great  skill,  making  the  most  of  his  resources — wisely,  no  doubt, 
determining  to  avoid  any  desperate  stake  or  heavy  losses  until 
Sherman  should  have  advanced  far  into  the  interior,  when  his 
communications  could  be  effectively  assailed,  and  his  further  ad 
vance  indefinitely  prolonged  by*elaborate  fortifications,  at  last 
desperately  defended,  near  the  Rebel  base.  The  arrival  of  our 
army  at  Marietta,  confronting  the  enemy,  resolutely  defending 
the  north  bank  of  the  Chattahoochee,  terminates  one  distinct 
period  of  this  campaign.  The  rough  mountains,  the  gorges, 
creeks  and  forests  were  passed.  A  large  river  was  now  to  be 
crossed,  and  Qnly  a  brief  space  of  gently  rolling  and  open 


528  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

country  lay  beyond,  between  our  victorious  troops  and  the 
elaborate  fortifications  of  Atlanta. 

To  maintain  his  communication  with  Chattanooga,  and 
thence  to  Nashville ;  to  force  his  way  across  the  Ohattahoo- 
chee,  in  spite  of  all  the  resistance  his  adversary  could  make, 
and  to  carry  at  last  the  manifold  lines  protecting  Atlanta, 
without  the  possibility  of  establishing  a  close  siege  :  such  were 
the  important  problems  which  Sherman  must  solve.  To  fail 
in  one  of  them  was  to  ruin  all.  To  succeed  in  each,  could 
only  be  accomplished  by  the  highest  order  of  generalship. 
President  Lincoln,  while  entertaining  an  exalted  opinion  of 
the  military  skill  of  the  general  commanding  in  Georgia,  with 
a  due  appreciation  of  what  he  had  thus  far  accomplished,  had 
also  such  a  conception  of  the  obstacles  still  to  be  overcome, 
that  he  never  spoke,  without  a  degree  of  moderation  bordering 
on  apprehension,  at  this  stage,  of  the  probable  issue  of  the 
advance  on  Atlanta. 

If  the  campaign  in  Georgia,  no  less  than  that  in  Eastern 
Virginia,  had,  as  yet,  failed  fully  to  satisfy  the  popular  hope, 
the  disasters  which  had  attended  the  Red  river  expedition 
under  General  Banks  still  weighed  with  depressing  effect  upon 
the  public  heart.  The  returning  steps  of  our  army  in  Louis 
iana,  and  the  work  of  extricating  the  fleet  under  Admiral 
Porter,  were  watched  with  an  anxiety  dreading  further  defeat, 
and  not  with  any  hope  of  redeeming  success.  By  an  effort  of 
skill  which  will  ever  be  memorable,  Colonel  Bailey  had  built 
his  dam  across  the  falls  of  the  Red  river,  above  Alexandria,  and 
our  gunboats  and  transports  were  thus  relieved,  on  the  9th  of 
May.  General  Canby,  succeeding  Banks,  reached  the  mouth 
of  Red  river  on  the  14th,  intending  to  cooperate  with  the 
latter  in  securing  a  safe  withdrawal  of  his  force,  but  no  assist 
ance  was  required.  In  moving  from  Alexandria  to  the  Mis 
sissippi,  Banks  had  two  engagements  with  the  enemy,  first  at 
Mansuna,  then  at  Yellow  Bayou,  repulsing  his  assailants  in 
both  instances. 

The  dangers  which  threatened  affairs  in  Arkansas,  after  the 
advance  of  General  Steele  toward  Shreveport,  and  the  failure 
of  Banks  to  support  the  intended  converging  movement 


LIFE   OF   ABKAHAtt   LINCOLN.  529 

averted  by  the  bravery  of  our  soldiers  and  by  the  skill  of  their 
general.  When  Banks  and  Porter  had  completed  their  with 
drawal  from  the  Red  river,  Steele  had  also  made  secure  his 
possession  of  Little  Rock,  having  gallantly  fought  his  way 
backward  in  the  face  of  the  Rebel  forces  of  Marmaduke  and 
Price. 

Another  invasion  of  Kentucky,  by  the  Rebel  Morgan,  was 
commenced  on  the  7th  of  June.  After  plundering  Lexing 
ton,  and  proceeding  as  far  as  the  Lexington  and  Covington 
Railroad  at  Cynthiana,  which  place  was  taken,  the  brief  cam 
paign  was  brought  to  an  inglorious  termination,  by  the  capture 
or  dispersion  of  nearly  his  entire  force,  as  a  result  of  the 
prompt  measures  taken  by  General  Burbridge.  By  the  17th 
of  June,  this  menacing  raid  was  ever,  and  pursuit  of  the  raid 
ers  at  an  end,  with  little  damage  to  the  invaded  district,  and 
with  the  humiliating  discomfiture  of  Morgan. 

During  the  period  over  which  the  events  of  this  chapter 
extend,  there  was  a  formidable  naval  expedition  fitted  out, 
which  ere  long  put  to  sea,  under  the  command  of  Admiral 
Farragut,  and  was  subsequently  heard  of  in  connection  with 
movements  against  Mobile.  The  blockading  squadron  was 
faithfully  performing  its  work,  with  a  success  that  left  little 
to  desire,  save  in  regard  to  the  port  of  Wilmington,  where, 
from  the  nature  of  the  coast,  and  the  strong  defenses  com 
manding  the  entrance  to  Cape  Fear  river,  the  profitable  con 
traband  traffic  with  Nassau,  and  other  ports,  was  still  stealthily 
carried  on  to  an  extent  that  afforded  substantial  aid  to  the 
rebellion.  The  Government  was  earnestly  considering  by 
what  means  this  deficiency  in  a  blockade,  otherwise  unusually 
thorough  and  stringent,  might  best  be  remedied.  The  fruits 
of  these  deliberations  were  to  appear  at  no  distant  day. 
Occasional  attempts  of  guerrilla  parties  to  obstruct  the  naviga 
tion  of  the  Mississippi  served  to  show  at  once  the  high  esti 
mate  placed  upon  the  possession  of  the  great  "inland  sea,"  and 
the  impotence  of  such  efforts  as  could  be  spared,  despite  former 
boasts,  for  the  interruption  of  transportation  thereon. 

A  memorable  naval  victory  was  gained  off  the  French  port 
of  Cherbourg,  on  the  19th  of  June,  by  which  a  pest  of  the 
34 


630  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

eeas,  the  Rebel  piratical  vessel  Alabama,  was  defeated  and 
sunk  by  the  United  States  ship  Kearsarge,  under  the  command 
of  Commodore  John  A.  Winslow.  The  Rebel  commander — 
Semmes — escaped  in  the  yacht  of  an  Englishman,  to  the 
embrace  of  English  friends.  The  enthusiasm  with  which  the 
destruction  of  his  vessel  was  received  in  America  and  by  her 
friends  everywhere,  was  scarcely  excelled  by  the  sympathy 
displayed  by  British  blockade-runners  and  republic-haters  for 
the  ingloriously  defeated  champion  of  Rebel  piracy.  To 
unfriendly  eyes  in  Europe,  assuredly,  the  success  of  our  Gov 
ernment  in  the  subjugation  of  treason  seemed  as  remote  as  in 
the  beginning,  and  the  rebellion  still  in  the  ruddy  glow  of 
health  and  the  robustness  of  insuperable  vigor. 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  531 


CHAPTER  III. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Administration  in  issue  before  the  People. — Disadvan* 
tages  of  the  Hour. — Opposition  in  Official  Quarters,  and  on  the 
Union  side  in  Congress. — The  "Radical"  Movement. — Recapitula 
tion  of  the  Administration  Policy  in  regard  to  Virginia  and  Mis 
souri. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Method  with  the  Insurrectionary  States. — 
Gen.  Fremont's  Military  Administration  in  Missouri. — His  Remo- 
ral. — Personality  of  the  Missouri  Feud. — How  Mr.  Lincoln  Regarded 
it.— His  Letter  to  Gen.  Schofield.— His  Reply  to  the  Demands  of  the 
"Radical"  Committee. — The  Situation  in  Louisiana. — Military 
Governorship  in  Tennessee. — State  Reorganization  in  Arkansas. — 
Factious  Opposition. — Uprising  of  the  People  for  Mr.  Lincoln. — The 
Baltimore  Convention. — The  Nominations. — Responses  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln. — Address  of  the  Methodist  General  Conference. — The  Presi 
dent's  Reply. 

As  the  time  approached  at  which  nominations  were  to  be 
made  for  the  offices  of  President  and  Yice-President  for  the 
ensuing  Presidential  term,  it  naturally  happened  that  the  pub 
lic  acts  and  personal  character  of  Abraham  Lincoln  came 
to  receive  more  particular  consideration  among  the  people  in 
all  parts  of  the  nation,  and  also  in  the  countries  of  Europe, 
than  at  any  previous  period  during  his  administration.  His 
policy  was  freely  discussed,  his  conduct  of  affairs,  domestic 
and  foreign,  was  canvassed  with  the  unrestricted  freedom 
which  accords  with  the  genius  of  republican  institutions  ;  and 
it  soon  became  evident  that  the  coming  election,  whatever  its 
other  results,  was  at  least  to  determine  the  popular  verdict 
upon  Mr.  Lincoln's  management  of  affairs  thus  far,  and  upon 
his  fitness  for  completing  the  work  in  progress.  The  brief 
eummary  of  the  events  of  the  war  heretofore  given  has  failed 
clearly  to  present  the  exact  position  of  the  great  struggle,  if  it 
is  not  manifest  to  the  reader  that  the  moment  when  the  pre 
liminary  decision  was  to  be  had,  by  representatives  of  the  donv- 


532  LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

inant  party,  "  fresh  from  the  people,"  in  national  convention, 
was  not  so  specially  favorable  as  to  insure  an  indorsement  of 
the  President  from  a  merely  temporary  bias  or  caprice. 

President  Lincoln  himself  was  not  deceived,  however  grati 
fied  he  might  have  been  with  such  successes  as  had  been  first 
gained,  as  to  the  desperation  with  which  the  military  campaigns 
of  this  season  were  to  be  contested.  His  customary  modera 
tion  of  tone,  and  his  habitual  confidence  in  the  cause,  appear 
in  the  following  speech  in  response  to  a  serenade,  on  the  night 
of  May  9th,  after  the  Wilderness  battles : 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  :  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  the 
compliment  of  this  call,  though  I  apprehend  it  is  owing  more 
to  the  good  news  received  to-day  from  the  army  than  to  a  de 
sire  to  see  me.  I  am,  indeed,  very  grateful  to  the  brave  men 
•who  have  been  struggling  with  the  enemy  in  the  field,  to  their 
noble  commanders  who  have  directed  them,  and  especially  to 
our  Maker.  Our  commanders  are  following  up  their  victories 
resolutely  and  successfully.  I  think,  without  knowing  the 
particulars  of  the  plans  of  Gen.  Grant,  that  what  has  been  ac 
complished  is  of  more  importance  than  at  first  appears.  I  be 
lieve  I  know  (and  am  especially  grateful  to  know),  that  Gen. 
Grant  has  not  been  jostled  in  his  purposes  ;  that  he  has  made 
all  his  points ;  and  to-day  he  is  on  his  line,  as  he  purposed 
before  he  moved  his  armies.  I  will  volunteer  to  say  that  I  am 
very  glad  at  what  has  happened ;  but  there  is  a  great  deal  still 
to  be  done.  While  we  are  grateful  to  all  the  brave  men  and 
oflicers  for  the  events  of  the  past  few  days,  we  should,  above 
all,  be  very  grateful  to  Almighty  God,  who  gives  us  victory. 

There  is  enough  yet  before  us  requiring  all  loyal  men  and 
patriots  tc  perform  their  share  of  the  labor  and  follow  the  ex 
ample  of  the  modest  General  at  the  head  of  our  armies,  and 
sink  all  personal  considerations  for  the  sake  of  the  country.  I 
commend  you  to  keep  yourselves  in  the  same  tranquil  mood 
that  is  characteristic  of  that  brave  and  loyal  man.  I  have  said 
more  than  I  expected  when  I  came  before  you;  repeating  my 
thanks  for  this  call,  I  bid  you  good  bye.  [Cheers.] 

A  month  later,  the  public  heart  was  less  exultant.  The  war 
had  dragged  wearily  on,  to  a  great  extent  disappointing  the 
popular  hope.  The  "  short,  sharp,  decisive  "  battles  once  pro 
mised  were  found  to  be  partly  too  real,  partly  illusive.  An 
almost  unlimited  vista  of  bloodshed  and  devastation  still  opened 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLrf.  533 

before  the  eye  directed  to  the  future.  The  past  had  its  palpa 
ble  triumphs,  but  the  spirit  of  the  rebellion  was  apparently  still 
as  rampant  as  ever.  Nor,  as  will  have  been  observed  from  the 
two  preceding  chapters,  had  the  grand  cooperative  campaigns, 
from  which  early  and  decisive  results  had  been  too  sanguinely 
anticipated,  culminated  in  any  conclusive  triumphs,  even  far  on 
into  midsummer.  There  were,  then>  it  may  be  undoubtingly 
said,  few  adventitious  circumstances  to  conduce  to  a  prejudiced 
judgment  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  favor. 

It  may,  indeed,  be  affirmed  that  there  was  a  vantage-ground 
in  the  possession  of  the  chief  executive  power  and  its  patron 
age  ;  but  never,  probably,  were  officers  of  the  Government  so 
closely  and  exclusively  occupied  with  their  immediate  duties, 
or  so  little  attentive  to  any  supposed  interest  in  the  succession. 
Scarcely  any  one  of  them  certainly  took  an  active  part  in  any 
organized  efforts  to  influence  the  Presidential  nomination,  ex 
cept  in  behalf  of  other  candidates.  Thus,  whatever  personal 
adherents  were  gained  by  the  possession  of  the  Presidential 
office,  must  have  been  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  inevi 
table  alienations  resulting  from  the  disappointment  of  expect 
ants,  and  by  the  adverse  efforts  of  many  in  place. 

Mr.  Lincoln  had,  further,  the  disadvantage  of  an  active  and 
perhaps  increasing  party  in  Congress,  from  whom  he  might  at 
least  have  expected  a  partisan  support,  who  manifested  on  all 
occasions  a  zealous  personal  opposition.  To  such  an  extent  was 
this  opposition  carried,  in  fact,  now  upon  one  ground  and  now 
upon  another,  that  it  was  even  doubtful  whether,  in  the  Spring 
of  1864,  a  majority  of  either  branch  of  Congress  could  be  relied 
on  for  the  support  of  distinctively  Administration  measures. 
A  "  Radical "  movement  was  organized,  with  its  central  club 
in  Washington  and  an  extensive  correspondence  throughout 
the  country,  with  the  earnest  purpose  of  bringing  forward  a 
leading  member  of  the  Cabinet  as  the  next  Presidential  candi 
date.  Whatever  thorough  organization  and  energetic  political 
management  could  do  to  bring  forward  a  new  man,  under  the 
"  Radical  "  party  cry,  was  done.  And  after  the  refusal  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  allow  a  further  use  of  his  name  as  a 
rallying  point,  there  was  still  a  resolute  remnant  who  joined  their 


534  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

fortunes  to  the  cause  of  Gen.  Fremont,  on  whose  behalf  an  in 
dependent  convention  was  called,  in  opposition  to  the  Republi 
can  Union  organization. 

A  proper  devotion  to  "  the  truth  of  history  "  would  seem  to 
require  an  effort  to  understand  the  exact  meaning  of  this 
"Radical"  movement,  and  the  justice  of  its  opposition  to  Mr. 
Lincoln.  For  this  end,  it  will  be  necessary  to  go  backward  a 
little,  to  consider  the  state  of  affairs  in  Missouri,  out  of  which 
this  division  arose,  ajid  in  Louisiana,  whero  further  material 
was  furnished  to  the  growing  flame. 

The  early  policy  of  the  Administration  in  regard  to  the  res 
toration  of  loyal  State  Governments,  in  place  of  those  in  com 
plicity  with  the  rebellion,  received  the  explicit  sanction  of  Con 
gress  and  the  people,  as  illustrated  in  the  case  of  Virginia,  in 
1861.  It  was  held  that  the  loyal  people  of  that  State,  in  dis 
owning  the  authority  of  officers  in  rebellion,  and  in  establish 
ing,  through  a  State  Convention,  a  new  government,  at  the  head 
of  which  was  Gov.  Pierpoint,  were  to  be  sustained  by  the 
United  States,  under  the  guarantees  of  the  Constitution.  Prac 
tically,  it  mattered  little  as  to  the  relative  numbers  of  the  loyal 
and  disloyal  in  any  State  thus  to  be  rescued  from  treasonable 
sway.  It  was  only  expedient  that  the  numbers,  in  general 
terms,  should  be  such  as  to  justify  the  attempt  to  maintain 
their  ascendency,  with  such  aids  as  could  be  reasonably  given 
by  the  National  Government.  The  disloyal  inhabitants,  having 
forfeited  their  rights  as  citizens  by  joining  the  rebellion,  were 
not  entitled  to  be  regarded,  in  re-constituting  loyal  State 
governments.  Their  pleasure  was  not  to  be  consulted.  The 
fact  that  they  might  be  a  majority,  abated  nothing  from  the 
rights  of  a  loyal  minority  to  be  sustained  in  organizing  a  legi 
timate  government.  The  carrying  out  of  this  principle — so 
obvious  that  at  the  outset  it  was  scarcely  controverted,  except 
by  undisguised  traitors — led  to  the  emphatic  recognition  of  the 
government,  established  at  Wheeling  in  1861,  in  the  name  of 
the  whole  State  of  Virginia.  A  National  force  was  sent  into 
Western  Virginia,  to  prevent  the  armed  intervention  »f  the 
Rebel  Government  to  defeat  this  purpose.  The  Pierpoinfc 
Government  wag  distinctly  recognized  by  every  branch  of  the 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  535 

National  Government,  and  Senators  and  Representatives  from 
Virginia  took  their  seats  in  Congress,  from  Eastern  no  less 
than  from  Western  Virginia,  under  no  other  tenure  of  office 
than  such  as  the  new  State  Government,  recognized  by  Con 
gress  as  the  only  legitimate  government  in  that  State,  gave 
these  members,  by  virtue  of  legislative  and  popular  elections. 
Virginia  was  subsequently  divided,  as  could  only  have  been 
done  constitutionally  on  the  fullest  recognition  of  this  policy, 
and  the  new  State  of  West  Virginia  created,  the  Pierpoint 
Government  still  maintaining  its  jurisdiction  over  Virginia 
proper — the  remainder  of  the  State. 

In  Missouri,  no  pretense  of  secession  had  been  consummated. 
The  people  represented  in  State  convention,  had  distinctly 
refused  to  join  hands  with  the  traitors  of  South  Carolina  and 
Mississippi.  Yet  the  Governor  of  Missouri,  defying  the  loyal 
majority  of  the  people  of  that  State,  openly  levied  war  against 
the  National  Government,  and  endeavored  to  coerce  his  State 
into  the  movement,  which  its  people  had  emphatically  repudi 
ated.  Gov.  Jackson's  organized  forces  were  captured  or  driven 
out,  and  he  himself  ere  long  fled  from  the  State,  leaving  no 
loyal  successor  entitled  to  assume  his  functions.  The  State 
Convention,  whose  loyalty  had  already  been  demonstrated,  re 
organized  the  State  Government,  with  Gov.  Gamble  at  its  head. 
This  Government,  too — and  the  principle  of  its  establishment 
was  the  same,  though  the  circumstances  differed,  as  that  applied 
in  the  case  of  Virginia — was  recognized  at  Washington,  and 
the  State  fully  represented  in  Congress.  In  both  States,  a  sys 
tem  of  emancipation  had  been  adopted,  which  was  nominally 
gradual,  instead  of  being  unconditional  and  immediate.  This 
action  was  originated  by  the  people  of  those  States,  not  forced 
upon  them  by  the  National  Government.  Unhappily,  Gen. 
Fremont,  during  his  brief  military  administration  in  Missouri, 
had  been  less  successful  in  restoring  order  than  had  Gen. 
Rosecrans  in  Western  Virginia.  Fremont  had  been  appointed 
a  Major-General  among  the  very  first  after  the  outbreak  of  war, 
by  Mr.  Lincoln,  of  his  own  motion,  with  only  the  support  and 
approval,  as  may  now,  without  impropriety,  be  stated,  of  a  sin 
gle  Cabinet  officer,  Mr.  Blair.  This  former  Republican  stand- 


536  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

ard-bearer  Had  the  President's  fullest  confidence.  And  when 
Gen.  Fremont,  assuming  what  only  the  President  as  Comman- 
der-in-Chief  could  do,  issued  his  not  only  unauthorized  but 
positively  illegal  order  concerning  slaves,  the  President  merely 
"modified"  his  subordinate's  action,  by  requiring  it  to  con 
form  to  the  law  affecting  that  subject,  then  just  passed  by  Con 
gress.  The  only  portion  of  this  once  famous  order  *  which 
relates  in  any  manner  to  slavery,  is  this  single  sentence  :  "  Real 
and  personal  property  of  those  who  shall  take  up  arms  against 
the  United  States,  or  who  shall  be  directly  proven  to  have 
taken  an  active  part  with  their  enemies  in  the  field,  is  declared 
confiscated  to  public  use,  and  their  slaves,  if  any  they  have,  are 
hereby  declared  free  men.'1  The  President's  orderf  that  the 
clause  here  given  in  italics,  "  be  so  modified,  held  and  con 
strued  as  to  conform  with  and  not  to  transcend  the  provisions 
on  the  same  subject,  contained  in  the  act  of  Congress  entitled 
*  an  act  to  confiscate  property  used  for  insurrectionary  purposes,' 
rpproved  August  6th,  1861,"  can  not  certainly  be  regarded  a3 
any  sensible  starting-point  for  the  formation  of  a  new  party. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  it  would  seem  to  have  been 
occasionally  perverted  to  the  purpose  of  fostering  a  misappre 
hension  and  prejudice,  which  interested  parties  were  cautiously 
nursing,  respecting  President  Lincoln.  It  was  even  alleged, 
with  an  equal  misapprehension  of  the  truth,  that  the  councils 
of  pro-slavery  Border-State  men  had  a  controlling  influence 
with  him — a  singular  reversal  of  relations,  gaining  a  certain 
popular  currency  for  a  while,  but  effectively  disposed  of  by 
subsequent  realities  too  palpable  to  be  mistaken. 

When  Gen.  Fremont  was  subsequently  relieved  from  his  com 
mand  in  Missouri,  during  which,  by  his  misfortune  or  other- 
'wise,  disorder  and  commotion  had  been  but  too  prevalent,  and 
the  Rebel  army  under  Jackson  and  Price,  had  gathered 
strength,  the  Blairs  were  known  to  have  cast  their  influence 
against  him,  while  Judge  Bates,  in  the  Cabinet,  and  Gov.  Gam 
ble,  at  home,  were  also  held  responsible  as  advisers  of  the 
change.  The  name  of  Fremont,  which  was  identified  with 

*  Given  at  length  on  pp.  278-9  ante. 
t  Ante,  p.  280. 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  537 

the  Republican  organization  in  the  canvass  of  1856,  had  be 
come,  in  the  minds  of  many,  a  symbol  of  a  sacred  cause. 
When  he  was  displaced  from  his  command  in  Missouri,  it  was 
easy  to  associate  this  action  with  causes  on  which  it  never,  in 
the  remotest  degree,  depended.  The  true  reasons  were  strictly 
military  and  administrative  ]  the  fancied  ones  were  political. 
The  act  itself,  which  few  can  have  recently  doubted  to  be  wise, 
may  have  hastened  a  party  division.  Missouri  "  Radicalism  " 
desired  to  deal  promptly  and  finally  with  slavery,  aud  organ 
ized  for  that  end  at  home,  in  the  exercise  of  the  prerogative 
of  "  popular  sovereignty."  The  State  Convention,  loyal  but 
"  conservative,"  adopted  a  more  quiet  and  gradual  process  of 
disposing  of  the  great  evil.  Perhaps  something  too  much  of 
personal  feeling  entered  into  the  hostility  toward  the  late  Gov. 
Gamble.  Certain  it  is,  that  Att'y.-Gen.  Bates — years  before  a 
practical  emancipationist,  while  one  of  his  leading  "  Radical " 
enemies  was  actually  enriching  himself  by  the  slave-trade — was 
either  greatly  misjudged,  or  wantonly  maligned.  The  "  Con 
servative  "  party  had  the  disadvantage  in  reputation,  whatever 
the  gain  in  votes,  of  attracting  to  its  support  many  of  those 
whose  loyalty  was  doubtful,  or  whose  treason  was  indisputable. 
Yet  the  masses  of  the  two  parties  really  differed  less  in  prin 
ciple  than  in  personal  feeling.  The  attempt  to  expand  this 
local  strife  into  a  National  division  of  parties  appears  to  have 
been  thought  of  by  no  one,  until  a  comparatively  late  day.  To 
Mr.  Lincoln,  the  feud  was  one  too  deeply  regretted  for  either 
Bide  to  gain  his  confidence.  He  thought  both  should  adhere 
to  the  Government  against  its  enemies,  their  own  as  well,  and 
settle  their  disagreements,  when  both  so  nearly  meant  the  same 
thing — personalities  excepted. 

Precisely  how  Mr.  Lincoln  regarded  this  matter,  may  best  be 
shown  by  his  own  words,  addressed  to  Gen.  Schofield  when  the 
quarrel  was  still  local,  ere  the  plan  of  National  diffusion  had 
been  invented : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,       \ 
WASHINGTON,  May  27,  18G3.    j 

Gen.  J.  M.  SCHOFIELD — Dear  Sir :  Having  removed  Gen. 
Curtis,  and  assigned  you  to  the  command  of  the  Department  of 


538  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  Missouri,  I  think  it  may  be  of  some  advantage  to  me  to 
Btate  to  you  why  I  did  it.  I  did  not  remove  Gen.  Curtis  be 
cause  of  my  full  conviction  that  he  had  done  wrong  by  com 
mission  or  omission.  I  did  it  because  of  a  conviction  in  my 
mind  that  the  Union  men  of  Missouri,  constituting,  when  united, 
a  vast  majority  of  the  people,  have  entered  into  a  pestilent,  fac 
tious  quarrel  among  themselves,  Gen.  Curtis,  perhaps  not  of 
choice,  being  the  head  of  one  faction,  and  Gov.  Gamble  that 
of  the  other.  After  months  of  labor  to  reconcile  the  difficulty, 
it  seemed  to  grow  worse  and  worse,  until  I  felt  it  my  duty  to 
break  it  up  somehow,  and  as  I  could  not  remove  Gov.  Gamble, 
I  had  to  remove  Gen.  Curtis.  Now  that  you  are  in  the  posi 
tion,  I  wish  you  to  undo  nothing  merely  because  Gen.  Curtis  or 
Gov.  Gamble  did  it,  but  to  exercise  your  own  judgment,  and  do 
right  for  the  public  interest.  Let  your  military  measures  be 
strong  enough  to  repel  the  invaders  and  keep  the  peace,  and  not 
so  strong  as  to  unnecessarily  harass  and  persecute  the  people. 
It  is  a  difficult  role,  and  so  much  greater  will  be  the  honor  if 
you  perform  it  well.  If  both  factions,  or  neither,  shall  abuse 
you,  you  will  probably  be  about  right.  Beware  of  being  as 
sailed  by  one  and  praised  by  the  other. 

Yours,  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

The  two  concluding  sentences  of  this  characteristic  letter 
afford  a  key  to  the  course  of  Mr.  Lincoln  himself,  in  dealing 
with  a  difficulty  to  him  so  unpleasant,  until  partly  as  a  result 
of  his  policy,  affairs  assumed  a  more  satisfactory  phase. 

In  the  Autumn  of  1863,  a  committee  representing  the  "  Radi 
cal  "  wing  in  Missouri,  waited  on  President  Lincoln  to  urge  the 
removal  of  Gen.  Schofield,  who,  whether  justly  or  not,  seemed 
to  have  become  as  much  the  special  object  of  attack  as  a  "Con 
servative,"  as  had  Gen.  Curtis  for  his  identification  with  the 
opposite  side.  The  letter  addressed  to  Gen.  Schofield,  on  the 
1st  of  October,  the  day  after  the  formal  petition  of  this  com 
mittee  had  been  presented,  shows  the  attitude  in  which  that 
officer  now  stood  in  the  eyes  of  President  Lincoln,  and  the 
policy  of  the  latter,  as  exhibited  in  his  communications  "with 
the  one  whom  the  "  Radicals  "  were  now  chiefly  opposing.  The 
letter  is  as  follows  : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         ) 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  October  1,  1863.    ) 

Gen.  JOHN  M.  SCHOFIELD  :  There  is  no  organized  military 
force  in  avowed  opposition  to  the  General  Government  now  ia 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  539 

Missouri,  and  if  any  shall  reappear,  your  duty  in  regard  to  it 
will  be  too  plain  to  require  any  special  instruction.  Still,  the 
condition  of  things,  botk  there  and  elsewhere,  is  such  as  to 
render  it  indispensable  to  maintain,  for  a  time,  the  United 
States  military  establishment  in  that  State,  as  well  as  to  rely 
upon  it  for  a  fair  contribution  of  support  to  that  establishment 
generally.  Your  immediate  duty  in  regard  to  Missouri  now  is, 
to  advance  the  efficiency  of  that  establishment,  and  to  so  use 
it,  as  far  as  practicable,  to  compel  the  excited  people  there  to 
let  one  another  alone. 

Under  your  recent  order,  which  I  have  approved,  you  will 
only  arrest  individuals,  and  suppress  assemblies  or  newspapers, 
when  they  may  be  working  palpable  injury  to  the  military  in 
your  charge ;  and  in  no  other  case  will  you  interfere  with  the 
expression  of  opinion  in  any  form,  or  allow  it  to  be  interfered 
with  violently  by  others.  In  this  you  have  a  discretion  to  ex 
ercise  with  great  caution,  calmness  and  forbearance. 

With  the  matter  of  removing  the  inhabitants  of  certain 
counties  en  masse,  and  of  removing  certain  individuals  from 
time  to  time,  who  are  supposed  to  be  mischievous,  I  am  not 
now  interfering,  but  am  leaving  it  to  your  own  discretion. 

Nor  am  I  interfering  with  what  may  still  seem  to  you  to  be 
necessary  restrictions  upon  trade  and  intercourse.  I  think 
proper,  however,  to  enjoin  upon  you  the  following:  Allow  no 
part  of  the  military  under  your  command  to  be  engaged  in 
either  returning  fugitive  slaves,  or  in  forcing  or  enticing  slaves 
from  their  homes ;  and,  so  far  as  practicable,  enforce  the  same 
forbearance  upon  the  people. 

Report  to  me  your  opinion  upon  the  availability  for  good  of 
the  enrolled  militia  of  the  State.  Allow  no  one  to  enlist  col 
ored  troops,  except  upon  orders  from  you,  or  from  here  through 
you. 

Allow  no  one  to  assume  the  functions  of  confiscating  prop 
erty,  under  the  law  of  Congress,  or  otherwise,  except  upon 
orders  from  here. 

At  elections,  see  that  those,  and  only  those,  are  allowed  to 
vote,  who  are  entitled  to  do  so  by  the  laws  of  Missouri,  includ 
ing  as  of  those  laws  the  restrictions  laid  by  the  Missouri  Con 
vention  upon  those  who  may  have  participated  in  the  rebellion. 

So  far  as  practicable,  you  will,  by  means  of  your  military 
force,  expel  guerrillas,  marauders,  and  murderers,  and  all  who 
are  known  to  harbor,  aid,  or  abet  them.  But,  in  like  manner, 
you  will  repress  assumptions  of  unauthorized  individuals  to 
perform  the  same  service,  because,  under,  pretense  of  doing 
this,  they  become  marauders  and  murderers  themselves. 

To  now  restore  peace,  let  the  military  obey  orders  j  and  those 


640  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

not  of  the  military  leave  each  other  alone,  thus  not  breaking 
the  peace  themselves. 

In  giving  the  ahove  directions,  it  is  not  intended  to  restrain 
you  in  other  expedient  and  necessary  matters,  not  falling  within 
their  range.  Your  obedient  servant,  A.  LINCOLN. 

In  this  letter  of  instructions,  an  attempt  was  made  to  insure 
practical  remedies  for  all  the  evils  camplained  of  that  seemed 
to  have  a  substantial  ground,  yet  without  the  removal  of  Gen. 
Schofield,  as  asked.  In  other  words,  it  was  the  aim  to  cure  real 
grievances,  without  granting  the  complainants  a  merely  per 
sonal  triumph.  To  the  latter  party  he  replied  more  at  length, 
and  his  words  are  worthy  of  careful  reading,  as  showing,  better 
"than  any  other  language  can  do,  Mr.  Lincoln's  actual  opinions 
and  policy  regarding  the  matters  at  issue.  The  letter  is  in 
these  words: 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         } 
WASHINGTON,  October  5,  1863.    j 

Hon.  CHAS.  D.  DRAKE  and  others,  Committee — Gentlemen: 
Your  original  address,  presented  on  the  30th  ult.,  and  the  four 
supplementary  ones  presented  on  the  3d  inst.,  have  been  care 
fully  considered.  I  hope  you  will  regard  the  other  duties 
claiming  my  attention,  together  with  the  great  length  and  im 
portance  of  these  documents,  as  constituting  a  sufficient  apol 
ogy  for  my  not  having  responded  sooner.* 

These  papers,  framed  for  a  common  object,  consist  of  the 
things  demanded,  and  the  reasons  for  demanding  them. 

The  things  demanded  are  : 

1st.  That  Gen.  Schofield  shall  be  relieved,  and  Gen.  Butler 
be  appointed  as  Commander  of  the  Military  Department  of 
Missouri ; 

2d.  That  the  system  of  enrolled  militia  in  Missouri  may  be 
broken  up,  and  National  forces  be  substituted  for  it ;  and 

3d.  That  at  elections  persons  may  not  be  allowed  to  vote  who 
are  not  entitled  by  law  to  do  so. 

Among  the  reasons  given,  enough  of  suffering  and  wrong  to 
Union  men,  is  certainly,  and  I  suppose  truly  stated.  Yet  the 
whole  case,  as  presented,  fails  to  convince  me  that  Gen. 
Schofield,  or  the  enrolled  militia,  is  responsible  for  that  suffer 
ing  and  wrong.  The  whole  can  be  explained  on  a  more  chari 
table,  and,  as  I  think,  a  more  rational  hypothesis. 

We  are  in  a  civil  war.  In  such  cases  there  always  is  a  main 
question  ;  but  in  this  case  that  question  is  a  perplexing  com 
pound — Union  and  Slavery.  It  thus  becomes  a  question  not 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  541 

of  two  sides  merely,  but  of  at  least  four  sides,  even  among 
those  who  are  for  the  Union,  saying  nothing  of  those  who  are 
against  it.  Thus,  those  who  are  for  the  Union  with,  but  not 
without  slavery — those  for  it  without,  but  not  with — those  for  it 
with  or  without,  but  prefer  it  with,  and  those  for  it  with  or 
without,  but  prefer  it  without. 

Among  these,  again,  is  a  subdivision  of  those  who  are  for 
gradual,  but  not  for  immediate,  and  those  who  are  for  imme 
diate,  but  not  for  gradual  extinction  of  slavery. 

It  is  easy  to  conceive  that  all  these  shades  of  opinion,  and 
even  more,  may  be  sincerely  entertained  by  honest  and  truth 
ful  men.  Yet,  all  being  for  the  Union,  by  reason  of  these  dif 
ferences,  each  will  prefer  a  different  way  of  sustaining  the 
Union.  At  once,  sincerity  is  questioned,  and  motives  are 
assailed.  Actual  war  coming,  blood  grows  hot,  and  blood  is 
spilled.  Thought  is  forced  from  old  channels  into  confusion. 
Deception  breeds  and  thrives.  Confidence  dies,  and  universal 
suspicion  reigns.  Each  man  feels  an  impulse  to  kill  his  neigh 
bor,  lest  he  be  killed  by  him.  Revenge  and  retaliation  follow. 
And  all  this,  as  before  said,  may  be  among  honest  men  only. 
But  this  is  not  all.  Every  foul  bird  comes  abroad,  and  every 
dirty  reptile  rises  up.  These  add  crime  to  confusion.  Strong 
measures  deemed  indispensable,  but  harsh  at  best,  such  men 
make  worse  by  maladministration.  Murders  for  old  grudges, 
and  murders  for  pelf,  proceed  under  any  cloak  that  will  best 
serve  for  the  occasion. 

These  causes  amply  account  for  what  has  occurred  in  Mis 
souri,  without  ascribing  it  to  the  weakness  or  wickedness  of 
any  general.  The  newspaper  files,  those  chroniclers  of  current 
events,  will  show  that  the  evils  now  complained  of,  were  quite 
as  prevalent  under  Fremont,  Hunter,  Halleck,  and  Curtis,  as 
under  Schofield.  If  the  former  had  greater  force  opposed  to 
them,  they  also  had  greater  force  with  which  to  meet  it. 
When  the  organized  rebel  army  left  the  State,  the  main  Fede 
ral  force  had  to  go  also,  leaving  the  Department  Commander 
at  home,  relatively  no  stronger  than  before.  Without  dispar 
aging  any,  I  afiirm  with  confidence,  that  no  Commander  of  that 
Department  has,  in  proportion  to  his  means,  dcme  better  than 
Gen.  Schofield. 

The  first  specific  charge  against  Gen.  Schofield  is,  tBat 
the  enrolled  militia  was  placed  under  his  command,  whereas  it 
had  not  been  placed  under  the  command  of  Gen.  Curtis.  The 
fact  is,  I  believe,  true ;  but  you  do  not  point  out,  nor  can  I 
conceive  how  that  did,  or  could,  injure  loyal  men  or  the  Union 
cause. 

You  charge   that  Gen.  Curtis  being,  superseded   bv  Gen. 


642  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Schofield,  Franklin  A.  Dick  was  superseded  by  James  0. 
Broadhead  as  Provost-Marshal  General.  No  very  specific 
showing  is  made  as  to  how  this  did  or  could  injure  the  Union 
cause.  It  recalls,  however,  the  condition  of  things,  as  pre 
sented  to  me,  which  led  to  a  change  of  commander  of  that 
department. 

To  restrain  contraband  intelligence  and  trade,  a  system  of 
searches,  seizures,  permits  and  passes,  had  been  introduced,  I 
think,  by  Gen.  Fremont.  When  Gen.  Halleck  came,  he 
found  and  continued  the  system,  and  added  an  order,  applica 
ble  to  some  parts  of  the  State,  to  levy  and  collect  contributions 
from  noted  rebels,  to  compensate  .losses,  and  relieve  destitution 
caused  by  the  rebellion.  The  action  of  Gen.  Fremont  and 
Gen.  Halleck,  as  stated,  constituted  a  sort  of  system  which 
Gen.  Curtis  found  in  full  operation  when  he  took  command 
of  the  department.  That  there  was  a  necessity  for  something 
of  the  sort  was  clear  j  but  that  it  could  only  be  justified  by 
stern  necessity,  and  that  it  was  liable  to  great  abuse  in  adminis 
tration,  was  equally  clear..  Agents  to  execute  it,  contrary  to  the 
great  prayer,  were  led  into  temptation.  Some  might,  while 
others  would  not  resist  that  temptation.  It  was  not  possible 
to  hold  any  to  a  very  strict  accountability ;  and  those  yield 
ing  to  the  temptation,  would  sell  permits  and  passes  to  those 
who  would  pay  most,  and  most  readily  for  them  ;  and  would 
seize  property  and  collect  levies  in  the  aptest  way  to  fill  their 
own  pockets.  Money  being  the  object,  the  man  having  money, 
whether  loyal  or  disloyal,  would  be  a  victim.  This  practice, 
doubtless,  existed  to  some  extent,  and  it  was  a  real  additional 
evil,  that  it  could  be,  and  was  plausibly  charged  to  exist  in 
greater  extent  than  it  did. 

When  Gen.  Curtis  took  command  of  the  department,  Mr. 
Dick,  against  whom  I  never  knew  any  thing  to  allege,  had  gen 
eral  charge  of  this  system.  A  controversy  in  regard  to  it  rap 
idly  grew  into  almost  unmanageable  proportions.  One  side 
ignored  the  necessity  and  magnified  the  evils  of  the  system, 
while  the  other  ignored  the  evils  and  magnified  the  necessity  j 
and  each  bitterly  assailed  the  other.  I  could  not  fail  to  see 
that  the  controversy  enlarged  in  the  same  proportion  as  the 
professed  Union  men  there  distinctly  took  sides  in  two  oppos 
ing  political  parties.  I  exhausted  my  wits,  and  very  nearly 
my  patience  also,  in  efforts  to  convince  both  that  the  evils 
they  charged  on  each  other  were  inherent  in  the  case,  and  could 
not  be  cured  by  giving  either  party  a  victory  over  the  other. 

Plainly,  the  irritating  system  was  not  to  be  perpetual ;  and 
it  was  plausibly  urged  that  it  could  be  modified  at  once  with 
advantage.  The  case  could  scarcely  be  worse,  and  whether  it 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  543 

could  be  made  better  could  only  be  determined  by  a  trial.  In 
this  view,  and  not  to  ban,  or  brand  Gen.  Curtis,  or  to  give  a 
victory  to  any  party,  I  made  the  change  of  commander  for  the 
department.  I  now  learn  that  soon  after' this  change,  Mr.  Dick 
was  removed,  and  that  Mr.  Broadhead,  a  gentleman  of  no  lesa 
good  character,  was  put  in  the  place.  The  mere  fact  of  this 
change  is  more  distinctly  complained  of  than  is  any  conduct 
of  the  new  officer,  or  other  consequence  of  the  change. 

I  gave  the  new  commander  no  instructions  as  to  the  admin 
istration  of  the  system  mentioned,  beyond  what  is  contained  in 
the  private  letter  afterward  surreptitiously  published,  in  which 
I  directd  him  to  act  solely  for  the  public  good,  and  independ 
ently  of  both  parties.  Neither  any  thing  you  have  presented 
me,  nor  any  thing  I  have  otherwise  learned,  has  convinced  me 
that  he  has  been  unfaithful  to  this  charge. 

Imbecility  is  urged  as  one  cause  for  removing  Gen.  Schofield, 
and  the  late  massacre  at  Lawrence,  Kansas,  is  pressed  as  evi 
dence  of  that  imbecility.  To  my  mind,  that  fact  scarcely  tends 
to  prove  the  proposition.  That  massacre  is  only  an  example 
of  what  Grierson,  John  Morgan,  and  many  others,  might  have 
repeatedly  done  on  their  respective  raids,  had  they  chosen  to 
incur  the  personal  hazard,  and  possessed  the  fiendish  hearts  to 
do  it. 

The  charge  is  made  that  Gen.  SchofieldT  on  purpose  to  pro 
tect  the  Lawrence  murderers,  would  not  allow  them  to  be  pur 
sued  into  Missouri.  "While  no  punishment  could  be  too  sudden 
or  too  severe  for  those  murderers,  I  am  well  satisfied  that  the 
preventing  of  the  threatened  remedial  raid  into  Missouri  was 
the  only  way  to  avoid  an  indiscriminate  massacre  there,  includ 
ing  probably  more  innocent  than  guilty.  Instead  of  condemn 
ing,  1  therefore  approve  what  I  understand  Gen.  Schofield  did 
in  that  respect. 

The  charge  that  Gen.  Schofield  has  purposely  withheld  pro 
tection  from  loyal  people,  and  purposely  facilitated  the  objects 
of  the  disloyal,  are  altogether  beyond  my  power  of  belief.  I 
do  not  arraign  the  veracity  of  gentlemen  as  to  the  facts  com 
plained  of;  but  I  do  more  than  question  the  judgment  which 
would  infer  that  these  facts  occurred  in  accordance  with  the 
purposes  of  Gen.  Schofield. 

With  my  present  views,  I  must  decline  to  remove  Gen. 
Schofield.  In  this  I  decide  nothing  against  Gen.  Butler.  I 
sincerely  wish  it  were  convenient  to  assign  him  a  suitable  com 
mand. 

In  order  to  meet  some  existing  evils,  I  have  addressed  a  letter 
of  instruction  to  Gen.  Schofield,  a  copy  of  which  I  inclose  to 
you.  As  to  the  "  Enrolled  Militia,"  I  shall  endeavor  to  ascer- 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

tain,  better  than  I  now  know,  what  is  its  exact  value.  Let  me 
gay  now,  however,  that  your  proposal  to  substitute  National 
force  for  the  "  Enrolled  Militia,"  implies  that,  in  your  judg 
ment,  the  latter  is  doing  something  which  needs  to  be  done ; 
and  if  so,  the  proposition  to  throw  that  force  away,  and  to 
supply  its  place  by  bringing  other  forces  from  the  field,  where 
they  are  urgently  needed,  seems  to  me  very  extraordinary. 
Whence  shall  they  come?  Shall  they  be  withdrawn  from 
Banks,  or  Grant,  or  Steele,  or  Rosecrans? 

Few  things  have  been  so  grateful  to  my  anxious  feelings,  as 
when  in  June  last,  the  local  force  in  Missouri  aided  General 
Schofield  to  so  promptly  send  a  large  general  force  to  the 
relief  of  Gen.  Grant,  then  investing  Vicksburg,  and  menaced 
from  without  by  Gen.  Johnston.  Was  this  all  wron-g?  Should 
the  Enrolled  Militia  then  have  been  broken  up,  and  Gen. 
Heron  kept  from  Grant,  to  police  Missouri  ?  So  far  from  find 
ing  cause  to  object,  I  confess  to  a  sympathy  for  whatever 
relieves  our  general  force  in  Missouri,  and  allows  it  to  servo 
elsewhere. 

I  therefore,  as  at  present  advised,  can  not  attempt  the  de 
struction  of  the  Enrolled  Militia  of  Missouri.  I  may  add, 
that  the  force  being  under  the  National  military  control,  it  is 
also  within  the  proclamation  with  regard  to  the  habeas  corpus, 

I  concur  in  the  propriety  of  your  request  in  regard  to  elec 
tions,  and  have,  as  you  see,  directed  Gen.  Schofield  accord 
ingly.  I  do  not  feel  justified  to  enter  upon  the  broad  field  you 
present  in  regard  to  the  political  differences  betwen  Radicals 
and  Conservatives.  From  time  to  time  I  have  done  and  said 
what  appeared  to  me  proper  to  do  and  say.  The  public  knows 
it  well.  It  obliges  nobody  to  follow  me,  and  I  trust  it  obliges 
me  to  follow  nobody.  The  Radicals  and  Conservatives  each 
agree  with  me  in  some  things  and  disagree  in  others.  I  could 
wish  both  to  agree  with  me  in  all  things ;  for  then  they  would 
agree  with  each  other,  and  would  be  too  strong  for  any  foe  from 
any  quarter.  They,  however,  choose  to  do  otherwise,  and  I  do 
not  question  their  right.  I,  too,  shall  do  what  seems  to  be  my 
duty.  I  hold  whoever  commands  in  Missouri,  or  elsewhere, 
responsible  to  me,  and  not  to  either  Radicals  or  Conservatives. 
It  is  my  duty  to  hear  all ;  but  at  last  I  must,  within  my  sphere, 
judge  what  to  do  and  what  to  forbear.  ^,. 

Your  obedient  servant,  A.  LINCOLN. 

How  any  Chief  Magistrate,  consistently  with  duty,  to  saj 
nothing  of  the  dignity  becoming  his  office,  could  make  himself 
a  partisan  of  either  side  in  a  petty  local  conflict,  mainly  perso 
nal  in  its  origin,  or  what  more  befitting  attitude  could  have 


LIFE   OP   ABEAHAM    LINCOLN.  545 

been  taken,  than  was  done  in  the  closing  paragraph  of  this  let 
ter,  it  is  not  easy  to  discover.  Some  of  the  leading  "  Radical " 
men  in  fact,  who  had  most  vehemently  urged  the  removal  of 
Gen.  Schofield,  and  among  them  Senator  Lane  of  Kansas  (for 
that  State,  then  included  in  the  same  military  department,  had 
also  been  heard  on  this  occasion  by  its  representatives),  so 
clearly  recognized  the  propriety  of  the  President's  position, 
and  so  well  understood  his  views  on  all  matters  of  principle  to 
harmonize  essentially  with  theirs,  that  they  became  his  earnest 
adherents.  The  attempt  to  make  an  issue  with  Mr.  Lincoln 
on  this  matter,  and  to  arraign  him  before  the  nation,  only  con 
victed  the  movers  of  the  scheme  of  utterly  misconceiving  alike, 
the  person  whom  they  accused,  and  the  people  before  whom  the 
issue  was  to  be  tried.  The  Missouri  squabble  could  not  be 
nationalized.  Mr.  Lincoln  could  not  be  proscribed  for  adhe 
sion  to  the  one  side  or  the  other. 

The  condition  of  affairs  in  Louisiana,  on  the  capture  of  New 
Orleans,  in  1862,  had  been  materially  different  from  that  in 
Virginia  and  Missouri.  «The  restoration  of  order  seemed  to 
require  a  temporary  pupilage  under  a  military  governor.  The 
proportion  of  loyal  inhabitants  was  not  such  as  to  justify, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  Government,  an  immediate  attempt  to 
restore  civil  authority  in  the  State.  So  large  a  portion  of  its 
territory  was  yet  in  disloyal  hands,  and  so  small  a  number  of  its 
people  of  tested  fidelity  as  to  require  the  continued  presence 
of  armies  and  the  prolonged  ascendency  of  military  jurisdic 
tion.  Even  then,  however,  the  popular  branch  of  Congress 
had  generously  recognized  and  admitted  Representatives  from 
two  of  the  districts  of  Louisiana.  In  due  time,  the  state  of 
affairs  had  so  changed  that  the  formation  of  a  loyal  civil  gov 
ernment,  repudiating  slavery,  as  well  as  all  the  acts  consequent 
upon  pretended  secession,  was  favored  by  the  National  Gov 
ernment,  and  by  the  military  commander,  Gen.  Banks,  under 
directions  from  President  Lincoln. 

Tennessee  had  early  been  placed  under  a  military  governor, 

in  the  person  of  Gen.  Andrew  Johnson,  who  had  resigned  his 

Beat  in  the  Senate,  and  accepted  a  military  commission,  in  order' 

the  better  to  further  the  great  work  of  redeeming  his  State  and 

35 


546  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

restoring  a  legitimate  civil  authority.  Arkansas,  less  exposed 
to  military  invasions,  and  apparently  weary  of  a  rebellion 
reluctantly  joined,  resumed  almost  at  once  the  civil  functions 
of  a  State,  abolishing  slavery,  and  repudiating  secession. 

The  national  Executive  was  ready  to  extend  his  cordial  sup 
port  to  the  movements  thus  diversely  organized,  according  to 
the  circumstances,  in  these  three  States,  as  he  had  done  to  thoso 
in  Virginia  and  Missouri.  All  were  proceeding  on  the  same 
substantial  principle,  yet  Congress,  through  the  opposition  of 
a  sufficient  number  of  Republican  Union  members  to  break 
the  Administration  majority,  turned  back  from  its  former  pol 
icy,  and  disappointed  the  hopes  which  the  President,  adhering 
to  the  course  heretofore  approved,  had  properly  encouraged. 
It  is  not  strange  that  this  opposition  should  come  to  be 
regarded  as  either  factious  or  visionary.  Different  reasons  were 
assigned  for  this  conduct.  Honest  differences  of  opinion  unde 
niably  existed.  It  is  also  manifest  that  a  positive  element  of 
this  opposition,  which  endeavored  to  find  a  nucleus  in  the  local 
"  Radicalism "  of  Missouri,  and  materials  for  coalescence  in 
every  kind  of  discontent  existing  among  adherents  of  the  dom 
inant  party  was  something  aside  from  mere  zealous  patriotism. 

An  issue  was  raised  in  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the 
Monroe  doctrine,  by  a  "  Radical "  member 'Ivho  very  well  knew 
that  Mr  Lincoln's  views  of  Maximilian's  usurpation  were  no 
less  emphatic  than  his  own.  The  surrender  of  Arguelles  to 
the  punishment  due  the  crime  and  infamy  of  the  slave-trader, 
though  not  absolutely  required  by  any  treaty  of  extradition, 
was  bitterly  denounced  by  some  of  the  "  Radicals,"  while  the 
great  majority  of  those  thus  designating  themselves,  would 
have  still  more  vehemently  demurred  at  the  "  Conservatism  " 
which .  could  for  a  moment  hesitate  to  give  up  the  criminal. 
Some  affecting  "Radicalism"  even  joined  the  Opposition  cry 
against  military  trials,  the  suppression  of  treasonable  papers, 
summary  arrests,  and  the  silencing  of  orators  endeavoring  to 
demoralize  the  army  and  to  incite  insurrection  in  a  time  of 
great  national  peril.  In  some  instances,  beyond  doubt,  the 
same  parties  who  made  these  proceedings  a  ground  of  com 
plaint  against  Mr.  lancoln,  would  have  declaimed  against  him 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  547 

for  a  want  of  vigor,  had  he  been  less  zealous  to  preserve  the 
nation,  by  the  exercise  of  the  war  power  as  necessity  required. 
Much  of  the  newspaper  correspondence,  as  if  some  secret 
influence  were  working  to  pervert  the  utterances  of  the  hour, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  army  correspondence  in  the  days  of  the 
Peninsula  campaign,  was  made  up  with  less  regard  for  scrupu 
lous  veracity  than  for  the  opportunity  of  starting  a  new  preju 
dice,  or  of  confirming  an  old  one,  to  the  injury  of  the  Presi 
dent.  An  important  feature  would  be  wanting,  were  this  fact 
ignored.  Paragraphs  were  constantly  appearing  in  the  spirit 
of  the  following,  taken  from  the  Washington  dispatches  to  the 
New  York  Tribune,  under  date  of  May  24,  1864: 

MR.  CHASE  ON  ARBITRARY  ARRESTS. — The  subject  of 
arbitrary  arrests  was  incidentally  discussed  in  Cabinet  council 
to-day.  Mr.  Chase  manfully  denounced  them.  The  suppres 
sion  of  the  New  York  papers,  and  extradition  of  Arguelles 
were  both  condemned  by  him  as  devoid  of  policy  and  wanting 
law.  The  defense  of  these  measures  was  more  irritable_than 
logical  and  assured. 

It  is  unimportant  to  contradict  any  such  statements,  except 
to  illustrate  the  wantonness  of  this  apparently  organized  sys 
tem  for  undermining  the  popular  attachment  to  Mr.  Lincoln. 
But,  in  fact,  this  dispatch  was  sheer  fiction  throughout.  No 
such  matter  was  discussed  at  the  Cabinet  council  named,  nor 
was  Mr.  Chase  himself  present,  having  for  months  habitually 
absented  himself  from  such  meetings.  It  may  be  doubted, 
even,  whether  he  entertained  the  views  thus  attributed  to  him, 
or  was  grateful  for  this  apparent  attempt  to  commend  him  to 
the  good  will  of  "  Copperhead  "  malignants.  But  where  abuse 
and  perversion  were  demanded  of  professional  correspondents, 
the  columns  waiting  for  such  material  would  not  be  empty. 

It  was  in  spite  of  all  these  disadvantages,  of  the  military 
situation,  of  partizan  intrigue,  of  Congressional  disaffection, 
and  of  manifold  personal  discontents  among  influential  men 
who  were  personally  passed  by,  or  whose  counsels  had  not  been 
implicitly  regarded  in  the  dispensation  of  patronage,  that 
the  people,  almost  by  a  spontaneous  uprising,  demanded  the 
re-nomination  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  the  Union  candidate  for  the 


648  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Presidency.  In  disregard  of  passionate  appeals,  through  cir 
culars,  letters,  central  clubs,  and  peripatetic  agents,  the  popu 
lar  current  set  with  unmistakable  preponderance  in  one  direc 
tion.  Secretary  Chase  declined  a  further  use  of  his  name  as  a 
Presidential  candidate.  As  a  last  resort,  many  voices  clamored 
for  a  postponement  of  the  national  convention.  This  body  had 
been  called  to  meet  at  Baltimore  on  the  7th  day  of  June,  1864, 
three  weeks  later  than  the  date  at  which  the  like  convention 
had  assembled  in  1860.  There  was  not  even  a  plausible  reason 
for  wishing  a  later  day,  unless  from  the  hope  of  a  change  in  the 
popular  current.  The  efforts  to  secure  a  postponement  having 
failed,  the  now  dwindling  remnant  of  "Radical"  opposition 
decided  to  meet  at  Cleveland  one  week  earlier,  and  to  present 
nominations  in  advance  of  those  to  be  made  at  Baltimore. 
This  they  did,  using  the  name  so  familiarized  by  the  canvass 
of  1856.  But  that  was  no  longer  a  name  to  conjure  by.  The 
Cleveland  convention,  which  threatened  for  an  hour  to  secure 
a  Democratic  success,  scarcely  produced  a  ripple  on  the  surface 
of  national  politics. 

As  indicated  in  previous  pages,  fourteen  States  had  declared, 
either  through  their  legislatures  or  popular  conventions,  a 
decided  preference  for  Mr.  Lincoln's  re-nomination.  Before  the 
assembling  of  the  convention,  the  popular  will  was  too  clear  to 
admit  of  any  doubt  as  to  the  result  on  that  point.  The  call 
for  the  national  convention  was  addressed  to  "  all  qualified  vo 
ters  who  desire  the  unconditional  maintenance  of  the  Union, 
the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  complete  suppres 
sion  of  the  existing  rebellion,  with  the  cause  thereof,  by  vigor 
ous  war,  and  all  apt  and  efficient  means,"  inviting  their  parti 
cipation  in  the  choice  of  delegates.  Each  State  was  to  be 
represented  by  a  number  equal  to  twice  its  electoral  vote. 

The  key-note  of  the  convention  may  be  said  to  have  been 
given  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky,  who 
was  selected  as  the  temporary  presiding  officer.  This  distin 
guished  gentleman  had  been  chosen  as  a  delegate  by  the  Ken 
tucky  State  convention,  after  assuring  that  body  that  he 
would  only  accept  the  trust  on  condition  of  being  instructed  to 
vote  "first,  last,  and  all  the  time  for  Abraham  Lincoln." 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  549 

Dr.  Breckinridge's  declaration  of  his  life-long  conviction  of  the 
evil  and  wrong  of  slavery,  and  his  earnest  desire  for  its  extinc 
tion  throughout  the  land,  was  received  with  such  applause  as 
showed  an  entire  harmony  of  feeling  in  regard  to  eradicating 
the  "  cause  "  of  the  rebellion.  But  scarcely  less  emphatic  was 
the  applause  which  had  previously  greeted  him  when  he  said . 

In  the  first  place,  nothing  can  be  more  plain  than  the  fact 
that  you  are  here  as  the  representatives  of  a  great  nation — vol 
untary  representatives  chosen  without  forms  of  law,  but  as 
really  representing  the  feelings,  the  principles,  and  if  you 
choose,  the  prejudices  of  the  American  people,  as  if  it  were 
written  in  laws  and  already  passed  by  votes — for  the  man  that 
you  will  nominate  here  for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States, 
and  ruler  of  a  great  people  in  a  great  crisis,  is  just  as  certain,  I 
suppose,  to  become  that  ruler,  as  anything  under  heaven  is 
certain  before  it  is  done.  And,  moreover,  you  will  allow  me 
to  say — though,  perhaps,  it  is  hardly  strictly  proper  that  I 
should — but  as  far  as  T  know  your  opinions,  I  suppose  it  is 
just  as  certain  now,  before  you  utter  it,  whose  name  you  will 
utter,  and  which  will  be  responded  to  from  one  end  to  the  other 
of  this  nation,  as  it  will  be  after  it  has  been  uttered  and  record 
ed  by  your  secretary.  Does  any  man  doubt  that  this  conven 
tion  intends  to  say  that  Abraham  Lincoln  shall  be  the  nomi 
nee  ?  [Great  applause.] 

Ex-Governor  William  Dennison,  of  Ohio,  was  chosen  perma 
nent  President  of  the  Convention.  Delegates  were  admitted  from 
such  of  the  Territories  as  had  sent  them,  and  from  the  District 
of  Columbia.  Questions  arose  in  regard  to  the  admission  of 
delegates  from  Tennessee,  Louisiana,  Arkansas  and  Virginia ; 
(West  Virginia  was  duly  represented ;)  and  there  were  two 
contesting  delegations  from  Missouri,  representing  the  two 
parties  there,  already  referred  to.  The  Convention  admitted 
the  "  Radical  "  delegation,  with  almost  entire  unanimity.  The 
delegates  from  Tennessee,  Louisiana  and  Arkansas  were  cor 
dially  received.  The  Virginia  delegation  was  excluded. 

On  the  ballot  for  the  Presidential  candidate,  Mr.  Lincoln 
received  every  vote  in  the  convention,  with  the  single  excep 
tion  of  the  delegation  from  Missouri,  whose  vote  was  changed, 
making  the  nomination  unanimous.  The  joyous  demonstra 
tions  with  which  this  announcement  was  received  in  the  veri- 


550  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

table  city  of  Baltimore,  only  three  years  before  so  hostile,  and 
not  yet  free  from  slavery,  were  in  keeping  with  the  general 
satisfaction  felt  throughout  the  country,  at  the  consummation 
of  this  expected  result. 

The  ballot  on  the  nomination  of  Vice  President  stood,  before 
any  changes,  as  follows  :  Andrew  Johnson,  of  Tennessee,  200  ; 
Hannibal  Hamlin,  of  Maine,  145 ;  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  of  New 
York,  113;  B.  F.  Butler,  of  Massachusetts,  28 ;  Lovell  H. 
Rousseau,  of  Kentucky,  21 ;  all  others,  12.  The  States  of 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Tennessee,  Arkansas,  West  Virginia, 
Delaware  and  Connecticut,  voted  unitedly  for  Gov.  Johnson. 
A  majority  of  the  votes  of  New  York  and  Vermont  were  also 
cast  in  the  same  direction.  A  sufficient  number  of  votes  were- 
at  once  changed  to  give  a  majority  to  Andrew  Johnson,  and  he 
was  unanimously  declared  the  nominee  for  Vice  President. 

The  following  resolutions  were  adopted  by  the  convention : 

THE  BALTIMORE  PLATFORM,  1864. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  highest  duty  of  every  American 
citizen  to  maintain  against  all  their  enemies  the  integrity  of 
the  Union  and  the  paramount  authority  of  the  Constitution  and 
the  laws  of  the  United  States  ;  and  that,  laying  aside  all  differ 
ences  and  political  opinions,  we  pledge  ourselves  as  Union  men, 
animated  by  a  common  sentiment,  and  aiming  at  a  common 
object,  to  do  everything  in  our  power  to  aid  the  Government  in 
quelling,  by  force  of  arms,  the  rebellion  now  raging  against  its 
authority,  and  in  bringing  to  the  punishment,  due  to  their 
crimes,  the  rebels  and  traitors  arrayed  against  it. 

Resolved,  That  we  approve  the  determination  of  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  not  to  compromise  with  rebels,  or  to 
offer  them  any  terms  of  peace  except  such  as  may  be  based 
upon  an  "  unconditional  surrender  "  of  their  hostility  and  a 
return  to  their  just  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  and  the  lawa 
of  the  United  States  ;  and  that  we  call  upon  the  Government 
to  maintain  this  position  and  to  prosecute  the  war  with  the 
utmost  possible  vigor  to  the  complete  suppression  of  the  rebel 
lion,  in  full  reliance  upon  the  self-sacrifices,  the  patriotism,  the 
heroic  valor,  and  the  undying  devotion  of  the  American  people 
to  their  country  and  its  free  institutions. 

Resolved^  That  as  Slavery  was  the  cause  and  now  constitutes 
the  strength  of  this  rebellion,  and  as  it  must  be  always  and 
everywhere  hostile  to  the  principles  of  republican  government, 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  551 

justice  and  the  national  safety  demand  its  utter  and  complete 
extirpation  from  the  soil  of  the  Republic,  and  that  we  uphold 
and  maintain  the  acts  and  proclamations  by  which  the  Govern 
ment,  in  its  own  defense,  has  aimed  a  death-blow  at  this  gigan 
tic  evil.  We  are  in  favor,  furthermore,  of  such  an  amendment 
to  the  Constitution,  to  be  made  by  the  people  in  conformity 
with  its  provisions,  as  shall  terminate  and  forever  prohibit  the 
existence  of  slavery  within  the  limits  or  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States. 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  American  people  are  due 
to  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  the  army  and  the  navy,  who  have 
periled  their  lives  in  defense  of  their  country,  and  in  vindica 
tion  of  the  honor  of  the  flag ;  that  the  nation  owes  to  them 
some  permanent  recognition  of  their  patriotism  and  their  valor, 
and  ample  and  permanent  provision  for  those  of  their  survivors 
who  have  received  disabling  and  honorable  wounds  in  the  ser 
vice  of  the  country  ;  and  that  the  memories  of  those  who  have 
fallen  in  its  defense  shall  be  held  in  grateful  and  everlasting 
remembrance. 

Resolved,  That  we  approve  and  applaud  the  practical  wisdom, 
the  unselfish  patriotism  and  unswerving  fidelity  to  the  Consti 
tution  and  the  principles  of  American  Liberty  with  which 
Abraham  Lincoln  has  discharged,  under  circumstances  of 
unparalleled  difficulty,  the  great  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the 
Presidential  oifice  ;  that  we  approve  and  indorse,  as  demanded 
by  the  emergency  and  essential  ''to  the  preservation  of  the 
nation,  and  as  within  the  Constitution,  the  measures  and  acts 
which  he  has  adopted  to  defend  the  nation  against  its  open  and 
secret  foes ;  that  we  approve  especially  the  Proclamation  of 
Emancipation,  and  the  employment  as  Union  soldiers  of  men 
heretofore  held  in  slavery;  and  that  we  have  full  confidence  in 
his  determination  to  carry  these  and  all  other  constitutional 
measures  essential  to  the  salvation  of  the  country  into  full  and 
complete  effect. 

Resolved,  That  we  deem  it  essential  to  the  general  welfare 
that  harmony  should  prevail  in  the  national  councils,  and  we 
regard  as  worthy  of  public  confidence  and  official  trust  those 
only  who  cordially  indorse  the  principles  proclaimed  in  these 
resolutions,  and  which  should  characterize  the  administration 
of  the  Government. 

Resolved,  That  the  Government  owes  to  all  men  employed 
in  its  armies,  without  regard  to  distinction  of  color,  the  full 
protection  of  the  laws  of  war,  and  that  any  violations  of  these 
laws  or  of  the  usages  of  civilized  nations  in  the  times  of  war  by 
the  rebels  now  in  arms  should  be  made  the  subject  of  full  and 
prompt  redress. 


552  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Resolved,  That  the  foreign  immigration  which  in  the  past 
has  added  so  much  to  the  wealth  and  development  of  resources 
and  increase  of  power  to  this  nation,  the  asylum  of  the 
oppressed  of  all  nations,  should  be  fostered  an.d  encouraged  by 
a  liberal  and  just  policy. 

Resolved,  That  w6  are  in  favor  of  the  speedy  construction  of 
the  railroad  to  the  Pacific. 

Resolved,  That  the  national  faith  pledged  for  the  redemption 
of  the  public  debt  must  be  kept  inviolate,  and  that  for  this 
purpose  we  recommend  economy  and  rigid  responsibility  in  the 
public  expenditures,  and  a  vigorous  and  just  system  of  taxation; 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  any  loyal  State  to  sustain  the  credit  and 
promote  the  use  of  the  national  currency. 

Resolved,  That  we  approve  the  position  taken  by  the  Govern 
ment  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  can  never  regard 
with  indifference  the  attempt  of  any  European  power  to  over 
throw  by  force  or  to  supplant  by  fraud  the  institutions  of  any 
republican  government  on  the  Western  Continent,  and  that 
they  will  view  with  extreme  jealousy,  as  menacing  to  the  peace 
and  independence  of  this,  our  country,  the  efforts  of  any  such 
power  to  obtain  new  footholds  for  monarchical  governments, 
sustained  by  a  foreign  military  force  in  near  proximity  to  the 
United  States. 

Immediately  after  the  Convention,  a  committee  of  one  from 
each  State  represented  therein,  waited  on  the  President,  orally 
communicating  the  fact  of  his  re-nomination,  and  presenting 
a  copy  of  the  foregoing  resolutions.  Responding  to  the  address 
of  their  Chairman,  Mr.  Lincoln  said : 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  :  I 
will  neither  conceal  my  gratification  nor  restrain  the  expres 
sion  of  my  gratitude  that  the  Union  people  through  their  con 
vention,  in  the  continued  effort  to  save  and  advance  the  nation, 
have  deemed  me  not  unworthy  to  remain  in  my  present 
position. 

I  know  no  reason  to  doubt  that  I  shall  accept  the  nomina 
tion  tendered ;  and  yet,  perhaps,  I  should  not  declare  definitely 
before  reading  and  considering  what  is  called  the  platform. 

I  will  say  now,  however,  I  approve  the  declaration  in  favor 
of  so  amending  the  Constitution  as  to  prohibit  slavery 
throughout  the  nation.  When  the  people  in  revolt,  with  a 
hundred  days  of  explicit  notice  that  they  could  within  those 
days  resume  their  allegiance  without  the  overthrow  of  their 
institutions,  and  that  they  could  not  resume  it  afterward, 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  553 

elected  to  stand  out,  such  amendments  to  the  Constitution  as  ia 
now  proposed  became  a  fitting  and  necessary  conclusion  to  the 
final  success  of  the  Union  cause.  Such  alone  can  meet  and 
cover  all  cavils.  Now,  the  unconditional  Union  men,  North 
and  South,  perceive  its  importance,  and  embrace  it.  In  the 
joint  names  of  Liberty  and  Union,  let  us  labor  to  give  it  legal 
form  and  practical  efiect. 

In  response  to  a  call  from  the  Ohio  delegation  in  the  Balti 
more  Convention,  accompanied  by  Menter's  band,  of  Cincin 
nati,  the  President  remarked : 

GENTLEMEN  :  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  this  com 
pliment.  I  have  just  been  saying,  and  as  I  have  just  said  it,  I 
will  repeat  it:  The  hardest  of  all  speeches  which  I  have  to  answer 
is  a  serenade.  I  never  know  what  to  say  on  such  occasions.  I 
suppose  that  you  have  done  me  this  kindness  in  connection  with 
the  action  of  the  Baltimore  Convention  which  has  recently 
taken  place,  and  with  which,  of  course,  I  am  very  well  satis 
fied.  [Laughter  and  applause].  What  we  want  still  more 
than  Baltimore  Conventions  or  Presidential  elections  is  success 
under  General  Grant.  [Cries  of  "  Good,"  and  applause.]  I 
propose  that  you  constantly  bear  in  mind  that  the  support  you 
owe  to  the  brave  officers  and  soldiers  in  the  field  is  of  the  very 
first  importance,  and  we  should  therefore  bend  all  our  energies 
to  that  point.  Now,  without  detaining  you  any  longer,  I  pro 
pose  that  you  help  me  to  close  up  what  I  am  now  saying  with 
three  rousing  cheers  for  General  Grant  and  the  officers  and 
soldiers  under  his  command. 

In  an  interview  with  a  delegation  of  the  National  Union 
League,  in  the  East  Room,  he  used  substantially  the  following 
language — the  homely  illustrations  at  the  close  (and  the 
manner  of  presenting  it),  exciting  prolonged  laughter  and 
applause  : 

GENTLEMEN  :'  I  can  only  say  in  response  to  the  kind 
remarks  of  your  Chairman,  as  I  suppose,  that  I  am  very  grate 
ful  for  the  renewed  confidence  which  has  been  accorded  to  me 
both  by  the  Convention  and  by  the  National  League.  I  am 
not  insensible  at  all  to  the  personal  compliment  there  is  in 
this,  and  yet  I  do  not  allow  myself  to  believe  that  any  but  a 
small  portion  of  it  is  to  be  appropriated  as  a  personal  compli 
ment.  That  really  the  Convention  and  the  Union  League 


554  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

assembled  with  a  higher  view — that  of  taking  care  of  the 
interests  of  the  country  for  the  present  and  the  great  future — 
and  that  the  part  I  am  entitled  to  appropriate  as  a  compliment 
is  only  that  part  which  I  may  lay  hold  of  as  being  the  opinion, 
of  the  Convention  and  of  the  League,  that  I  am  not  entirely 
unworthy  to  be  entrusted  with  the  place  which  I  have  occupied 
for  the  last  three  years.  But  I  do  not  allow  myself  to  suppose 
that  either  the  Convention  or  the  League  have  concluded  to 
decide  that  I  am  either  the  greatest  or  best  man  in  America, 
but  rather  they  have  concluded  that  it  is  not  best  to  swap 
horses  while  crossing  the  river,  and  have  further  concluded 
that  I  am  not  so  poor  a  horse  that  they  might  not  make  a 
botch  of  it  in  trying  to  swap. 

The  Committee  to  notify  President  Lincoln  of  his  re-nomi 
nation  subsequently  transmitted  to  him  a  letter,  formally 
announcing  the  choice  of  the  Convention,  in  the  course  of 
which  they  said  : 

We  believe,  sir,  that  the  honest  will  of  the  Union  men  of 
the  country  was  never  more  truly  represented  than  in  this 
Convention.  Their  purpose  we  believe  to  be  the  overthrow  of 
armed  rebels  in  the  field,  and  the  security  of  permanent  peace 
and  union,  by  liberty  and  justice  under  the  Constitution. 
That  these  results  are  to  be  achieved  amid  cruel  perplexities, 
they  are  fully  aware.  That  they  are  to  be  reached  only  by 
cordial  unanimity  of  counsel,  is  undeniable.  That  good  men 
may  sometimes  differ  as  to  the  means  and  the  time,  they  know. 
That  in  the  conduct  of  all  human  affairs  the  highest  duty  is  to 
determine,  in  the  angry  conflict  of  passion,  how  much  good 
may  be  practically  accomplished,  is  their  sincere  persuasions. 
They  have  watched  your  official  course,  therefore,  with  unflag 
ging  attention;  and  amid  the  bitter  taunts  of  eager  friends 
and  the  fierce  denunciation  of  enemies,  now  moving  too  fast 
for  some,  now  too  slowly  for  others,  they  have  seen  you 
throughout  this  tremendous  contest  patient,  sagacious,  faithful, 
just;  leaning  upon  the  heart  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people, 
and  satisfied  to  be  moved  by  its  mighty  pulsations. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that,  long  before  the  Convention  met, 
the  popular  instinct  had  plainly  indicated  you  as  its  candidate; 
and  the  Convention,  therefore,  merely  recorded  the  popular 
will.  Your  character  and  career  prove  your  unswerving 
fidelity  to  the  cardinal  principles  of  American  Liberty  and  of 
the  American  Constitution.  In  the  name  of  that  Liberty  and 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  555 

Constitution,  sir.  we  earnestly  requese  your  acceptance  of  this 
nomination. 

To  this  letter,  Mr.  Lincoln  replied  in  the  following  words : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         ) 
WASHINGTON,  June  27,  1864.  j 

Hon.  WILLIAM  DENNISON  and  others,  a  Committee  of  the 
Union  National  Convention  :  Gentlemen — Your  letter  of  the 
14th  instant,  formally  notifying  me  that  I  have  been  nominated 
by  the  Convention  you  represent  for  the  Presidency  of  the 
United  States,  for  four  years  from  the  4th  of  March  next,  has 
been  received.  The  nomination  is  gratefully  accepted,  as  the 
resolutions  of  the  Convention — called  the  platform — are  heart 
ily  approved. 

While  the  resolution  in  regard  to  the  supplanting  of  repub 
lican  government  upon  the  Western  Continent  is  fully  con 
curred  in,  there  might  be  misunderstanding  were  I  not  to  say 
that  the  position  of  the  Government  in  relation  to  the  action, 
of  France  and  Mexico,  as  assumed  through  the  State  Depart 
ment,  and  indorsed  by  the  Convention,  among  the  measures 
and  acts  of  the  Executive,  will  be  faithfully  maintained  so 
long  as  the  state  of  facts  shall  leave  that  position  pertinent 
and  applicable. 

I  am  especially  gratified  that  the  soldier  and  the  seamen  were 
not  forgotten  by  the  Convention,  as  they  forever  must  and  will 
be  remembered  by  the  grateful  country  for  whose  salvation  they 
devote  their  lives. 

Thanking  you  for  the   kind   and  complimentary  terms  in 
which  you  have  communicated  the  nomination  and  other  pro 
ceedings  of  the  Convention,  I  subscribe  myself 
Your  obedient  servant, 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Every- where  through  the  loyal  States,  and  not  less  *  among 
our  heroic  armies  fighting  for  the  Republic  on  disloyal  soil, 
and  among  our  brave  forces  afloat  on  gunboats  and  men-of-war, 
the  nomination  of  Abraham  Lincoln  for  a  second  term  was 
received  with  joy,  and  ratified  with  hearty  good  will.  More 
than  thirty  years  had  passed  since  any  President  of  the  United 
States  had  received  the  honor  of  a  reelection.  Never,  as  yet, 
had  any  President  from  the  North  been  chosen  for  a  second 
term,  although  every  Southern  President,  elected  as  such,  un 
til  the  time  of  Mr.  Polk,  had  served  for  eight  years.  Aside 


556  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

from  merely  personal  considerations,  there  was  undoubtedly  a 
feeling  that  the  policy  of  the  Administration,  being  satisfac 
tory,  should  not  be  materially  changed  at  this  important  junc 
ture,  and  that  the  name  associated  with  the  policy  of  emanci 
pation,  in  its  inception,  should  be  connected  with  its  ultimate 
triumph. 

There  was  also  a  certain  earnest  devotion  in  President  Lin 
coln's  calm  faith  in  the  guidance  and  aid  of  Divine  Providence, 
which  strongly  impressed  all  sober  minds — a  religious  trust 
which  became  more  and  more  his  support  in  the  severe  trials 
of  his  official  station.  This  trait  of  his  character,  and  the  con 
fidence  reposed  in  him  by  the  churches,  can  not  be  better  illus 
trated  than  by  giving  the  following  address  of  sympathy  and 
loyal  attachment  which  belongs  to  this  period,  although  of 
somewhat  earlier  date  than  the  President's  re-nomination — pre 
sented  in  person  by  a  delegation  of  distinguished  clergymen, 
headed  by  Bishop  Ames,  on  behalf  of  the  General  Conference 
of  Methodist  Episcopal  churches,  together  with  the  brief, 
unpremeditated  reply  made  on  that  occasion. 

To  His  EXCELLENCY  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  PRESIDENT  OP 
THE  UNITED  STATES  :  The  General  Conference  of  the  Metho 
dist  Episcopal  Church,  now  in  session  in  the  city  of  Philadel 
phia,  representing  nearly  seven  thousand  ministers,  and  nearly 
a  million  of  members,  mindful  of  their  duty  as  Christian  citi 
zens,  takes  the  earliest  opportunity  to  express  to  you  the  assu 
rance  of  the  loyalty  of  the  Church,  her  earnest  devotion  to 
the  interests  of  the  country,  arid  her  sympathy  with  you  in  the 
great  responsibilities  of  your  high  position  in  this  trying  hour. 

With  exultation  we  point  to  the  record  of  our  Church  as 
having  never  been  tarnished  by  disloyalty.  She  was  the  first 
of  the  churches  to  express,  by  a  deputation  of  her  most  dis 
tinguished  ministers,  the  promise  of  support  to  the  Govern 
ment  in  the  days  of  Washington.  In  her  Articles  of  Religion 
she  has  enjoined  loyalty  as  a  duty,  and  has  ever  given  to  the 
Government  her  most  decided  support. 

In  this  present  struggle  for  the  nation's  life,  many  thousands 
of  her  members,  and  a  large  number  of  her  ministers,  have 
rushed  to  arms  to  maintain  the  cause  of  God  and  humanity. 
They  have  sealed  their  devotion  to  the  country  with  their 
blood,  on  every  battle-field  of  this  terrible  war. 

We  regard  this  dreadful  scourge  now  desolating  our  land  and 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  557 

wasting  the  nation's  life,  as  the  result  of  a  most  unnatural; 
utterly  unjustifiable  rebellion  ;  involving  the  crime  of  treason 
against  the  best  of  human  governments,  and  sin  against  God. 
It  required  our  Government  to  submit  to  its  own  dismember 
ment  and  destruction,  leaving  it  no  alternative  but  to  preserve 
the  national  integrity  by  the  use  of  the  national  resources.  If 
the  Government  had  failed  to  use  its  power  to  preserve  the 
unity  of  the  nation,  and  maintain  its  authority,  it  would  have 
been  justly  exposed  to  the  wrath  of  Heaven,  and  to  the 
reproach  and  scorn  of  the  civilized  world. 

Our  earnest  and  constant  prayer  is,  that  this  cruel  and  wicked 
rebellion  may  be  speedily  suppressed ;  and  we  pledge  you  our 
hearty  cooperation  in  all  appropriate  means  to  secure  this 
object. 

Loyal  and  hopeful  in  national  adversity,  in  prosperity  thank 
ful,  we  most  heartily  congratulate  you  on  the  glorious  victories 
recently  gained,  and  rejoice  in  the  belief  that  our  complete 
triumph  is  near. 

We  believe  that  our  national  sorrows  and  calamities  have 
resulted,  in  a  great  degree,  from  our  forgetfulness  of  God,  and 
oppression  of  our  fellow-men.  Chastened  by  affliction,  may 
the  nation  humbly  repent  of  her  sins,  lay  aside  her  haughty 
pride,  honor  God  in  all  future  legislation,  and  render  justice  to 
all  who  have  been  wronged. 

We  honor  you  for  your  proclamations  of  liberty,  and  rejoice 
in  all  the  acts  of  the  Government  designed  to  secure  freedom 
to  the  enslaved. 

We  trust  that  when  military  usages  and  necessities  shall  jus 
tify  interference  with  established  institutions,  and  the  removal 
of  wrongs  sanctioned  by  law,  the  occasion  will  be  improved, 
not  merely  to  injure  our  foes  and  increase  the  national 
resources,  but,  also,  as  an  opportunity  to  recognize  our  obliga 
tions  to  God,  and  to  honor  His  law.  We  pray  that  the  time 
may  speedily  come  when  this  shall  be  truly  a  republican  and 
free  country,  in  no  part  of  which,  either  State  or  Territory, 
shall  slavery  be  known. 

The  prayers  of  millions  of  Christians,  with  an  earnestness 
never  manifested  for  rulers  before,  daily  ascend  to  Heaven, 
that  you  may  be  endued  with  all  needed  wisdom  and  power. 
Actuated  by  the  sentiments  of  the  loftiest  and  purest  patriot 
ism,  our  prayer  shall  be  continually  for  the  preservation  of  our 
country  undivided,  for  the  triumph  of  our  cause,  and  for  a  per 
manent  peace,  gained  by  the  sacrifice  of  no  moral  principles, 
but  founded  on  the  Word  of  God,  and  securing,  in  righteous 
ness,  liberty  and  equal  rights  to  all. 


658.  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Signed,  in  behalf  of  the  General  Conference  of  the  Metho 
dist  Episcopal  Church. 
PHILADELPHIA,  May  14,  1864. 

President  Lincoln  replied  in  the  following  words : 

GENTLEMEN:  In  response  to  your  address,  allow  me  to 
attest  the  accuracy  of  its  historical  statements,  indorse  the  sen 
timents  it  expresses,  and  thank  you,  in  the  nation's  name,  for 
the  sure  promise  it  gives. 

Nobly  sustained,  as  the  Government  has  been  by  all  the 
churches,  I  would  utter  nothing  which  might  in  the  least 
appear  invidious  against  any.  Yet,  without  this,  it  may  fairly  bo 
said  that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  not  less  devoted 
than  the  best,  is,  by  its  greater  numbers,  the  most  important 
of  all.  It  is  no  fault  in  others  that  the  Methodist  Church 
sends  more  soldiers  to  the  field,  more  nurses  to  the  hospitals, 
and  more  prayers  to  heaven  than  any.  God  bless  the  Metho 
dist  Church ;  bless  all  the  churches ;  and  blessed  be  God,  who, 
in  this  our  great  trial,  giveth  us  the  churches. 

There  was  some  corresponding  action  on  the  part  of  nearly 
or  quite  all  the  general  ecclesiastical  bodies  of  the  United 
States.  "All  the  churches,"  without  regard  to  sectarian  dif 
ference,  not  only  confided  in  his  high  character,  but  also 
received  from  him  a  reciprocation  of  kindly  feeling  and  thank 
fulness. 

The  first  stage  of  the  Presidential  canvass  was  now  passed. 
The  nominations  were  made.  The  Administration  platform 
was  before  the  people.  It  now  remained  to  be  determined 
whether  the  Eepublican  Union  party  should  continue  in  the 
ascendant — whether  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the  nation, 
entitled  to  a  voice  on  the  question,  should  fully  confirm  and 
ratify  what  the  party  itself  had  with  such  cordial  unanimity 
agreed  upon,  or  should  intrust  the  power  of  the  nation  to  new 
men,  on  an  entirely  different  basis  of  public  policy. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  559 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Congrtni*. — The  Constitutional  Amendment  prohibiting  Slavery. — Us 
Defeat  in  the  House.— Repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Laws.— New 
Bureaus  Established. — Other  Important  Legislation. — "  Reconstruc 
tion." — Opposition  to  the  President's  Policy. — The  Davis  Bill. — 
Disagreement  of  the  two  Houses  Thereon. — Its  Final  Passage.— 
The  President  withholds  his  Signature. — His  Proclamation  on  the 
Subject. — The  Wade-Davis  Manifesto. — Letters  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in 
regard  to  Matters  in  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis. — President  Lin 
coln's  Speech  at  the  Philadelphia  Fair. — A  Democratic  National 
Convention  Called  and  Postponed. — Clay,  Thompson  and  other  Con 
spirators  in  Canada. — The  Qreeley  Negotiations  with  them. — Pres 
ident  Lincoln's  Action  in  the  Case. — North-western  Conspiracy. — 
The  Chicago  Nominations  and  Platform,  1864. 

THE  first  session  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  terminated 
on  the  4th  day  of  July,  1864.  On  the  10th  day  of  Febru 
ary,  Mr.  Trumbull,  in  the  Senate,  had  reported  from  the  Com 
mittee  on  the  Judiciary  a  joint  resolution  proposing  to  the 
legislatures  of  the  several  States  (to  become  valid  when  rati 
fied  by  three-fourths  of  the  same)  the  following  article  as  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States : 

ARTICLE  XIII. — Section  1.  Neither  slavery  nor  involun 
tary  servitude,  except  as  a  punishment  for  crime,  whereof  the 
party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall  exist  within  the 
United  States,  or  any  place  subject  to  their  jurisdiction. 

Section  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article 
by  appropriate  legislation. 

This  resolution  passed  the  Senate  on  the  8th  of  April,  by  a 
vote  of  38  to  6  (the  negative  votes  being  given  by  Messrs. 
Davis  and  Powell,  of  Kentucky,  Riddle  and  Salisbury,  of  Del 
aware,  Hendricks,  of  Indiana,  and  McDougall,  of  California), 
The  resolution  having  been  transmitted  to  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives,  was  taken  up  on  the  31st  of  May,  when,  Mr, 


560  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Holman,  of  Indiana,  having  objected  to  its  second  reading, 
that  body  was  brought  to  a  direct  vote  on  its  rejection,  which 
stood,  yeas  55,  nays  76,  the  Democratic  opposition  voting 
unanimously  against  any  consideration  of  the  question.  On 
the  15th  of  June,  the  resolution  was  directly  voted  on,  and 
rejected  for  want  of  the  requisite  two-thirds  vote — the  yeas 
being  95,  and  the  nays  G6.  Mr.  Ashley,  of  Ohio,  having 
voted  in  the  negative,  with  a  view  to  secure  a  reconsideration 
of  the  vote  at  the  next  session,  entered  a  motion  to  that  effect 
on  the  same  day.  Thus  a  great  measure  of  vital  consequence 
to  the  nation  for  all  time,  was  defeated  by  the  Democratic  oppo 
sition,  still  unwilling  to  cut  loose  from  the  doomed  institu 
tion,  and  still  apparently  hopeful  of  renewing  a  Southern 
bondage  which  had  been  so  long  the  basis  of  their  political 
power.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Republican  Union  party  had 
adopted  this  measure  in  its  platform,  as  a  vital  issue  of  the 
time,  and  supported  it  with  entire  unanimity  in  both  branches 
of  Congress.  President  Lincoln  himself  had  already  given 
his  hearty  approval  to  this  method  for  the  utter  and  final 
extinction  of  slavery  wherever  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States  extends. 

The  time  had  now  come  when  the  odious  legislation  for 
returning  to  bondage  the  slaves  who  had  asserted  their  natural 
right  to  freedom  by  escaping  into  free  territory,  should  cease 
to  have  a  place  among  the  laws  of  a  free  republic.  Various 
attempts  had  been  made  to  this  end,  both  in  the  Senate  and  in 
the  House  of  Representatives,  during  this  and  the  previous 
sessions  of  Congress,  without  final  effect,  until,  on  the  13th  of 
June,  1864,  Mr.  Morris,  of  New  York,  from  the  Committee  on 
the  Judiciary,  reported  an  act  repealing  the  fugitive  slave  act 
of  1850,  and  the  third  and  fourth  sections  of  that  of  1793. 
This  repealing  act  passed  by  nearly  a  strict  party  vote — yeas 
86,  nays  60 — the  Administration  members,  save  Mr.  Smithers, 
of  Delaware,  voting  unitedly  for  the  repeal,  and  the  Opposi 
tion  members,  except  Mr.  Griswold,  of  New  York,  voting  in 
the  negative.  This  bill  passed  the  Senate  on  the  22d  day  of 
June,  and  received  the  approval  of  the  Executive  on  the  28th, 

The  Bureau  of  National  Currency,  in  the  Treasury  Depart* 


LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  501 

merit,  was  created  at  this  session,  and  Hon.  Hugh  McCulloch, 
of  Indiana,  appointed  to  the  office  of  Comptroller  of  the  Cur- 
lency.  In  the  War  Department,  the  Bureau  of  Military  Jus 
tice  was  established,  at  the  head  of  which  Hon.  Joseph  Holt, 
of  Kentucky,  was  appointed,  as  Judge  Advocate  General,  with 
the  rank  of  brigadier-general.  An  additional  loan  of  $400,- 
000,000  was  authorized;  the  enrollment  act  was  materially 
modifiedy  by  repealing  the  commutation  clause  (releasing  any 
drafted  man  on  the  payment  of  three  hundred  dollars),  and 
otherwise  rendering  it  more  efficient;  important  amendments 
were  made  in  the  pension  laws ;  and  acts  were  passed  for  the 
punishment  of  guerrillas,  for  increasing  the  efficiency  of  the 
navy,  and  in  aid  of  the  proposed  international  telegraph  by 
British  and  Russian  America  to  Asia. 

In  his  annual  message,  with  the  accompanying  proclamation 
of  amnesty,  President  Lincoln  had,  somewhat  at  length  and  in 
detail,  given  his  views  as  to  the  best  means  of  restoring  prac 
tical  relations  between  the  insurrectionary  States  and  the 
National  Government.  These  views  were  in  accord  with  those 
hitherto  acted  upon,  and  approved  by  every  branch  of  the 
Government,  although,  coupled  as  they  were  with  proffers  of 
amnesty,  they  were  extended  to  embrace  particular  suggestion 
not  before  presented.  The  methods  of  reorganization  pro 
posed  were  recommendations  merely,  properly  guarded,  and 
the  purpose  of  prescribing  any  invariable  rule  of  action  in  the 
premises,  was  distinctly  disavowed.  As  already  seen,*  the 
President,  in  this  proclamation  of  amnesty  with  certain  condi 
tions,  was  not  only  exercising  the  prerogative  belonging  to  the 
pardoning  power  conferred  on  him  by  the  Constitution,  but 
was  also  carrying  out  the  formally  expressed  will  of  Congress. 
Early  in  the  session  (December  15, 1863),  Mr.  Davis,  of  Mary 
land,  moved  the  reference  of  so  much  of  the  President's  mes 
sage  as  related  to  this  subject  to  a  committee  of  nine,  which 
was  agreed  to,  the  mover  being  appointed  chairman.  On  the 
4th  of  May  following,  a  bill  and  preamble  were  reported  by 
Mr.  Davis,  embodying  a  fixed  and  elaborate  plan  of  "  recon 
struction."  It  provided  for  the  appointment  of  a  Provisional 

*  Ante  page  459 


5G2  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Governor  by  the  President,  in  each  State  declared  to  be  ia 
rebellion,  to  serve  until  a  State  government  should  have  been 
organized  and  recognized  by  the  National  Government.  On 
the  suppression  of  military  resistance  to  the  authority  of  the 
United  States  in  any  such  State,  an  enrollment  of  white  male 
citizens  was  to  be  made,  and  a  convention  was  to  be  called,  when 
a  majority  of  them  should  have  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance,  to 
act  upon  the  reestablishment  of  a  State  government.  All  per 
sons  having  held  any  office  in  the  Rebel  service,  civil  or  mili 
tary,  State  or  Confederate,  and  all  those  having  voluntarily 
borne  arms  in  such  service,  were  to  be  prohibited  from  voting 
for  or  being  elected  as  delegates  to  the  State  convention.  The 
convention  was  required,  by  the  bill,  to  insert  in  the  new  con 
stitution  to  be  framed  by  it,  provisions  (1st)  disfranchising 
those  who  have  "  held  or  exercised  any  civil  or  military  office 
(except  offices  merely  ministerial,  and  military  offices  below  a 
colonel),  State  or  Confederate,  under  the  usurping  power ;  " 
(2d),  prohibiting  slavery  ;  and  (3d),  repudiating  all  debts 
created  by  o.r  under  sanction  of  "  the  usurping  power,"  "State 
or  Confederate."  The  State  government  thus  created  was  to 
be  recognized  by  the  President,  after  obtaining  the  assent  of 
Congress,  and  only  after  such  recognition,  the  State  to  be  rep 
resented  in  Congress,  and  in  the  electoral  college.  Slavery, 
was  further  formally  declared  to  be  abolished  in  all  the  States 
in  question,  with  remedies  and  penalties  to  give  this  declara 
tion  effect.  Those  Rebels  holding  any  civil  or  military  office, 
with  the  conditions  above  stated,  after  this  bill  should  become 
a  law,  were  declared  not  to  be  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

This  bill  passed  the  House-  on  the  day  it  was  reported,  yeas 
74,  nays  66.  Among  the  latter  were  several  Administration 
members.  The  preamble,  giving  a  key-note  to  the  spirit  and 
purpose  of  the  bill,  was  in  these  words  : 

WHEREAS,  The  so-called  Confederate  States  are  a  public 
enemy,  waging  an  unjust  war,  whose  injustice  is  so  glaring  that 
they  have  no  right  to  claim  the  mitigation  of  the  extreme 
rights  of  war  which  are  accorded  by  modern  usage  to  an  enemy 
who  has  a  right  to  consider  the  war  a  just  one  ;  and  whereas 
none  of  the  States  which,  by  a  regularly  recorded  majority  of 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.     ,  563 

Us  citizens,  have  joined  the  so-called  Southern  Confederacy, 
can  be  considered  and  treated  as  entitled  to  be  represented  in. 
Congress,  or  to  take  any  part  in  the  political  government  of 
the  Union. 

This  was  rejected,  ayes  57,  nays  75. 

In  the  Senate,  on  the  1st  of  July,  Mr.  Brown,  of  Missouri, 
moved  the  following  substitute  for  the  entire  bill  which  was 
carried,  yeas  20,  nays  13 : 

That  when  the  inhabitants  of  any  State  have  been  declared 
in  a  state  of  insurrection  against  the  United  States,  by  proc 
lamation  of  the  President,  by  force  and  virtue  of  the  act  enti 
tled  "  An  act  to  provide  for  the  collection  of  duties  on  imports, 
and  for  other  purposes,"  approved  July  13,  1861,  they  shall 
be,  and  are  hereby  declared  to  be,  incapable  of  casting  any 
vote  for  electors  of  President  or  Vice  President  of  the  United 
States,  or  of  electing  Senators  or  Representatives  in  Congress, 
until  said  insurrection  in  said  State  is  suppressed  or  abandoned, 
and  said  inhabitants  have  returned  to  their  obedience  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  nor  until  such  return  to 
obedience  shall  be  declared  by  proclamation  of  the  President, 
issued  by  virtue  of  an  act  of  Congress,  hereafter  to  be  passed, 
authorizing  the  same. 


o 


The  bill  having  been  returned  to  the  House,  as  thus  amended, 
the  amendment  was  non-concurred  in.  ^he  Senate  ultimately 
recededfrom  its  amendment,  yeas  18,  nays  14,  thus  concurring  in 
the  passage  of  the  bill  as  it  first  came  from  the  House.  It  ia 
manifest,  from  the  action  taken  on  this  bill,  that  it  was  not 
unobjectionable  to  the  majority  of  the  Senate,  and  that,  on 
free  discussion  of  its  prominent  details,  it  could  not  certainly 
command  a  majority  in  the  House  on  a  full  vote.  That  it 
could  ever  have  received  a  two-thirds  vote  in  both  houses,  had 
it  been  returned  by  the  Executive  with  objections,  probably  its 
most  zealous  supporter  never  imagined.  It  so  happened  that 
the  bill,  passed  just  at  the  close  of  the  session,  only  reached 
the  President  about  an  hour  before  the  actual  adjournment, 
when  numerous  other  bills  were  awaiting  his  signature,  allowing 
him  hardly  time  to  even  read  it  with  care,  much  less  to  prepare 
a  veto  message.  Much  of  it  he  fully  approved.  Other  parts 
he  thought  seriously  objectionable.  Committed,  too,  as  he 


564  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

already  had  been,  publicly,  to  the  recognition  of  the  new  State 
governments  of  Louisiana  and  Arkansas,  he  could  not,  in  good 
faith,  repudiate  his  promises  to  the  people  of  those  States,  as 
•would  have  been  done  by  approving  the  Davis  bill.  Only  a 
dictatorial  and  factious  spirit  could  call  in  question  the  Presi 
dent's  unrestricted  right  to  withhold  his  signature,  or  the  purity 
of  the  motive  which  led  him  to  do  so.  Not  less  evidently  was 
it  proper  for  him  to  publish  the  bill,  with  a  statement  of  his 
reasons  for  the  course  he  had  taken,  and  to  give  it  a  place  with 
his  own  suggestions  made  in  the  amnesty  proclamation,  reserv 
ing  his  former  action  in  regard  to  Louisiana  and  Arkansas,  and 
declining  to  make  compliance  with  the  terms  of  this  bill  indis 
pensable  in  any  case.  He  had  long  before  appointed  military 
governors  in  Tennessee  and  North  Carolina.  The  power  to  do 
so  clearly  belonged  to  him,  as  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army 
and  Navy.  But  it  was  questionable,  to  say  the  least,  whether 
Congress  could  constitutionally  exercise  any  "  provisional " 
local  jurisdiction  in  the  States,  as  proposed. 

On  the  8th  of  July,  1864,  President  Lincoln  issued  the 
following  proclamation,  on  the  subject,  accompanied  by  the 
Davis  Reconstruction  bill : 

"WHEREAS,  At  the  late  session,  Congress  passed  a  bill  "  to 
guarantee  to  certain  States,  whose  governments  have  been 
usurped  or  overthrown,  a  republican  form  of  government,"  a 
copy  of  which  is  hereunto  annexed : 

AND  WHEREAS,  The  said  bill  was  presented  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States  for  his  approval  less  than  one  hour  before 
the  sine  die  adjournment  of  said  session, -and  was  not  signed  by 
him: 

AND  WHEREAS,  The  said  bill  contains,  among  other  things, 
a  plan  for  restoring  the  States  in  rebellion  to  their  proper  prac 
tical  relation  in  the  Union,  which  plan  expresses  the  sense  of 
Congress  upon  that  subject,  and  which  plan  it  is  now  thought 
fit  to  lay  before  the  people  for  their  consideration  : 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United 
States,  do  proclaim,  declare,  and  make  known,  that,  while  I  am 
(as  I  was  in  December  last,  when  by  proclamation  I  pro 
pounded  a  plan  for  restoration)  unprepared,  by  a  formal 
approval  of  this  bill,  to  be  inflexibly  committed  to  any  single 
plan  of  restoration ;  and,  while  I  am  also  unprepared  to  declare 
that  the  free  State  constitutions  and  governments  already 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  565 

adopted  and  installed  in  Arkansas  and  Louisiana  shall  be  set 
aside  and  held  for  nought,  thereby  repelling  and  discouraging 
the  loyal  citizens  who  have  set  up  the  same  as  to  further  effort, 
or  to  declare  a  constitutional  competency  in  Congress  to  abolish 
slavery  in  States,  but  am  at  the  same  time  sincerely  hoping 
and  expecting  that  a  constitutional  amendment  abolishing 
slavery  throughout  the  nation  may  be  adopted,  nevertheless  I 
am  fully  satisfied  with  the  system  for  restoration  contained  in 
the  bill  as  one  very  proper  plan  for  the  loyal  people  of  any 
State  choosing  to  adopt  it,  and  that  I  am,  and  at  all  times  shall 
be,  prepared  to  give  the  Executive  aid  and  assistance  to  any 
such  people,  so  soon  as  the  military  resistance  to  the  United 
States  shall  have  been  suppressed  in  any  such  State,  and  the 
people  thereof  shall  have  sufficiently  returned  to  their  obedi 
ence  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  in 
which  cases  Military  Governors  will  be  appointed,  with  direc 
tions  to  proceed  according  to  the  bill. 

It  was  not  unnatural  that  the  mover  of  this  bill  should  be 
unpleasantly  affected  by  its  failure  to  become  a  law.  He  had 
matured,  to  his  own  entire  satisfaction,  a  method  of  *'  recon 
struction  " — the  vexed  question  which  had  been  so  much  and 
so  prematurely  discussed — and  it  had  received  the  indorsement 
of  both  Houses  of  Congress.  He  could  not  doubt  its  perfect 
sufficiency  as  a  solution  of  the  problem;  yet  his  work  had 
become  of  no  effect  for  the  lack  of  the  President's  signature. 

Mr.  Davis,  however,  was  mistaken  in  supposing  that  the  peo 
ple  attached  any  special  value  to  his  scheme,  or  that  any 
appeal  he  could  make  to  them  would  avert  their  ready  and 
intuitive  conclusion  that  he,  rather  than  President  Lincoln,  was 
in  the  wrong.  Such  an  appeal  was,  nevertheless,  determined 
upon.  At  a  moment  when  the  country  was  growing  impatient 
and  apprehensive  over  severe  losses  in  the  field,  without  the 
decisive  victories  hoped  for,  when  the  Opposition  was  exultant 
in  the  prospect  of  a  Presidential  triumph  in  November,  and 
when  all  cordial  supporters  of  the  Baltimore  nominations 
were  earnest  and  united  in  their  efforts  to  avoid  a  possible 
defeat  of  the  cause,  Mr.  Davis'  arraignment  of  the  President 
was  issued.  The  paper  was  published  on  the  5th  of  August; 
Senator  Wade  also  giving  it  his  signature.  In  its  imputation 
of  bad  motives,  in  its  sweeping  denunciations  and  in  its  angrjf 


566  LIFE   OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

uncharitableness  of  temper,  it  was  more  remarkable  than  in 
the  weight  of  its  arguments  or  in  the  accuracy  of  its  representa- 
'  tions.*  The  New  York  Tribune,  which  was  chosen  as  the 
medium  for  laying  this  address  before  the  people,  although 
unfriendly  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  renominaiion,  and  although  its 
chief  editor,  at  a  later  day,  was  concerned  in  a  secret  movement 
to  bring  about  his  withdrawal,  promptly  expressed  its  approval 
of  the  President's  action  in  withholding  his  signature  from  the 
measure  in  question.  The  principal  effect  to  be  anticipated 
from  this  manifesto  was  a  weakening  of  public  confidence  in 
the  Government,  and  an  embarrassment  of  the  Administration 
party  at  the  most  critical  period  of  the  political  canvass.  The 

*  I  have  not  deemed  it  worth  -while  to  copy,  in  the  text,  from  a  pas- 
iionate  effusion  so  speedily  forgotten  by  the  public,  and  which  its 
feuthor  would,  perhaps,  gladly  forget.  The  following  brief  extracts  will 
suffice  -to  justify  what  I  have  said  as  to  its  general  character: 

The  President,  by  preventing  this  bill  from  becoming  a  law,  holds 
the  electoral  votes  of  the  Rebel  States  at  the  dictation  of  his  personal 

ambition The  President's    proclamation discards  the 

authority  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  strides  headlong  toward  the  anar 
chy  his  proclamation  of  the  8th  of  December  inaugurated A 

inore  studied  outrage  on  the  legislative  authority  of  the  people  has  never 

been   perpetrated He  has  already  exercised  this  dictatorial 

usurpation  in  Louisiana,  and   he  defeated  the  bill  to  prevent  its  lim 
itation. 

Bearing  in  mind  that  the  President  has  a  qualified  veto  power,  by 
the  Constitution,  in  regard  to  all  legislation;  and,  further,  that  the 
Davis  bill  was  opposed  by  a  considerable  minority  of  "  Union  men  " 
in  both  Houses,  the  accuracy  of  the  following  extract  from  the  same 
paper,  will  be  fully  appreciated : 

But  he  must  understand  that  our  support  is  of  a  cause  and  not 
of  a  man;  that  the  authority  of  Congress  is  paramount  and  must  be 
Jrespected;  that  the  whole  body  of  the  Union  men  of  Congress  will  not 
submit  to  be  impeached  by  him  of  rash  and  unconstitutional  legisla 
tion  ;  and  if  he  wishes  our  support,  he  must  confine  himself  to  his  exec 
utive  duties — to  obey  and  execute,  not  make  the  laws — to  suppress  by 
arms  armed  rebellion,  and  leave  political  reorganization  to  Congress. 

If  the  supporters  of  the  Government  fail  to  insist  on  this,  they 
become  responsible  for  the  usurpations  which  they  fail  to  rebuke,  and  are 
justty  liable  to  the  indignation  of  the  people  whose  rights  and  security, 
committed  to  their  keeping,  they  sacrifice. 

Let  them  consider  the  remedy  for  these  usurpations,  and,  having 
found  it,  fearlessly  execute  it. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  567 

event  showed,  however,  that  its  influence  with  the  people  was 
inconsiderable. 

As  illustrating  President  Lincoln's  views  in  regard  to  the 
deportment  of  Southern  Union  men  in  the  early  part  of  the 
struggle,  and  his  mode  of  dealing  with  the  people  of  Louis 
iana  in  particular,  a  characteristic  letter  of  his,  written  in  1862, 
is  subjoined.  A  Mr.  Durant  had  written  to  the  President, 
through  Mr.  Bullitt,  a  gentleman  known  to  him,  and  a  former 
resident  of  Kentucky,  manifesting  dissatisfaction  with  the  pol 
icy  pursued  by  the  Government  at  New  Orleans,  after  the  cap 
ture  of  that  city.  Among  other  things  complained  of,  was  the 
alleged  protection  given  to  escaping  slaves,  and  their  retention 
from  their  masters.  It  was  also  urged  as  a  grievance,  that 
men  choosing  to  avail  themselves  of  Jhe  benefits  of  the  re'es- 
tablished  Government  were  required  to  take  the  oath  of  alle 
giance,  and  that  trade  with  the  Rebels  was  prohibited.  The 
President  replied  to  this  singular  appeal  as  follows : 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  28,  1862. 

Sir:  The  copy  of  a  letter,  addressed  to  yourself  by  Mr. 
Thomas  J.  Durant,  has  been  shown  to  me.  The  writer 
appears  to  be  an  able,  a  dispassionate,  and  an  entirely  sincere 
man.  The  first  part  of  the  letter  is  devoted  to  an  effort  to 
ghow  that  the  secession  ordinance  of  Louisiana  was  adopted 
against  the  will  of  a  majority  of  the  people.  This  is  probably 
true,  and  in  that  fact  may  be  found  some  instruction.  Why 
did  they  allow  the  ordinance  to  go  into  effect?  Why  did  they 
not  exert  themselves?  Why  stand  passive  and  allow  them 
selves  to  be  trodden  down  by  a  minority  ?  Why  did  they  not 
hold  popular  meetings,  and  have  a  convention  of  their  own  to 
express  and  enforce  the  true  sentiments  of  the  State.  If  pre- 
organization  was  against  them,  then  why  not  do  this  now,  that 
the  United  States  army  is  present  to  protect  them  ?  The  par- 
alyzer — the  dead  palsy — of  the  Government  in  the  whole 
struggle  is,  that  this  class  of  men  will  do  nothing  for  the  Gov 
ernment — nothing  for  themselves,  except  demanding  that  the 
Government  shall  not  strike  its  enemies,  lest  they  be  struck  by 
accident. 

Mr.  Durant  complains  that,  in  various  ways,  the  relation  of 
master  and  slave  is  disturbed  by  the  presence  of  our  armyj 
and  he  considers  it  particularly  vexations  that  this,  in  part,  ia 
done  under  cover  of  an  act  of  Congress,  while  constitutional 


568  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

guarantees  are  superadded  on  the  plea  of  military  necessity 
The  truth  is,  that  what  is  done  and  omitted  about  slaves  is 
done  and  omitted  on  the  same  military  necessity.  It  is  a  mili 
tary  necessity  to  have  men  and  money ;  and  we  can  not  get 
either,  in  sufficient  numbers  or  amounts,  if  we  keep  from  or 
drive  from  our  lines  slaves  coming  to  them. 

Mr.  Durant  can  not  be  ignorant  of  the  pressure  in  this 
direction,  nor  of  my  efforts  to  hold  it  within  bounds,  till  he, 
and  such  as  he,  shall  have  time  to  help  themselves. 

I  am  not  posted  to  speak  understandingly  on  the  public  reg 
ulations  of  which  Mr.  Durant  complains.  If  experience  shows 
any  of  them  to  be  wrong,  let  them  be  set  right.  I  think  I  can 
perceive  in  the  freedom  of  trade  which  Mr.  Durant  urges,  that 
he  would  relieve  both  friends  and  enemies  from  the  pressure 
of  the  blockade.  By  this  he  would  serve  the  enemy  more 
effectively  than  the  enemy  is  able  to  serve  himself. 

I  do  not  say  or  believe  that  to  serve  the  enemy  is  the  pur 
pose  of  Mr.  Durant,  or  that  he  is  conscious  of  any  purposes 
other  than  national  and  patriotic  ones.  Still,  if  there  were  a 
class  of  men,  who,  having  no  choice  of  sides  in  the  contest, 
were  anxious  only  to  have  quiet  and  comfort  for  themselves 
while  it  rages,  and  to  fall  in  with  the  victorious  side  at  the  end 
of  it,  without  loss  to  themselves,  their  advice  as  to  the  mode  of 
conducting  the  contest  would  be  precisely  such  as  his. 

He  speaks  of  no  duty,  apparently  thinks  of  none,  resting 
upon  Union  men.  He  even  thinks  it  injurious  to  the  Union 
cause  that  they  should  be  restrained  in  trade  and  passage,  with 
out  taking  sides.  They  are  to  touch  neither  a  sail  nor  a 
pump — live  merely  passengers  ("  dead  heads  "  at  that) — to  be 
carried  snug  and  dry  throughout  the  storm  and  safely  landed 
right  side  up.  Nay,  more — even  a  mutineer  is  to  go  untouched, 
lest  these  sacred  passengers  receive  an  accidental  wound. 

Of  course,  the  rebellion  will  never  be  suppressed  in  Louis 
iana,  if  the  professed  Union  men  there  will  neither  help  to  do 
it,  nor  permit  the  Government  to  do  without  their  help. 

Now,  I  think  the  true  remedy  is  very  different  from  what  is 
suggested  by  Mr.  Durant.  It  does  not  lie  in  rounding  the 
rough  angles  of  the  war,  but  in  removing  the  necessity  for  the 
war.  The  people  of  Louisiana,  who  wish  protection  to  person 
and  property,  have  but  to  reach  forth  their  hands  and  take  it. 
Let  them  in  good  faith  reinaugurate  the  national  authority, 
and  set  up  a  State  Government  conforming  thereto  under  the 
Constitution.  They  know  how  to  do  it,  and  can  have  the  pro 
tection  of  the  army  while  doing  it.  The  army  will  be  withdrawn 
60  soon  as  such  Government  can  dispense  with  its  presence, 
and  the  people  of  the  State  can  then,  upon  the  old  terms,  gov- 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  569 

era  themselves   to   their   own   liking.     This   is   very   simple 
and  easy. 

If  they  will  not  do  this — if  they  prefer  to  hazard  all  for  the 
gake  of  destroying  the  Government — it  is  for  them  to  consider 
whether  it  is  probable  I  will  surrender  the  Government  to 
save  them  from  losing  all.  If  they  decline  what  I  suggest,  you 
scarcely  need  £o  ask  wnat  I  will  do. 

What  would  you  do  in  my  position?  "Would  you  drop  the 
war  where  it  is,  or  would  you  prosecute  it  in  future  with  elder- 
stalk  squirts,  charged  with  rosewater  ?  Would  you  deal  lighter 
blows,  rather  than  heavier  ones  ?  Would  you  give  up  the  con 
test,  leaving  every  available  means  unapplied  ? 

I  am  in  no  boastful  mood.  I  shall  not  do  more  than  I  can, 
but  I  shall  do  all  I  can  to  save  the  Government,  which  is  my 
sworn  duty  as  well  as  my  personal  inclination.  I  shall  do 
nothing  in  malice.  What  I  deal  with  is  too  vast  for  malicious 
dealing. 

Yours,  very  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

The  following  response  to  a  petition  in  behalf  of  a  seces 
sionist  clergyman  in  St.  Louis,  will  afford  an  example  of  Presi 
dent  Lincoln's  mode  of  disposing  of  impudent  pretensions  set 
up  by  rebellious  people  in  the  Border  States,  and  is  otherwise 
memorable : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         ) 
WASHINGTON,  December  23,  1863.    J 

I  have  just  looked  over  a  petition  signed  by  some  three 
dozen  citizens  of  St.  Louis,  and  their  accompanying  letters,  one 
by  yourself,  one  by  a  Mr.  Nathan  Ranney,  and  one  by  a  Mr. 
John  D.  Coalter,  the  whole  relating  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  McPhee- 
ters.  The  petition  prays,  in  the  name  of  justice  and  mercy, 
that  I  will  restore  Dr.  McPheeters  to  all  his  ecclesiastical 
rights. 

This  gives  no  intimation  as  to  what  ecclesiastical  rights  are 
withdrawn.  Your  letter  states  that  Provost  Marshal  Dick,  about 
a  year  ago,  ordered  the  arrest  of  Dr.  McPheeters,  pastor  of  the 
Vine-street  Church,  prohibited  him  from  officiating,  and  placed 
the  management  of  affairs  of  the  church  out  of  the  control  of 
the  chosen  trustees ;  and  near  the  close  you  state  that  a  certain 
course  "  would  insure  his  release."  Mr.  Ranney's  letter  says  : 
"  Dr.  Samuel  McPheeters  is  enjoying  all  the  rights  of  a  civilian, 
but  can  not  preach  the  gospel ! "  Mr.  Coalter,  in  his  letter, 
asks  :  "  Is  it  not  a  strange  illustration  of  the  condition  of 
things,  that  the  question  who  shall  be  allowed  to  preach  in  a 


570  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

church  in  St.  Louis  shall  be  decided  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States?" 

Now,  all  this  sounds  very  strangely ;  and,  withal,  a  little  as 
if  you  gentlemen  making  the1  application  do  not  understand 
the  case  alike — one  affirming  that  this  doctor  is  enjoying  all 
the  rights  of  a  civilian,  and  another  pointing  out  to  me  what 
will  secure  his  release  !  On  the  2d  of  January  last,  I  wrote  to 
Gen.  Curtis  in  relation  to  Mr.  Dick's  order  upon  Dr.  McPhee- 
ter's ;  and,  as  I  suppose  the  Doctor  is  enjoying  all  the  rights 
of  a  civilian,  I  only  quote  that  part  of  my  letter  which  relates 
to  the  church.  It  was  as  follows  :  "  But  I  must  add  that  the 
United  States  Government  must  not,  as  by  this  order,  under 
take  to  run  the  churches.  When  an  individual,  in  a  church  or 
out  of  it,  becomes  dangerous  to  the  public  interest,  he  must  be 
checked ;  but  the  churches,  as  such,  must  take  care  of  them 
selves.  It  will  not  do  for  the  United  States  to  appoint  trustees, 
supervisors,  or  other  agents  for  the  churches." 

This  letter  going  to  Gen.  Curtis,  then  in  command,  I  sup 
posed,  of  course,  it  was  obeyed,  especially  as  I  heard  no  further 
complaint  from  Dr.  Me.  or  his  friends  for  nearly  an  entire  year. 
I  have  never  interfered,  nor  thought  of  interfering,  as  to  who 
shall  or  shall  not  preach  in  any  church;  nor  have  I  knowingly 
or  believingly  tolerated  any  one  else  to  interfere  by  my  author 
ity.  If  any  one  is  so  interfering  by  color  of  my  authority,  I 
would  like  to  have  it  specially  made  known  to  me. 

If,  after  all,  what  is  now  sought  is  to  have  me  put  Dr.  Me. 
back  over  the  heads  of  a  majority  of  his  own  congregation, 
that,  too,  will  be  declined.  I  will  not  have  control  of  any 
church  or  any  side.  A.  LINCOLN. 

On  the  16th  of  June,  President  Lincoln,  by  invitation, 
attended  the  great  Fair,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Sanitary  Com 
mission,  at  Philadelphia.  His  reception  was  such  as  to  leavo 
no  doubt  that  he  had  the  cordial  affection  of  the  people  of  that 
city.  After  two  or  three  hours  spent  by  him  (Mrs.  Lincoln 
being  also  present),  in  passing  through  the  rooms  of  the  fair, 
which  contained  rare  works  of  art  and  varieties  of  objects 
attractive  to  the  intellectual  taste,  he  was  conducted  to  the  sup 
per-room,  where  Edward  Everett  and  other  distinguished  guests 
joined  him  at  the  table.  His  health  having  been  proposed, 
the  President  made  the  following  remarks: 

War,  at  the  best,  is  terrible,  and  this  war  of  ours,  in  its 
magnitude  and  duration,  is  one  of  the  most  terrible.  It  haa 


LIFE    OF    ABEAllAAl    LINCOLN.  571 

deranged  business,  totally  in  some  locations,  and  partially  in 
all  locations.  It  has  produced  a  national  debt  and  taxation 
unprecedented,  at  least,  in  this  country.  It  has  carried  mourn 
ing  to  almost  every  home,  until  it  may  almost  be  said  that 
"the  heavens  are  hung  with  black." 

Yet  the  war  continues,  and  several  relieving  coincidents  have 
accompanied  it  from  the  beginning,  which  have  not  been 
known,  as  I  understand  it,  in  former  wars  in  the  history  of  the 
world.  The  Sanitary  Commission,  with  all  its  benevolent 
labors  ;  the  Christian  Commission,  with  all  its  benevolent  and 
Christian  labors,  and  the  various  places,  arrangements,  insti 
tutions,  so  to  speak,  that  have  contributed  to  the  comfort  and 
relief  of  the  soldier.  You  have  two  of  these  places  in  your 
city :  the  Cooper  Shop  and  the  Union  'Volunteer  Refreshment 
Saloons ;  and,  lastly,  these  fairs,  which,  I  believe,  began  only 
in  last  August,  if  I  mistake  not,  at  Chicago,  then  at  Boston, 
at  Cincinnati,  at  Brooklyn,  at  New  York,  at  Baltimore,  and  at 
the  present  at  St.  Louis,  Pittsburg,  Philadelphia,  and,  perhaps, 
at  some  other  places  which  I  do  riot  remember. 

The  motives  and  objects  that  lie  at  the  bottom  of  all  these 
are  the  most  worthy ;  for,  say  what  you  will,  after  all,  the  most 
is  due  to  the  soldier,  who  takes  his  life  in  his  hand,  and  goes 
to  fight  the  battles  of  his  country.  [Loud  cheering.]  In  what 
is  contributed  to  his  comfort  as  he  passes  to  and  fro,  from  city 
to  city ;  in  what  is  contributed  to  him  when  he  is  sick  and 
wounded ;  in  whatever  shape  it  comes,  whether  from  the  fair 
hand  of  woman,  or  from  whatever  source  it  may,  it  is  much, 
very  much.  But  I  think  that  there  is  still  that  which  is  of 
much  value  to  him,  in  the  continual  reminders  he  sees  in  the 
newspapers,  that  while  he  is  absent  he  is  yet  remembered  by 
the  loved  ones  at  home.  [Cheers.] 

Another  view  of  these  various  institutions,  if  I  may  so  call 
them,  is  worthy  of  consideration,  I  think.  They  are  volun 
tary  contributions,  given  zealously  and  earnestly,  on  top  of  all 
the  disturbances  of  business,  of  all  the  disorders,  of  all  the 
taxations,  and  of  all  the  burdens  that  the  war  has  imposed 
upon  us,  giving  proof  that  the  national  resources  are  not  at  all 
exhausted  ;  that  the  national  spirit  of  patriotism  is  even  firmer 
and  stronger  than  at  the  commencement  of  the  war. 

It  is  a  pertinent  question,  often  asked  in  the  mind  privately, 
and  from  one  to  another,  when  is  the  war  to  end  ?  Surely  I 
feel  as  great  an  interest  in  this  question  as  any  other  can.  But 
I  do  not  wish  to  name  the  day,  or  the  month,  or  the  year  with 
which  it  is  to  end.  I  do  not  wish  to  run  the  risk  of  seeing  tha 
time  come  without  our  being  ready  for  the  end,  for  fear  of  dis 
appointment,  because  the  time  had  come  and  not  the  end. 


572  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

We  accepted  this  war  ;  we  did  not  begin  it.  But  we  accepted 
the  war  for  an  object,  a  worthy  object,  and  the  war  will  end 
when  that  object  is  attained,  and  I  hope  under  God  it  never 
will  without.  [Tumultuous  cheering.]  Speaking  of  the  pres 
ent  campaign,  Gen.  Grant  is  reported  to  have  said:  "  I  am 
going  through  on  this  line  if  it  takes  all  summer."  This  war 
has  taken  three  years.  It  was  begun  or  accepted  on  the  line  of 
restoring  the  national  authority  over  all  the  national  domain. 
And  for  the  American  people,  as  far  «s  my  knowledge  enables 
me  to  speak,  I  say  we  are  going  through  on  this  line  if  it 
takes  three  years  more.  [Great  cheering]. 

My  friends,  I  did  not  know  but  that  1  might  be  called  upon 
to  say  a  few  words  before  I  got  away  from  here ;  but  I  did  not 
know  it  was  coming  just  here.  [Laughter.]  I  have  never 
been  in  the  habit  of  making  predictions  in  regard  to  the  war, 
but  I  am  almost  tempted  to  make  one.  If  I  were  to  hazard  it, 
it  is  this :  That  Grant  is  this  evening,  with  Gen.  Meade  and 
Gen.  Hancock,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  brave  officers  and 
soldiers  with  him,  in  a  position  where  he  will  never  be  dis 
lodged  until  Richmond  is  taken.  And  I  have  but  one  single 
proposition  further  to  put  now,  and  perhaps  I  can  best  put  it 
in  the  form  of  an  interrogatory. 

If  I  shall  discover  that  Gen.  Grant,  and  the  noble  officers 
and  men  under  him,  can  be  greatly  facilitated  in  their  work  by 
a  sudden  pouring  forth  of  armed  men  to  their  assistance,  will 
you  give  them  to  me?  [Cries  of  "yes."  and  cheers.]  Are 
you  ready  to  march  ?  Then,  I  say,  stand  ready,  for  I  am 
watching  for  the  chance.  [Merriment,  and  applause.]  I 
thank  you,  gentlemen. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Gen.  Grant,  at  the  date  of  this 
speech,  had  just  advanced  beyond  the  James  and  appeared 
before  Petersburg.  The  details  of  this  movement  were  then 
but  imperfectly  known,  but  the  President's  prediction — a  cau 
tious  one,  by  no  means  over  sanguine,  yet  distinct  and  definite 
— was  strictly  fulfilled.  It  well  illustrates  the  firm  confidence, 
without  extravagant  anticipations,  which  he  reposed  in  the 
Lieutenant-General  and  the  brave  men  under  his  command. 

The  Opposition  party,  styling  itself  Democratic,  had  early 
in  the  season  called  a  National  Convention,  to  be  assembled  at 
Chicago  on  the  4th  of  July,  for  the  purpose  of  nominating 
candidates  for  President  and  Yice-President  of  the  United 
States.  As  the  time  approached,  however,  the  Democratic 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  573 

leaders,  perhaps  unable  to  determine  whether  it  were  better  to 
adopt  a  war  or  a  peace  basis,  perhaps  anxious  for  the  Union  of 
the  various  elements  of  opposition  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  cer 
tainly  willing  to  afford  the  fullest  scope  for  the  development 
and  strengthening  of  divisions  on  the  Administration  side,  by 
deferring  to  present  any  definite  opponent  or  issue,  decided  to 
postpone  their  Convention  until  the  29th  of  August. 

It  was  somewhat  earlier  in  the  season,  that  a  band  of  Rebel 
leaders,  including  Jacob  Thompson,  Buchanan's  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  Clement  C.  Clay,  once  a  Senator  from  Alabama, 
J.  P.  Holcombe,  of  Virginia,  and  George  N.  Sanders,  a  rene 
gade  New  Yorker  of  notorious  worthlessness,  ran  the  blockade, 
safely  reaching  Bermuda,  and  embarked  from  thence  to  Canada, 
being,  as  they  subsequently  represented,  "  in  the  confidential 
employment "  of  Jefferson  Davis.  At  the  time,  their  mission 
was  supposed  to  have  more  immediate  reference  to  political 
movements  in  the  loyal  States,  with  a  view  to  a  change  of  the 
Administration  by  the  election  of  Peace  Democratic  candidates. 
It  was  then  hardly  suspected  that  their  purposes  extended  to 
euch  desperate  and  infamous  measures  in  behalf  of  the  "  Con 
federacy  "  as  have  since  been  associated  with  their  names. 
These  persons,  with  the  exception  of  Thompson,  who  appears 
to  have  divided  his  time  chiefly  between  Montreal  and  Toronto, 
soon  made  their  appearance  at  Niagara  Falls,  whither  leading 
Democrats  were  reported  to  be  resorting,  to  hold  with  them 
confidential  conferences.  Sanders>  on  whose  sus;o;estion  ia 

/  OO 

not  known,  addressed  a  note  to  the  Hon.  Horace  Greeley,  on 
the  12th  of  July,  suggesting  that  Clay,  Holcombe,  himself 
"and  one  other,"  not  named  by  him,  would  like  "  to  go  at 
once  to  Washington,  upon  complete  and  unqualified  protection 
being  given,  either  by  the  President  or  Secretary  of  War." 
No  object  is  assigned  for  the  proposed  journey.  Mr.  Greeley 
assumed  that  the  purpose  was  to  talk  of  negotiations  for  peace, 
an  assumption  scarcely  warranted  by  the  facts  then  known, 
and  much  less  in  the  light  of  information  since  disclosed.  In 
a  communication  written  not  long  after,  Mr,  Greeley  thus  refers 
to  this  note  and  its  results : 


674  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

As  1  saw  no  reason  why  the  Opposition  should  be  the  sold 
recipients  of  these  gentlemen's  overtures,  if  such  there  were 
(and  it  is  stated  that  Mr.  Clay  aforesaid  is  preparing  or  to  pre 
pare  an  important  letter  to  the  Chicago  Convention),  I  wrote 
the  President,  urging  him  to  invite  the  llebel  gentlemen  afore 
said  to  Washington,  there  to  open  their  budget.  I  stated 
expressly  that  I  knew  not  what  they  would  propose  if  so 
invited,  but  I  could  imagine  no  offer  that  might  be  made  by 
them  which  would  not  conduce,  in  one  way  or  another,  to  a 
restoration  of  the  integrity  and  just  authority  of  the  Union. 

The  President  ultimately  acquiesced  in  this  view  so  far  as  to 
consent  that  the  Rebel  agents  should  visit  Washington,  but 
directed  that  /  should  proceed  to  Niagara  and  accompany  them 
thence  to  the  capital.  This  service  I  most  reluctantly  under 
took,  feeling  deeply,  and  observing  that  almost  any  one  else 
might  better  have  been  sent  on  this  errand.  But  time  seemed 
precious,  and  I  immediately  started* 

In  his  notes  to  Clay  and  others,  written  after  reaching  the 
Falls,  Mr.  Greeley  more  clearly  indicates  the  understanding 
upon  which  President  Lincoln  consented  that  the  partie3 
should  be  thus  escorted  to  Washington.  The  ingenious  efforts 
of  Mr.  Greeley  to  throw  into  the  background  the  writer  who 
opened  the  correspondence  are  noticeable,  as  well  as  the  inse.r- 
tion  of  Thompson's  name,  without  any  warrant,  so  far  as 
publicly  appears : 

NIAGARA  FALLS,  N.  Y..  July  17,  1864 

GENTLEMEN  :  I  am  informed  that  you  are  duly  accredited 
from  Richmond,  as  the  bearers  of  propositions  looking  to  the 
establishment  of  peace  ;  that  you  desire  to  visit  Washington 
in  the  fulfillment  of  your  mission,  and  that  you  farther  desire 
that  Mr.  George  N.  Sanders  shall  accompany  you.  If  my 
information  be  thus  far  substantially  correct,  I  am  authorized 
by  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  tender  you  his  safe 
conduct  on  the  journey  proposed,  and  to  accompany  you  at  the 
earliest  time  that  will  be  agreeable  to  you.  I  have  the  honor 
to  be,  gentlemen,  yours,  HORACE  GREELEY. 

To  Messrs.  CLEMENT  C.  CLAY,  JACOB  THOMPSON,  JAMES 
P.  HOLCOMBE,  Clifton  House,  C.  W. 

On  the  next  day,  Messrs.  Holcombe  and  Clay  replied : 
The   safe  conduct  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  has 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN".  675 

been  tendered  us,  we  regret  to  state,  under  some  misapprehen 
sion  of  facts.  We  have  not  been  accredited  to  him  from  Rich 
mond  as  the  bearers  of  propositions  looking  to  the  establish 
ment  of  peace.  We  are,  however  in  the  confidential  employ 
ment  of  our  Government,  and  are  entirely  familiar  with  its 
wishes  and  opinions  on  that  subject ;  and  we  feel  authorized  to 
declare  that,  if  the  circumstances  disclosed  in  this  correspond 
ence  were  communicated  to  Richmond,  we  would  be  at  once 
invested  with  the  authority  to  which  your  letter  refers ;  or 
other  gentlemen,  clothed  with  full  powers,  would  be  immedi 
ately  sent  to  Washington  with  the  view  of  hastening  a  consum 
mation  so  much  to  be  desired,  and  terminating  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment  the  calamities  of  the  War.  We  respectfully 
solicit,  through  your  intervention,  a  safe  conduct  to  Washing- 
ington,  ,and  thence,  by  any  route  which  may  be  designated, 
through  your  lines,  to  Richmond.  We  would  be  gratified  if 
Mr.  George  N.  Sanders  was  embraced  in  this  privilege. 

To  which  Mr.  Greeley,  after  acknowledging  their  note, 
rejoins  : 

The  state  of  facts  therein  presented  being  materially  differ 
ent  from  that  which  was  understood  to  exist  by  the  President 
when  he  intrusted  me  with  the  safe  conduct  required,  it  seems 
to  me  on  every  account  advisable  that  I  should  communicate 
with  him  by  telegraph,  and  solicit  fresh  instructions,  which  I 
shall  at  once  proceed  to  do.  I  hope  to  be  able  to  transmit  the 
result  this  afternoon  j  and  at  all  events  I  shall  do  so  at  the 
earliest  moment. 

This  last  applicatidn  for  a  safe  conduct  for  Rebel  emissaries 
to  visit  Washington,  was  met  by  the  following  memorable  pass 
port  in  President  Lincoln's  own  handwriting : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,    "i 
WASHINGTON,  July  18,  1864.J 

To  whom  it  may  concern : 

Any  proposition  which  embraces  the  restoration  of  peace, 
the  integrity  of  the  whole  Union,  and  the  abandonment  of 
slavery,  and  which  comes  by  and  with  an  authority  that  can 
control  the  armies  now  at  war  against  the  United  States,  will 
be  received  and  considered  by  the  Executive  Government  of 
the  United  States,  and  will  be  met  by  liberal  terms  on  sub 
stantial  and  collateral  points ;  and  the  bearer  thereof  shall 
have  safe  conduct  both  ways.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


57(5  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

The  indispensable  conditions  mentioned  in  this  paper  were 
Buch  as  to  put  an  end  to  all  further  trifling  on  the  part  of  self- 
constituted,  irresponsible  or  insincere  negotiators.  Many 
would  have  preferred  that  no  occasion  had  been  presented 
requiring  Mr.  Lincoln  to  connect  himself  in  the  remotest  man 
ner  with  an  affair  of  this  sort.  Yet  if  he  were  to  speak,  good 
faith  and  plain  dealing  admitted  of  no  less  than  was  actually 
said.  The  fact  was  definitely  recognized,  that  the  vital  force 
of  the  rebellion  was  in  "  the  armies  now  at  war  against  the 
United  States,"  and  peace  agitators  on  both  sides  were  given 
to  understand,  once  for  all,  that  only  when  those  armies  were 
vanquished,  or  disbanded,  and  the  Emancipation  policy,  to 
which  the  Government  had  plighted  its  faith,  was  accepted  aa 
a  finality,  could  peace  be  expected.  As  the  event  proved,  it 
may  be  well  that  these  issues,  "  the  abandonment  of  slavery  " 
included,  were  thus  directly  presented  to  the  people  in  the 
Presidential  canvass. 

While  this  pacific  exterior  was  maintained  by  the  Rebel 
emissaries  in  Canada,  a  monster  conspiracy  was  becoming 
revealed  in  the  North-west,  the  object  of  which  was  a  counter 
revolution  in  the  loyal  States,  in  concert  with  the  Rebellion. 
In  the  latter  part  of  June,  important  facts  in  regard  to  the 
secret  combinations  to  this  end  were  made  public  by  Gen. 
Carrington,  and  several  of  the  leaders  were  arrested  in  Indiana. 
The  enormity  and  extent  of  the  schemes  disclosed  on  the  sub 
sequent  trials  surpassed  the  worst  suspicions  at  first  enter 
tained,  involving  crimes  of  the  darkest  shade,  and  evincing  a 
depth  of  disloyal  hate  not  unworthy  of  the  arch-fiends  in  Mil 
ton's  Pandemonium.  Premature  outbreaks  occurred  in  Coles 
County,  Illinois,  and  elsewhere  in  the  North-west;  soldiers 
were  murdered ;  enrolling  officers  waylaid  and  shot ;  and  arms 
were  secretly  distributed  for  the  equipment  of  men  who  had 
other  purposes  than  the  service  of  their  country.  The  dis 
covery  of  this  plot  was  timely,  and  the  prevention  of  its  fuller 
consummation  most  fortunate.  The  full  connection  of  these 
men  with  leaders  of  the  Rebellion  admits  of  no  doubt,  and  it 
is  known  that  a  day  had  been  fixed — and  nearly  reached  at  the 
date  of  the  arrests — for  a  concerted  and  general  outbreak. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  57T 

Two  months  passed  after  the  Baltimore  nominations,  and 
the  third  month  was  well  on  toward  completion,  before  the  so- 
called  Democratic  Opposition  began  to  contemplate  in  earnest 
the  work  of  preparation  for  the  canvass.  Faction  and  discon 
tent  were  doubtless  hoped  to  be  doing  more  for  the  defeat  of 
Lincoln  and  Johnson,  than  could  be  accomplished  by  direct 
and  energetic  opposition.  Fremont  was  still  a  candidate. 
The  German  Republican  voters  were  reported  to  be  every -where 
hostile  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  Grant  was  still  before  Petersburg, 
after  fruitless  mining  and  disappointing  losses.  Farragut  had 
captured  Fort  Gaines,  but  Mobile  still  held  out  against  both 
Navy  and  Army.  Sherman  was  still  at  bay  before  Atlanta. 
What  remained  now  but  for  an  exuftant  Democracy — with  its 
Yallandigham  returned  from  across  the  border,  and  his  place 
in  Canada  supplied  by  a  bevy  of  Confederates  giving  aid  and 
comfort — to  name  its  candidates,  make  up  its  issues,  and  strido 
directly  to  the  high  places  of  power  ?  Emboldened  by  the 
seeming  divisions  of  the  Republicans,  cheered  by  the  lack  of 
decisive  and  final  Union  victories,  to  reconcile  the  country  to 
heavy  losses  of  life  and  treasure,  the  Peace  -Democrats  were 
growing  more  and  more  determined  in  asserting  the  prerogative 
of  leaders  and  dictators.  Their  compact  organization  and  the 
favoritism  of  the  multitude  for  the  "  victims ''  who  had  suf 
fered  for  defiant  attempts  to  arrest  the  war,  gave  them  an 
advantage  over  the  probably  more  numerous  leaders  who  not 
only  oelieved  the  war  should  be  sustained,  but  also  thought 
the  nominations  and  platform  should,  from  policy,  have  a 
decided  leaning  toward  "  coercion." 

The  Democratic  Convention  met  on  the  day  last  fixed — 
August  29.  It  presented  the  name  of  George  B.  McClellan 
for  President,  and  of  George  H.  Pendleton  for  Vice-President. 
The  former  nomination  was  esteemed  so  decided  a  concession 
to  the  "War  Democracy — having  encountered  some  opposition 
from  such  '•  Democrats  "  as  B.  G.  Harris,  the  "unworthy" 
Congressman  from  Maryland,  a  delegate  to  the  Convention— 
that  the  nomination  for  Vice-President  was  conferred  upon  an 
unequivocal  Peace  Democrat,  and  the  resolutions,  or  platform, 

were  made  very  explicit  on  the  "  failure  "  of  the  war,  and  in 
31 


578  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

demanding  "  that  immediate  efforts  be  made  for  a  cessation  of 
hostilities."  The  entire  "Chicago  Platform,"  (Democratic, 
1864,)  is  as  follows  : 

Resolved,  That  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  we  will  adhere 
with  unswerving  fidelity  to  the  Union  under  the  Constitution, 
as  the  only  solid  foundation  of  our  strength,  security,  and  hap 
piness  as  a  people,  and  as  a  framework  of  government  equally 
conducive  to  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  all  the  States,  both 
Northern  and  Southern. 

Resolved,  That  this  Convention  does  explicitly  declare,  as 
the  sense  of  the  American  People,  that,  after  four  years  of 
failure  to  restore  the  Union  by  the  experiment  of  war,  during 
which,  under  the  pretense  of  a  military  necessity  of  a  war 
power  higher  than  the  Constitution,  the  Constitution  itself  has 
been  disregarded  in  every  part,  and  public  liberty  and  private 
right  alike  trodden  down,  and  the  material  prosperity  of  the 
country  essentially  impaired,  justice,  humanity,  liberty,  and 
the  public  welfare,  demand  that  immediate  efforts  be  made  for 
a  cessation  of  hostilities,  with  a  view  to  an  ultimate  Convention 
of  all  the  States,  or  other  peaceable  means  to  the  end  that  at 
the  earliest  practicable  moment  peace  may  be  restored  on  the 
basis  of  the  Federal  Union  of  the  States. 

Resolved,  That  the  direct  interference  of  the  military  author 
ity  of  the  United  States  in  the  recent  elections  held  in  Ken 
tucky,  Maryland,  Missouri  and  Delaware,  was  a  shameful  viola 
tion  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  repetition  of  such  acts  in  the 
approaching  election  will  be  held  as  revolutionary,  and  resisted 
with  all  the  means  and  power  under  our  control. 

Resolved,  That  the  aim  and  object  of  the  Democratic  party 
is  to  preserve  the  Federal  Union  and  the  rights  of  the  States 
unimpaired  ;  and  they  hereby  declare  that  they  consider  the 
administrative  usurpation  of  extraordinary  and  dangerous 
powers  not  granted  by  the  Constitution,  the  subversion  of  the 
civil  by  military  law  in  States  not  in  insurrection,  the  arbitrary 
military  arrest,  imprisonment  trial  and  sentence  of  American 
citizens  in  States  where  civil  law  exists  in  full  force,  the  sup 
pression  of  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  the  denial  of 
the  right  of  asylum,  the  open  and  avowed  disregard  of  State 
rights,  the  employment  of  unusual  test-oaths,  and  the  interfe 
rence  with  and  denial  of  the  right  of  the  people  to  bear  arms, 
as  calculated  to  prevent  a  restoration  of  the  Union  and  the 
perpetuation  of  a  government  deriving  its  just  powers  from  the 
consent  of  the  governed. 

Resolved,  That  the  shameful  disregard  of  the  Administra- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  579 

lion  to  its  duty  in  respect  to  our  fellow-citizens  who  now  and 
long  have  been  prisoners  of  war  in  a  suffering  condition, 
deserves  the  severest  reprobation,  on  the  score  alike  of  public 
interest  and  common  humanity. 

Resolved,  That  the  sympathy  of  the  Democratic  party  is 
heartily  and  earnestly  extended  to  the  soldiery  of  our  army, 
who  are  and  have  been  in  the  field  under  the  flag  of  our  coun 
try  ;  and  in  the  event  of  our  attaining  power,  they  will  receive 
all  the  care  and  protection,  regard  and  kindness,  that  the  brave 
soldiers  of  the  Republic  have  so  nobly  earned. 

The  nomination  of  Gen.  McClellan  had  been  a  foregone  con 
clusion  from  the  first.  There  were  dreams,  for  a  time,  that 
Gen.  Fremont,  or  an  active  War  Democrat,  like  Gen.  Dix, 
might  be  taken  as  the  candidate,  for  the  sake  of  uniting  all 
elements  of  opposition  in  a  grand  effort  to  defeat  Mr.  Lincoln. 
But  the  visionary  notion  was  not  entertained  for  a  moment  by 
Belmont  and  his.  associates.  Their  hopes  were  firmly  fixed 
on  McClellan.  Democrats  like  the  New  York  "Woods,  denounc 
ing  the  war  altogether,  manifested  delicate  scruples  in  regard 
to  "  epauletted  gentlemen  j"  and  Maryland  Secessionists  indig 
nantly  remembered  the  "  arbitrary  arrests  "  made  in  their 
State  by  the  Peninsular  hero ;  but  it  was  not  doubted  that 
these  objections  would  promptly  enough  disappear  before  the 
magic  power  of  a  regular  nomination.  And  so  it  was.  Mut- 
terings  of  discontent  were  momentarily  heard,  only  in  quarters 
where  such  responses  were  preferable  to  warm  support.  Can 
didates  and  platform  were  accepted  by  the  united  Democracy, 
and  the  canvass  at  length  actually  opened. 

On  the  Administration  side,  the  issue  was  joined,  with  pros 
pects  immediately  brightened.  There  was  now  an  organized 
opponent  to  meet,  and  he  had  presented  himself  in  an  attitude 
that  promised  an  advantage  to  the  supporters  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 
Dissension,  arid  factious  opposition  speedily  disappeared.  More 
cheering  news  began  to  come  from  our  armies,  and  the  affec 
tionate  confidence  of  the  great  majority  of  the  loyal  people  in 
Abraham  Lincoln  manifested  itself  more  and  more  clearly  as 
the  day  of  election  approached. 

The  action  of  the  Border  States  in  adapting  themselves  to 
the  new  order  of  things,  never  failed  to  interest  the  President; 


580  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

who,  at  an  earlier  day,  had  earnestly  endeavored  to  impress 
upon  the  Representatives  of  those  States,  the  expediency  of 
prompt  measures  in  preparation  for  the  inevitable  event  of 
emancipation.  It  was  not  many  days  after  the  adjournment 
of  the  Baltimore  Convention,  that  the  delegates  of  the  people 
of  Maryland  decided  upon  abolishing  slavery  in  that  State ; 
subject  only  to  the  test  of  a  popular  vote,  to  be  taken  a  few 
months  later.  The  State  Convention  of  Maryland  consum 
mated  this  action,  bringing  the  issue  directly  before  the  people 
for  their  full  deliberation  and  ultimate  action,  on  the  24th  day 
of  June. 

In  the  State  of  Louisiana,  a  new  Constitution  prohibiting 
slavery  was  adopted  by  a  State  Convention,  duly  chosen  by 
the  loyal  people,  on  the  22d  day  of  July. 

All  the  great  champions  of  freedom  were  near  to  the  affec 
tions  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  but  no  one  of  them  was,  perhaps,  more 
personally  endeared  to  him  than  the  late  Owen  Lovejoy,  his 
intimate  friend  for  many  years.  No  one,  on  the  other  hand, 
had  a  more  earnest,  loving  confidence  in  the  President  during 
all  his  trials,  and  not  the  least  when  he  was  assailed  by  men 
who  questioned  his  "  radicalism."  In  one  of  the  last  speeches 
ever  made  by  Mr.  Lovejoy  to  any  public  assembly,  not  many 
months  before  his  death,  he  defended  the  President  from  such 
attacks,  and  warmed  into  a  heartfelt  eulogy  of  his  friend,  such 
as  brought  tears  to  many  eyes,  and  will  long  be  remembered 
by  those  who  listened.  All  complaint,  for  the  time,  was  hence 
forth  silenced.  "  On  a  recent  occasion,"  said  Mr.  Lovejoy, 
illustrating  the  high  and  unselfish  motives  which  controlled  all 
the  President's  actions,  "  I  ventured,  in  the  freedom  of  our 
private  intercourse,  to  speak  of  the  temptations  besetting  a 
man  in  his  exalted  position,  with  such  patronage  and  power  in 
his  hands,  and  to  counsel  him  to  rise  above  all  regard  to  or 
thought  of  perpetuating  his  power  by  a  reelection,  adhering 
firmly  to  the  higher  plane  of  simple  duty.  With  character 
istic  earnestness  of  tone  and  expression,  the  President  replied : 
1  If  I  know  my  own  heart,  Mr.  Lovejoy,  I  can  assure  you  that 
it  does  not  cost  me  an  effort  so  to  do.'  That  answer,  gentle^ 
men,  I  firmly  believe  to  have  been  given  in  honest  truth.  That 


LIFE   OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  581 

great  heart  is  incorruptible,  and  constantly  lives  in  the  pure, 
high  region  into  which  false  motive  and  selfish  scheming  never 
come." 

The  death  of  Mr.  Lovejoy  was  mourned  hy  Mr.  Lincoln  as 
that  of  a  dear  friend.  When  a  meeting  was  to  be  held  in  the 
former  home  of  the  deceased  veteran  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  to 
take  measures  for  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  his  memory, 
the  President  was  invited  to  be  present.  This  being  impossi 
ble,  he  sent  the  following  letter : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,       ) 
WASHINGTON,  May  30,  1864.    J 

HON.  JOHN  H.  BRYANT. — My  Dear  Sir:  Yours  of  fly 
14th  inst.,  inclosing  a  card  of  invitation  to  a  preliminary  meet 
ing  contemplating  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  the  memory 
of  Hon.  Owen  Lovejoy,  was  duly  received.  As  you  antici 
pate,  it  will  be  out  of  my  power  to  attend.  Many  of  you  have 
known  Mr.  Lovejoy  longer  than  I  have,  and  are  better  able 
than  I  to  do  his  memory  justice.  My  personal  acquaintance 
with  him  commenced  only  about  ten  years  ago,  since  when  it 
has  been  quite  intimate ;  and  every  step  in  it  has  been  one  of 
increasing  respect  and  esteem,  ending  with  his  life,  in  no  lesa 
affection  on  my  part.  It  can  be  truly  said  of  him,  that,  while 
he  was  personally  ambitious,  he  bravely  endured  the  obscurity 
which  the  unpopularity  of  his  principles  imposed,  and  never 
accepted  official  honors  until  those  honors  were  ready  to  admit 
his  principles  with  him.  Throughout  my  heavy  and  perplex 
ing  responsibilities  here  to  the  day  of  his  death,  it  would 
scarcely  wrong  any  other  to  say  he  was  my  most  generous 
frieiid.  Let  him  have  the  marble  monument,  along  with  the 
well-assured  and  more  endearing  one  in  the  hearts  of  those 
who  love  liberty  unselfishly  for  all  men. 

Yours,  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

From  the  time  Mr.  Stanton  succeeded  Mr.  Cameron  as  Secre 
tary  of  War,  on  the  llth  of  January,  1862,  until  this  summer, 
only  one  change  had  occurred  in  the  Cabinet  of  President  Lin 
coln — that  occasioned  by  the  appointment  of  Secretary  Smith 
as  Judge  of  the  District  Court  of  Indiana,  who  was  succeeded 
by  Hon.  John  P.  Usher,  of  the  same  State,  on  the  8th  of 
January,  1863.  Several  months  previous,  on  account  of  oppo 
sition  manifested  by  a  number  of  Senators,  Mr.  Seward  had 


582  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

tendered  his  resignation  as  Secretary  of  State,  and  Mr.  Chase 
Lad,  at  the  same  time,  proposed  to  withdraw  from  the  Secretary 
ship  of  the  Treasury.  Both  these  resignations,  the  President 
peremptorily  refused  to  accept. 

On  the  30th  of  June,  1864,  Secretary  Chase,  for  personal 
reasons,  again  tendered  his  resignation,  which  Mr.  Lincoln 
deemed  it  expedient  to  accept.  A  want  of  cordiality  on  the 
part  of  Mr.  Chase  toward  the  President  had  been  noticed  for 
a  good  while  previous,  and  his  attendance  on  Cabinet  meetings 
had  been  irregular,  or,  in  fact,  practically  intermitted  altoge 
ther.  The  occasion  of  his  final  resignation — the  acceptance 
was  perhaps  not  confidently  anticipated — was  a  disagreement 
with  the  President  in  regard  to  an  important  appointment  for 
New  York  City.  There  was,  perhaps,  no  period  during  the  war 
when  the  financial  condition  of  the  country  was  deemed  more 
critical  than  at  this  date  and  during  the  few  weeks  succeeding 
prior  to  the  1st  of  September.  The  place  thus  made  vacant 
was  first  tendered  to  Ex-Gov.  David  Tod,  of  Ohio,  who 
declined  the  appointment.  Senator  "VVm.  P.  Fessenden,  of 
Maine,  was  afterward  appointed,  and  entered  upon  the  duties 
of  the  office  on  the  5th  of  July. 

In  the  midst  of  a  Presidential  canvass,  while  the  people  were 
becoming  weary  over  hopes  deferred  and  indecisive  campaigns, 
it  may  well  be  supposed  that  an  executive  who  was  studying  the 
chances  of  a  reelection  would  have  long  hesitated  to  call  for  five 
hundred  thousand  more  men  for  the  army,  to  be  made  good  by 
a  draft,  after  a  very  short  period,  if  not  previously  filled  by 
volunteers.  But  the  success  of  our  arms  demanded  it,  and 
President  Lincoln  promptly  determined  to  do  what  duty 
required.  The  following  proclamation  was  accordingly  issued: 

WHEREAS,  By  the  act  approved  July  4,  1864,  entitled  "An 
act  further  to  regulate  and  provide  for  the  enrolling  and  call 
ing  out  the  national  forces,  and  for  other  purposes,"  it  is  pro 
vided  that  the  President  of  the  United  States  may,  "  at  his 
discretion,  at  any  time  hereafter,  call  for  any  number  of  men 
as  volunteers,  for  the  respective  terms  of  one,  two,  and  three 
years,  for  military  service,"  and  "  that  in  case  the  quota  of 
any  part  thereof,  or  any  town,  township,  ward  of  a  city,  pre 
cinct,  or  election  district,  or  of  a  county  not  so  subdivided, 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  583 

shall  not  be  filled  within  the  space  of  fifty  days  after  such 
call,  then  the  President  shall  immediately  order  a  draft  for 
one  year  to  fill  such  quota,  or  any  part  thereof,  which  may  be 
unfilled;" 

AND  WHEREAS,  The  new  enrollment  heretofore  ordered  ia 
so  far  completed  as  that  the  aforementioned  act  of  Congress 
may  now  be  put  in  operation  for  recruiting  and  keeping  up 
the  strength  of  the  armies  in  the  field,  for  garrisons  and  such 
military  operations  as  may  be  required  for  the  purpose  of  sup 
pressing  the  rebellion  and  restoring  the  authority  of  the 
United  States  Government  in  the  insurgent  States  ; 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States,  do  issue  this  my  call  for  five  hundred  thousand 
volunteers  for  the  military  service :  Provided,  nevertheless, 
that  this  call  shall  be  reduced  by  all  credits  which  may  be 
established  under  section  eight  of  the  aforesaid  act,  on  account 
of  persons  who  have  entered  the  naval  service  during  the 
present  rebellion,  and  by  credits  for  men  furnished  to  the  mil 
itary  service  in  excess  of  calls  heretofore  made. 

Volunteers  will  be  accepted  under  this  call  for  one,  two,  or 
three  years,  as  they  may  elect,  and  will  be  entitled  to  the 
bounty  provided  by  law  for  the  period  of  service  for  which 
they  enlist.  * 

And  I  hereby  proclaim,  order,  and  direct,  that  immediately 
after  the  fifth  day  of  September,  1864,  being  fifty  days  from 
the  date  of  this  call,  a  draft  for  troops,  to  serve  for  one  year, 
shall  be  had  in  every  town,  township,  ward  of  a  city,  precinct, 
or  election  district,  or  county  not  so  subdivided,  to  fill  the 
quota  which  shall  be  assigned  to  it  under  this  call,  or  any  part 
thereof  which  may  be  unfilled  by  volunteers  on  the  said  fifth 
day  of  September,  1864. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington  this  eighteenth  day  of  July, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
[L.  s.]    and    sixty-four,    and    of    the    independence   of  the 
United  States  the  eighty-ninth. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
By  the  President : 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 

The  governments  of  the  several  loyal  States  at  once  set 
about  the  work  of  filling  their  quotas  by  volunteering,  and  the 
response  showed  an  alacrity  and  confidence  among  the  people 
Which  disappointed  alike  those  who  had  hoped  our  armies 


684  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

could  not  again  be  replenished,  and  those  who  feared  disaffec 
tion  to  the  cause  from  the  heavy  sacrifices  demanded.  No 
disheartening  circumstances  could  shake  the  people  from  their 
firm  purpose  of  wrenching  from  the  hands  of  treason  its 
weapons  of  revolt.  No  hour  was  so  dark  that  loyal  eyes  could 
not  clearly  see  the  duty  of  keeping  up  our  armies,  and  of 
steadily  pressing  forward  to  ultimate  and  decisive  victory, 
however  long  deferred  the  consummation. 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  585 


CHAPTER  V. 

Military  Operations  before  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  from  June  to 
November.  1864. — Gen.  Hunter's  Campaign. — Movements  in  tho 
Shenandoah  Valley. — Early's  Invasion  of  Maryland. — His  Demon 
stration  against  Washington. — His  Retreat  up  the  Valley,  and  Sec 
ond  Advance  to  the  Potomac. — Burning  of  Chambersburg. — Successes 
of  Gen.  Averill. — Battle  of  Moorfield. — Gen.  Sheridan  takes  Com 
mand  in  the  Valley. — Admiral  Farragut  before  Mobile. — Brilliant 
Naval  Victories. — Movements  of  Sheridan. — Important  Successes  in 
the  Valley. — Thanksgiving  Proclamation  of  President  Lincoln. 

AFTER  it  had  become  apparent  that  Petersburg  was  not  at 
once  to  be  taken,  and  the  several  army  corps  had  intrenched 
themselves  in  the  positions  indicated  in  a  previous  chapter,  it 
next  became  an  object  to  work  all  practicable  damage  on  the 
Rebel  communications.  Of  the  three  railroads  leading  south 
ward  from  Petersburg,  the  Suffolk  road  alone  was  yet  in  Grant's 
possession.  This,  extending  south-eastward,  connects  with 
another  at  Suffolk,  leading  from  Norfolk  to  Weldon,  having  no 
military  value  to  the  enemy,  while  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth 
are  in  our  hands  and  the  junction  within  easy  command.  The 
Weldon  road,  running  due  south,  was  at  this  time  the  one  most 
immediately  important  of  all ;  yet  its  loss  was  by  no  means  a  fatal 
one,  with  the  Danville  road,  extending  south-west  from  Burkes- 
ville,  still  open,  and  the  Southside  road  (to  Lynchburg)*still 
occupied  by  the  Rebels,  from  Petersburg  to  Burkesvilie.  To 
extend  the  Union  lines  across  the  Weldon  and  Southside  roads, 
without  cutting  loose  from  the  base  at  City  Point,  was  not  at 
once  practicable.  It  only  remained,  with  the  present  force,  to 
endeavor  to  reach  and  hold  the  Weldon  road,  and  to  rely  upon 
cavalry  raids  for  the  remainder  of  the  work  of  breaking  up  the 
Rebel  communications. 

President  Lincoln  visited  the  army  in  its  new  position,  south 
of  Petersburg,  on  the  21st  of  June,  and  was  warmly  greeted 


686  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

by  the  soldiers  as  he  rode  along  the  lines.  On  the  22d,  ho 
visited  Butler's  command  on  the  right,  meeting  with  a  liko 
hearty  reception  from  the  soldiers  and  their  commanders. 

Gen.  Sheridan  had  gained  a  victory  at  Trevillian  Station,  on 
the  Virginia  railroad,  near  Gordonsville,  on  the  llth  of  June, 
after  having  materially  injured  the  Rebel  communications 
northward  from  Richmond  by  a  sweeping  raid,  commenced 
before  Grant's  movement  from  Cold  Harbor  to  the  south  of 
the  James.  On  the  loth,  he  recrossed  the  North  Anna,  and 
aided  in  covering  the  movements  then  in  progress.  The  cav 
alry  of  Hampton  and  Fitzhugh  Lee,  on  the  20th,  recalled 
Sheridan,  by  attacking  the  small  force  under  Gen.  Abercrom- 
bie,  at  the  White  House,  endeavoring  to  cut  off  the  former's 
communications  and  supplies.  This  assault  was  repulsed  with 
out  severe  loss.  Sheridan  maintained  his  position  at  the 
White  House  against  all  attacks,  until,  on  the  25th,  he  rejoined 
Grant,  after  accomplishing  the  purpose  for  which  he  remained 
north  of  the  James. 

Movements  had  now  been  commenced  on  the  Weldon  and 
Southside  railroads,  by  the  cavalry  forces  under  Gens.  Wilson 
and  Kautz.  As  the  former  moved  out  on  the  Weldon  road, 
the  Second  and  Sixth  Corps  were  transferred  to  the  left,  for 
the  purpose  of  extending  the  line  across  that  road.  This 
movement  had  been  anticipated  by  Lee,  and  when  the  Second 
Corps  was  near  the  Jerusalem  plank  road,  it  was  met  by  the 
Rebel  corps  of  Hill,  about  two  o'clock,  on  the  22d,  and  an 
engagement  of  some  severity  followed.  The  Sixth  Corps  had 
advanced  still  further  on  the  left,  and  a  portion  of  the  Fifth 
Corps  was  within  supporting  distance  of  the  Second,  on  its 
right.  Lee  assumed  the  offensive,  with  considerable  vigor, 
capturing  a  battery  in  the  advance,  turning  the  flank  of  Bar 
low's  division,  taking  several  hundred  prisoners  and  driving  back 
our  men,  for  the  time,  in  some  confusion.  The  Union  lines 
were  speedily  re-formed,  after  which  the  repeated  assaults  of  the 
enemy  were  repulsed.  Skirmishing  was  kept  up  along  the  whole 
line  during  the  night,  and  about  midnight  the  musketry  firing 
and  cannonading  in  front  of  the  Ninth  Corps,  which  held  the 
Prince  George  county  road,  were  particularly  heavy.  Tho 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN-  587 

results  were  unimportant.  The  locality  of  the  principal  action 
was  only  three  or  four  miles  distant  from  the  Weldon  road.  On 
the  following  day,  an  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  to  extend 
the  lines  across  that  road,  resulting  in  considerable  loss. 

Wilson's  cavalry  had  struck  the  railroad  at  Reams'  Station, 
ten  or  twelve  miles  south  of  Petersburg,  and  advanced  south 
ward,  destroying  the  track  and  bridges.  On  the  22d,  Kautz 
struck  the  Danville  road  (or  rather  its  connecting  route 
between  Petersburg  and  Burkesville  Junction),  at  Ford's  Sta 
tion,  capturing  two  trains,  and  inflicting  other  important  dam 
age.  He  advanced  upon  Burkesville  on  the  23d,  destroy 
ing  the  station  there,  and  further  injuring  the  enemy's  com 
munications.  On  the  24th,  the  work  of  destruction  was  con 
tinued  for  a  distance  of  about  eighteen  miles,  when  a  heavy 
Rebel  force  was  encountered,  and  the  Union  cavalry  repulsed. 
On  the  28th,  the  forces  of  Kautz  and  Wilson  had  another 
engagement  at  Stony  Creek,  on  the  Weldon  railroad,  about 
thirty  miles  south  of  Petersburg.  In  the  night  they  effected 
their  retreat  to  Reams'  Station,  where,  on  the  29th,  they 
encountered  a  heavy  force  of  the  enemy,  and  were  defeated, 
with  a  loss  exceeding  1,000.  The  Sixth  Corps  were  advanced 
to  the  support  of  the  cavalry,  but  did  not  arrive  in  season  to 
take  an  active  part  in  the  battle.  On  the  following  day,  the 
force  under  Kautz  reached  Grant's  lines.  Wilson's  main  forco 
came  in  on  the  1st  of  July,  having  lost  most  of  its  artillery 
and  trains,  the  wounded  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
The  horses  were  much  jaded,  and  the  men  greatly  exhausted 
by  this  expedition,  which  was  one  of  the  boldest  yet  under 
taken.  It  had  inflicted  serious  injury,  though  but  temporary, 
on  all  the  remaining  communications  from  Richmond  and 
Petersburg  southward.  As  one  result  of  this  series  of  move 
ments,  our  forces  effected  a  secure  lodgment  on  the  Weldon 
road,  about  four  miles  from  Petersburg. 

In  the  meantime,  Hunter  had  pressed  forward  with  his  com 
mand,  including  the  forces  under  Crook  and  Averill,  and 
appeared  near  Lynchburg  on  the  18th  of  June.  The  defenses 
of  this  place  had  been  greatly  strengthened,  and  a  heavy  force 
had  been  sent  thither  from  Richmond.  Hunter  found  it  neces- 


588  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

eary  to  retire,  and,  having  exhausted  his  ammunition,  his  utmost 
skill  was  required  to  extricate  himself  from  his  dangerous  posi 
tion.  He  accomplished  this  by  marching  rapidly  to  Gauley 
Bridge,  his  men  suffering  not  a  little  from  the  privations  and 
hardships  to  which,  during  two  or  three  days,  they  were  neces 
sarily  subjected.  It  may  Lave  been  possible  for  him,  by  a 
more  prompt  attack,  to  have  occupied  Lynchburg — a  point  too 
important  to  the  Rebels  for  him  to  be  permitted  to  hold 
it  for  any  time  without  a  much  larger  army  ;  but  even  this 
is  doubtful.  Situated  as  he  was,  he  acted  wisely  in  retreating, 
but  to  return  down  the  Valley,  pursued  by  a  greatly  superior 
force,  was  clearly  impracticable.  His  retreat  into  Western 
Virginia,  unfortunately,  left  open  the  gateway  into  Maryland 
and  Pennsylvania,  excepting  only  the  small  garrisons  at  the 
the  outposts  of  Winchester,  Martinsburg  and  Harper's  Ferry. 
A  critical  point  in  the  Eastern  campaign  had  now  been 
reached.  Sheridan's  raid  on  the  Virginia  Central  railroad,  and 
the  less  successful  expeditions  of  Wilson  and  Kautz,  had  left 
our  cavalry  much  weakened,  and  illy  prepared  for  immediate 
movements  on  any  extensive  scale.  The  main  army  was  appa 
rently  at  a  dead-lock  before  Petersburg.  Part  of  the  army  of 
the  James  was  thrown  across  the  James  river,  on  the  21st, 
taking  position  at  Deep  Bottom,  and  threatening  a  movement 
on  Richmond,  while  our  fleet,  under  Admiral  Lee,  was  not 
inactive.  In  spite  of  all  the  operations  and  menacing  demon 
strations  of  our  armies  on  the  Appomattox  and  the  James, 
however,  a  large  force,  probably  about  thirty  thousand  men, 
was  dispatched  by  Lee  to  Lynchburg  and  the  Shenandoah 
Valley.  The  purpose  of  this  expedition  was,  evidently,  not 
merely  the  protection  of  Lynchburg,  but  also  an  offensive 
movement  which  would  divert  Grant's  attention,  and  perhaps 
gain  important  advantages,  including  even  the  capture  of  the 
national  capital,  no  longer  covered  by  the  main  Union  army, 
or  adequately  garrisoned.  By  means  of  transports,  however, 
a  very  considerable  force  could  bo  transferred  from  City  Point 
to  Washington,  as  presently  seen,  in  twenty-four  hours — a 
movement  more  rapid  than  Lee  could  make  in  that  direction, 
though  under  cover  of  the  greatest  practicable  secrecy. 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  589 

The  invading  force  was  under  the  immediate  command  of 
the  Rebel  Gen.  Early,  comprising  infantry  (the  main  portion 
of  the  army),  cavalry  and  horse  artillery.  Among  the  general 
officers  under  him  were  Breckinridge,  Rhodes,  Ramseur,  Whar- 
ton  and  Gordon.  After  pursuing  Hunter,  as  he  retreated 
westward,  until  all  hope  of  inflicting  serious  damage  waa 
found  to  be  vain,  a  cavalry  force  was  advanced  down  the  Val 
ley,  to  capture  the  Union  supplies  at  Staunton,  or  on  their  way 
thither,  and  ultimately  to  strike  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  rail 
road.  The  remaining  force  followed  with  little  delay.  While 
the  people  were  still  anxiously  looking  for  definite  news  of  the 
safety  of  Hunter,  this  Rebel  expeditionary  force  was  stealthily 
moving  toward  the  Potomac,  and  preparing  to  surprise  the 
often  disturbed  border  with  another  invasion. 

Martinsburg  was  evacuated  on  the  2d  of  July,  by  the  small 
Union  force  which  occupied  it.  Sigel  fell  back  from  Winches 
ter  to  Harper's  Ferry,  on  the  3d,  the  former  place  being 
promptly  occupied  by  Early,  and  the  running  of  trains  on  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad  being  suspended.  Sigel,  with  the 
forces  that  had  retreated  to  Harper's  Ferry,  occupied  Mary 
land  Heights,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Potomac,  and  pre 
pared  to  hold  the  place.  The  tide  steadily  coining  on,  and  flow 
ing  over  into  Maryland,  Hagerstown  was  evacuated  on  the  Gth. 

Gen.  Wallace,  in  command  of  the  Department  invaded,  hav 
ing  his  headquarters  at  Baltimore,  made  such  preparations  as 
were  in  his  power  to  stay  the  progress  of  the  enemy,  and  to 
protect  the  points  threatened.  He  sent  out  a  reconnoitering 
force  beyond  Frederick  City  to  Middle  town,  on  the  7th  of 
July,  and  finding  the  invaders  too  strong  for  the  body  of 
troops  at  his  command,  he  evacuated  Frederick  on  the  8th.- 
Early's  Rebels  entered  the  place  on  the  same  day,  plundering 
the  citizens,  as  had  previously  been  done  at  Hagerstown. 
Wallace  took  position  at  Monocacy,  on  the  9th  of  July,  with 
such  troops  as  he  could  collect,  mostly  new  levies,  having  been 
also  reenforced  by  the  Third  Division  of  the  Sixth  Corps,  under 
Gen.  Ricketts.  The  scene  of  this  engagement  is  nearly  equi 
distant  (about  forty  miles)  from  Baltimore  and  Washington. 
The  remainder  of  the  Sixth  Corps  was  soon  to  arrive  from 


590  Lit'E    Ui1    ABilAllAJM    LINCOLN* 

before  Petersburg,  and  the  day  gained  by  Wallace's  defense  at 
Monocacy,  though  he  was  obliged  at  last  to  yield,  was  of  great 
value  to  the  capital,  the  road  to  which  was  immediately  taken 
by  Early's  mam  force.  He  sent  out  raiding  parties  of  cavalry, 
however,  through  Maryland,  plundering  and  destroying.  On 
the  9th,  Westminster  was  entered  by  Rebel  cavalry.  On  the 
10th,  the  Northern  Central  railroad  was  struck  at  Cockeysvillo 
and  elsewhere,  and  depredations  were  committed  at  various 
points  in  the  country.  On  the  llth,  a  raiding  party  reached 
the  Philadelphia,  Wilmington  and  Baltimore  railroad  at  Mag 
nolia  Station,  captured  two  trains,  robbed  the  passengers,  burn 
ing  the  cars,  and  setting  fire  to  the  Gunpowder  Bridge. 

Early  reached  Rockville  on  the  10th,  and  on  the  morning  of 
the  llth  his  main  army  was  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
outer  fortifications  of  Washington  on  the  north  side,  having 
established  his  headquarters  at  Silver  Spring,  the  residence  of 
Francis  P.  Blair,  sr.  The  house  of  Postmaster  General  Blai;r, 
a  little  distance  farther  from  the  city,  was  burned  to  the 
ground.  The  main  demonstration  was  made  in  front  of  Fort 
Stevens,  out  the  Seventh  street  road.  Forces  appeared,  how 
ever,  before  the  works  near  Tennallytown  on  the  west,  and 
near  Fort  Lincoln,  eastward  from  the  city.  A  small  portion 
of  the  Sixth  Corps  reached  Washington  on  Sunday  evening, 
the  10th.  The  main  arrival  was  not  until  the  following  day. 
The  garrisons  of  the  various  forts,  and  most  of  the  troops 
within  the  city,  prior  to  the  evening  of  the  llth,  were  either 
inexperienced  "hundred  days'  men,"  or  new  militia  from  the 
departments  or  workshops.  By  a  vigorous  assault,  with  a 
considerable  sacrifice  of  life,  Early  might  not  improbably  have 
entered  the  capital,  had  he  not  lost  a  day  at  Monocacy,  or 
even  had  he  not  hesitated  for  a  number  of  hours  after  his 
arrival.  There  was  constant  skirmishing  during  Monday  and 
Tuesday,  until  finally,  in  the  afternoon  of  the  latter  day  (the 
12th),  a  sally  was  made  by  a  portion  of  the  Sixth  Corps, 
beyond  Fort  Stevens,  and,  after  a  brief  engagement,  the  Rebels 
were  driven  back,  leaving  a  number  of  killed  and  wounded  on 
the  ground.  The  President  was  a  witness  of  this  fight,  from 
Fort  Stevens.  During  the  following  night,  Early  hastily 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  591 

retired,  passing  through  Rockville,  and  hastening  his  flight 
across  the  Potomac.  For  want  of  a  sufficient  cavalry  force, 
little  more  was  immediately  accomplished  in  the  way  of  pur 
suit  than  the  capture  of  stragglers,  and  a  small  portion  of  the 
rear-guard.  A  considerable  quantity  of  stock,  plundered  in 
Maryland,  estimated  at  five  thousand  neat  cattle,  and  fifteen 
hundred  horses,  was  taken  safely  into  Virginia.  Early's  line 
of  retreat  was  through  Loudoun  county,  and  by  Snicker's  Gap 
into  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  The  Sixth  Corps  was  promptly 
moved  out  to  follow  the  retreating  army. 

During  this  time,  Hunter's  forces  had  not  remained  inactive, 
but,  having  been  transferred  as  rapidly  as  possible,  by  rail, 
after  reaching  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  road,  were  already 
in  the  lower  part  of  the  Valley,  while  General  Couch,  with  a 
militia  force  chiefly,  reoccupied  Hagerstown.  Part  of  the 
Rebel  plunder  was  recaptured  at  Snickers'  Gap,  where  a  por 
tion  of  the  enemy  was  encountered  and  beaten.  Early  was 
again  driven  back  from  Winchester,  on  the  20th,  by  the  forces 
under  Averill,  with  serious  losses.  The  Rebels  now  appearing 
to  have  withdrawn  once  more  from  the  Valley,  the  Sixth 
Corps  came  back  to  the  vicinity  of  Georgetown,  with  the 
apparent  purpose  of  returning  to  the  main  army  before  Peters 
burg.  Averill  was  now  joined  by  the  infantry  of  Crook,  who 
had  been  worsted  in  a  fight  with  Breckinridge's  command,  at 
Island  Ford,  two  days  before. 

Pursuit  of  the  Rebels  was  resumed,  and  on  the  23d  our 
cavalry  was  repulsed  at  Kernstown,  four  miles  beyond  Win 
chester,  and  fell  back  upon  the  main  force.  On  the  next 
day,  Early,  having  been  now  reenforced,  sent  his  cavalry  again 
to  the  attack,  and  drove  the  Union  cavalry  in  confusion  and 
rout  through  Winchester  down  the  Valley.  Crook  had  formed 
in  line  of  battle,  having  about  10,000  men,  consisting  of  the 
cavalry  under  Averill  and  Dufiie,  and  two  divisions  of 
infantry.  The  retreat  of  the  cavalry  left  his  wings  exposed, 
and  he  was  outflanked,  right  and  left,  and  driven  back 
from  point  to  point  by  the  superior  numbers  of  the  enemy. 
Such  was  the  character  of  the  fight,  lasting  from  noon  until 
night,  along  the  pike  to  Bunker  Hill,  Early's  main  body  rest- 


692  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

ing  five  miles  north  of  Winchester,  while  his  cavalry  closely 
pursued  our  forces  as  far  as  Martinsburg.  The  Union  losses 
were  about  1,200  in  the  aggregate.  Among  the  killed  was 
Colonel  Mulligan,  in  command  of  the  rear  brigade  covering 
the  retreat.  Thus  again  our  forces  in  that  department  passed 
through  the  "  Valley  of  humiliation." 

Some  fighting  occurred  at  Martinsburg  on  the  25th,  tho 
Union  commander  desiring  to  get  off  his  trains,  which  he  suc 
ceeded  in  doing,  and  crossed  into  Maryland  on  the  following 
day,  without  interruption  by  the  enemy.  Excitement  was  now 
again  prevalent  in  Maryland  and  over  the  Pennsylvania  border, 
a  more  formidable  invasion  than  the  previous  one  being 
dreaded.  The  Rebels  held  the  right  bank  of  the  Potomac, 
from  Shepherdstown  to  Williamsport,  during  two  or  three  suc 
ceeding  days,  without  clearly  developing  their  plan.  On  tho 
morning  of  the  30th,  a  cavalry  force  under  the  Rebel  Gen. 
McCausland,  entered  Chambersburg,  and,  after  plundering  the 
citizens,  burned  the  town.  About  two  hundred  and  fifty 
buildings  were  destroyed,  at  an  estimated  loss  exceeding 
one  million  of  dollars.  McCausland  had  just  withdrawn  from 
Chambersburg,  about  11  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  when  Averill 
entered  the  town,  passing  directly  on  in  pursuit  toward  the 
west.  It  was  near  night  when  he  overtook  the  enemy's  rear, 
eight  miles  beyond  McConnellsburgh.  McCausland  continued 
his  flight  on  the  following  day,  and  withdrew  toward  Cumber 
land.  The  men  and  the  horses  of  Averill's  command  being 
jaded  by  long  marches,  in  addition  to  their  severe  labors  dur 
ing  the  earlier  part  of  the  campaign,  he  gained  no  immediate 
material  advantages  over  the  enemy.  Early  still  retained  pos 
session  of  fords  across  the  Potomac,  and  particularly  at  Duf- 
field,  within  six  miles  of  Harper's  Ferry,  while  inferior  cavalry 
squadrons  made  incursions  into  Maryland,  spreading  a  general 
panic.  There  was  no  little  excitement  also  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  a  special  session  of  the  State  Legislature  was  called  by 
Gov.  Curtin,  to  meet  on  the  9th  of  August,  to  take  such  action 
as  the  occasion  might  seem  to  require.  A  movement  westward 
toward  Pittsburgh  was  at  one  time  thought  imminent,  and  Gen, 
Couch  made  dispositions  of  the  militia  forces  accordingly. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  593 

The  Sixth  Corps  was  permitted  little  rest  in  its  camp  near 
Georgetown.  They  set  forward  for  the  Valley  once  more,  on 
the  26th  of  July,  after  receiving  news  of  Crook's  disaster, 
marching  by  way  of  Rockville,  Monocacy  and  Frederick,  to 
Halltown,  near  Harper's  Ferry,  arriving  on  the  6th  of  August. 
A  portion  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  returned  from  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Gulf,  was  advanced  to  the  same  vicinity,  meeting 
there,  also,  the  infantry  of  Hunter's  command,  under  Crook. 
This  was  the  day  before  the  burning  of  Chambersburg.  The 
combined  force  was  ordered  out  to  meet  a  reported  advance  of 
Early  into  Pennsylvania,  but  the  falsity  of  the  rumor  was 
speedily  disproved  and  the  movement  recalled.  The  reported 
occupation  of  Hagerstown  by  a  Rebel  infantry  force  proved  to 
be  unfounded,  and  our  cavalry  occupied  the  place  on  the  7th. 
In  fact,  no  Rebel  infantry  crossed  the  Potomac  on  this  second 
"  invasion."  On  the  same  day,  Averill  gained  a  victory  over 
the  Rebel  cavalry  at  Moorfield,  capturing  all  the  enemy's  artil 
lery,  five  hundred  prisoners,  and  many  wagons  and  small  arms, 
and  driving  the  remainder  of  his  force  to  the  mountains. 

A  new  era  in  the  affairs  of  the  Valley  dates  from  the  7th 
day  of  August,  when  Maj.-Gen.  Philip  H.  Sheridan,  pursuant 
to  orders  of  the  War  Department  (after  a  conference  with  Gen. 
Grant,  in  Washington,  on  the  5th),  assumed  command  of  the 
Middle  Military  Division,  comprising  the  Middle  Department, 
Department  of  the  Susquehanna,  and  Department  of  West 
Virginia,  with  headquarters,  at  first,  at  Harper's  Ferry.  In 
addition  to  the  troops  already  operating  in  his  district,  large 
reinforcements  of  cavalry  (Torbert's  division,  and  later,  Wil 
son's)  were  brought  up  from  before  Petersburg  and  Richmond. 
Lowell's  brigade  of  cavalry  was  also  added,  from  the  Depart 
ment  of  Washington,  and  Devin's  brigade.  The  infantry  force 
consisted  of  the  former  Army  of  the  Kanawha,  under  Crook, 
the  Sixth,  the  Eighth,  and  part  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps. 

Before  Petersburg,  the  army  remained  comparatively  quiet, 
during  the  period  that  had  now  elapsed  since  the  occupation 
of  the  Weldon  railroad.  The  heat  and  dust  were  patiently 
endured  by  the  soldiers,  and  there  was  no  unusual  degree  of 
sickness  in  camp.  The  hostile  lines  nearly  approached  each 
38 


594  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

other,  both  sides  having  fortified  their  positions  in  the  strongest 
manner.  More  or  less  skirmishing  and  artillery  firing  was 
kept  up,  without  material  results.  A  movement  was  made 
across  the  James  on  the  27th  and  28th  of  July,  by  the  divi 
sions  of  Barlow  and  Abbott,  of  the  Second  Corps — a  battery  of 
the  enemy  being  captured  by  the  former  division,  nearly  oppo 
site  Jones'  Neck.  The  whole  force  soon  returned  to  its  former 
position.  The  movement  was  occasioned  by  an  advance  of  the 
enemy  to  meet  an  anticipated  attack  on  Richmond  by  way  of 
Malvern  Hill. 

For  some  time  past,  a  mining  operation  had  been  silently 
going  on,  with  the  purpose  of  blowing  up  a  formidable  Rebel 
fort  in  front  of  the  Second  Division  of  the  Ninth  Corps.  This 
work  had  been  contrived,  and  its  execution  conducted  by 
Lieut.-Col.  Henry  Pleasants,  of  the  48th  regiment  of  Pennsyl 
vania  Volunteers.  The  skill  displayed  in  laying  out  and  con 
structing  this  work,  and  the  severe  labors  of  the  officers  and 
men  of  the  regiment  in  its  execution,  were  Specially  com 
mended  in  an  order  of  Gen.  Meade.  The  explosion  of  thia 
mine  took  place  on  the  30th  of  July,  when  it  was  intended  to 
pierce  the  enem.y's  lines  through  the  breach  thus  made,  and  to 
carry  his  position  by  an  assault  in  force. 

The  mine  itself  was  an  entire  success.  The  fort  Was  blown 
up,  with  the  South  Carolina  troops  manning  it,  and  wide  con 
sternation  was  produced  among  the  forces  of  the  enemy,  of 
which  proper  advantage  was  not  taken.  The  tardy  assault  of 
Ledlie's  division,  insufficiently  sustained,  resulted  in  an  ulti 
mate  repulse,  a  destructive  fire  having  been  opened  on  his 
column  from  adjoining  Rebel  works.  Our  losses  were  severe, 
amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  about  5,000.  The  Rebel  loss  is 
stated  at  1,200.  No  substantial  benefit  was  gained.  The  dis 
heartening  effect  of  this  failure — at  a  moment  when  the  cap 
ture  of  Petersburg  was  apparently  within  our  power — was 
manifest  through  the  country.  Most  of  the  losses  fell  upon 
the  Ninth  Corps,  and  were  fully  shared  by  the  colored  regi 
ments.  The  Second  and  Fifth  Corps  took  little  part  in  either 
of  the  two  unsuccessful  assaults.  Evidently,  "  some  one  had 
blundered,"  and  the  responsibility  appears  to  have  been 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  595 

divided  to  some  extent  between  subordinate  generals.  Gen. 
Burnside  was  soon  after  relieved  from  his  command  of  the 
Ninth  Corps,  being  temporarily  succeeded  by  Gen.  Wilcox, 
and  more  permanently,  at  a  later  day,  by  Gen.  Parke. 

On  the  9th  of  August,  Gen.  Butler  commenced  the  con 
struction  of  a  canal  across  the  peninsula  at  Dutch  Gap,  a  work 
which  occupied  a  large  number  of  men  for  several  months, 
without  any  definite  advantage  to  strictly  military  or  naval 
operations.  If  completed,  it  would  have  made  the  distance  to 
Richmond  a  few  miles  shorter  for  the  fleet,  and  enabled  it  to 
avoid  certain  Rebel  defenses;  but  no  positive  purpose  of 
attempting  to  pass  Fort  Darling,  a  short  distance  above,  had 
yet  been  manifested  by  Admiral  Lee,  to  whom  the  numerous 
obstructions  no  doubt  appeared  too  formidable  to  be  encoun 
tered. 

The  fleet  under  Rear- Admiral  Farragut,  which  had  some 
time  earlier  sailed  for  the  Gulf,  appeared,  in  due  course  of 
events,  off  the  entrance  to  the  Bay  of  Mobile.  On  the  5th  of 
August,  Farragut  compelled  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Powell  by 
the  Rebel  garrison,  its  commander  blowing  up  the  fort.  On 
the  morning  of  that  day,  seventeen  of  our  vessels  passed  Fort 
Morgan,  the  Tecumseh,  a  Union  monitor,  having  been  sunk  by 
the  guns  of  that  fort.  The  Rebel  vessel,  the  Tennessee,  was 
surrendered,  after  a  sharp  engagement,  by  its  commander, 
Buchanan,  who  was  severely  wounded.  The  Selma  was  cap 
tured  from  the  enemy  j  and  the  Gaines,  another  Rebel  vessel, 
was  beached.  Fort  Powell  had  been  attacked  during  nearly 
the  entire  day,  before  it  was  abandoned  by  the  Eebel  officer  In 
command. 

On  the  7th,  Farragut  opened  heavily  on  Fort  Gaines,  a 
strong  work  which  had  been  provisioned  for  six  months,  and 
had  a  garrison  of  six  hundred  men.  On  the  morning  of  the 
8th  the  fort  was  surrendered  by  Col.  Anderson,  against  the 
wishes  of  Gen.  Page,  the  Rebel  commander  of  the  defenses  of 
Mobile,  who  soon  saw,  to  his  chagrin,  the  stars  and  stripes 
waving  over  this  stronghold,  gallantly  conquered  and  "  repos 
sessed  "  by  rightful  authority.  These  brilliant  successes  were 
hailed  with  universal  joy,  reanimating  the  popular  heart,  which 


596  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

was  becoming  depressed  at  the  long  delay  of  the  decisive  vic 
tories  so  eagerly  hoped. 

These  advantages  were  vigorously  followed  up,  by  a  coope 
rating  land  force  under  Gen.  Granger,  until  Fort  Morgan  was 
surrendered  on  the  23d  of  August,  leaving  the  entrance  to  the 
bay  completely  within  the  control  of  our  navy.  These  suc 
cesses  utterly  closed  one  more  port  against  all  hope  of  block 
ade-running,  and  accomplished  what  was  really  the  main  object 
in  view  in  fitting  ont  the  fleet  under  the  Rear- Admiral. 

In  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  active  operations  were  speedily 
resumed,  after  Sheridan  had  taken  the  command.  Early's  rear 
guard  withdrew  from  Martinsburg,  up  the  Valley,  on  the  9th, 
and  at  4  o'clock,  in  the  afternoon  of  the  10th,  the  advance  of 
Sheridan's  forces,  moving  out  in  pursuit  at  sunrise  that  day, 
began  skirmishing  with  the  enemy,  within  ten  miles  of  Win 
chester.  The  infantry  bivouacked  near  Berryville,  having 
marched  fifteen  miles.  Advancing  on  the  llth,  Ouster's  cav 
alry  brigade  fell  in  with  the  enemy  in  considerable  force  near 
Sulphur  Springs  bridge,  three  miles  from  AVinchester.  An 
engagement  followed,  lasting  nearly  two  hours,  Ouster  having 
one  battery,  and  the  enemy  no  artillery.  Our  forces  were 
driven  back  with  slight  loss.  Another  cavalry  force,  under 
Devin,  moved  by  a  circuitous  route  by  White  Post,  toward 
Newtown,  with  the  purpose  of  flanking  the  Rebel  column 
retreating  by  the  Strasburg  pike.  The  advance  regiment  soon 
became  engaged  with  a  Rebel  skirmishing  party,  near  White 
Post,  and  a  general  action  followed,  on  the  part  of  Devin's 
command,  lasting  about  three  hours,  the  enemy  retiring  some 
distance  in  the  direction  of  Newtown.  Crook's  infantry  at  length 
came  up,  and  the  further  pursuit  of  the  enemy  by  the  cavalry 
brigade  of  Gibbs,  led  to  further  fighting  before  Newtown, 
which  Early  succeeded  in  holding.  Our  infantry  encamped 
for  the  night  about  six  miles  beyond  (and  south-west  of)  Win 
chester. 

On  the  next  day  (the  12th),  our  forces  advanced,  the  enemy 
continuing  his  retreat.  About  noon,  a  force  of  the  enemy  was 
discovered  on  a  hill  before  Strasburg,  from  which  our  cavalry 
(skirmishers  were  shelled  and  driven  back.  The  infantry  now 


LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  597 

Came  up,  and  both  armies  formed  their  line  of  battle,  with 
Cedar  Creek  between  them,  about  three  miles  north  of  Stras- 
burg.  There  was  lively  skirmishing  through  the  day.  No 
general  engagement  followed.  During  the  night,  Early  had 
decamped,  retiring  beyond  the  town,  which  our  skirmishers 
entered  on  the  morning  of  the  13th.  They  soon  after  with 
drew,  however,  the  enemy  re-appearing,  and  our  main  army, 
which  had  begun  to  advance,  was  recalled  to  Cedar  Creek, 
remaining  mostly  inactive  there  until  the  15th,  while  the 
enemy  retained  possession  of  Strasburg,  his  works  on  Fisher's 
Hill,  beyond,  commanding  the  town. 

In  going  up  the  Valley,  Sheridan's  army  had  passed  the 
several  gaps  on  its  left,  so  well  known  in  guerrilla  operations, 
and  before  so  successfully  used  by  the  enemy  in  his  operations 
in  that  region.  These  gaps  had  been  incautiously  left 
unguarded.  On  the  13th,  an  inconsiderable  partisan  force 
under  Mosby  passed  through  Snicker's  Gap,  and  surprised 
Sheridan's  supply  train  at  Berryville,  putting  the  guard  to 
flight  in  a  panic,  destroying  a  large  number  of  wagons  and 
capturing  several  hundred  horses  and  mules,  with  many  beef 
cattle  and  other  supplies.  These  disasters  led  to  the  report 
that  Longstreet's  corps  was  coming  up  in  the  rear  to  cut  off 
Sheridan's  army.  Late  in  the  evening,  of  Monday,  the  15th, 
a  retreat  was  commenced,  and  the  whole  army  fell  back  to 
Charlestown. 

After  the  affair  of  July  30th  the  army  before  Petersburg 
was  comparatively  quiet  for  several  days.  On  Friday  evening, 
the  5th  of  August,  the  enemy  exploded  a  mine  in  front  of  the 
Eighteenth  Corps,  without  inflicting  any  serious  injury,  the 
work  having  failed  to  reach  the  point  intended.  Considerable 
fighting  followed,  without  severe  losses  or  important  results  on 
either  side. 

There  was  some  activity  on  the  north  side  of  the  James,  on 
the  14th  and  15th  of  August,  and  skirmishing  with  the  enemy, 
On  the  16th,  there  was  a  considerable  engagement  near  Deep 
Bottom.  The  force*  moved  out  for  the  apparent  purpose  of 
turning  the  left  of  the  Rebel  fortifications  before  Richmond, 


598  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

encountered  superior  numbers,  and  were  obliged  to  retire, 
though  without  heavy  losses. 

On  the  18th  of  August,  an  advance  was  made  on  the  Wei- 
don  railroad,  to  a  point  near  the  Yellow  Tavern.  The  enemy 
stoutly  resisted  the  movement,  and  temporarily  drove  back  our 
forces,  but  the  ground  lost  was  retaken,  fortified  and  held 
during  the  night.  On  the  19th,  the  Rebels  renewed  the  attack, 
and  succeeded  in  breaking  the  Union  lines,  both  on  the  right 
and  on  the  left,  and  formed  in  the  rear  of  Meade's  position. 
In  this  battle  there  was  a  loss  of  3,000  men,  a  large  propor 
tion  of  whom  were  taken  prisoners.  Another  vigorous  effort 
to  dislodge  our  forces  from  the  "VVeldon  road,  at  this  point,  was 
made  on  the  21st  of  August,  but  the  enemy  was  repulsed, 
with  severe  loss.  Our  men,  now  fighting  behind  strong 
intrenchments,  suffered  but  slightly  in  comparison.  The  Rebel 
forces  were  now  withdrawn  from  before  the  Fifth  and  Ninth 
Corps,  on  the  Weldon  road,  to  their  lines  within  two  or  three 
miles  of  Petersburg.  Hancock's  corps  now  occupied  Reams' 
Station,  a  few  miles  south  of  the  scene  of  the  late  engage 
ments.  This  position  was  furiously  assailed  by  the  enemy  in 
heavy  force,  on  the  25th  of  August,  with  a  persistent  purpose 
of  turning  the  Union  left.  A  severe  and  prolonged  contest 
followed,  both  sides  fighting  desperately.  Hancock  finally 
withdrew  from  Reams'  Station,  with  a  loss  of  3,000  in  killed, 
wounded  and  prisoners,  and  of  nine  guns.  The  Rebel  loss  in 
killed  and  wounded  alone  was  1,500.  Considering  the  number 
of  men  engaged,  this  was  one  of  the  severest  battles  of  tho 
campaign.  The  result  was  to  give  the  enemy  possession  of 
the  railroad  from  Yellow  Tavern,  six  miles  from  Petersburg, 
southward.  The  road  had,  however,  been  thoroughly  destroyed 
from  a  point  three  or  four  miles  beyond  Reams'  Station  to 
within  three  miles  of  Petersburg. 

Our  guns  were  now  continually  sending  shell  into  Peters 
burg,  while  skirmishing  was  kept  up  along  the  lines.  On  the 
2d  of  September,  Gen.  Gregg,  who  had  succeeded  Sheridan  in 
command  of  the  cavalry  corps,  made  a  reconnoissance  toward  the 
Boydton  plank  road,  by  which  route  it  was  ascertained  that 
the  enemy  was  hauling  his  supplies,  after  reaching  the  break 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  599 

in  the  railroad  beyond  Reams'  Station.  He  found  the  enemy 
well  fortified,  and  had  some  skirmishing  with  his  cavalry,  but 
no  important  engagement.  Our  picket  line  was  extended  across 
the  plank  road  on  the  10th  of  September,  and  the  main  lines 
advanced  half  a  mile  in  the  same  direction.  During  the  next 
two  or  three  weeks,  the  position  of  affairs  on  the  Appomattox 
and  the  James  remained  without  material  change.  On  the 
28th,  the  .Rebels  made  a  night  assault  on  our  lines  in  front  of 
Hancock,  on  the  Jerusalem  plank  road,  and  were  repulsed. 
On  the  30th,  Warren  advanced  two  miles  to  Poplar  Grovo 
Church,  attacked  and  carried  the  first  line  of  the  enemy's 
works,  at  Peeble's  Farm.  Following  up  this  success,  a  charge 
was  made  upon  the  second  line  of  Rebel  defenses,  and  the 
position  carried.  The  Ninth  Corps  had  in  the  mean  time 
advanced  beyond  the  Fifth,  and,  encountering  a  heavy  force,  in 
strong  works,  was  driven  back  in  confusion,  losing  1,500  priso 
ners,  and  500  killed  and  wounded.  Griffin's  division  of  the 
Fifth  Corps  came  to  the  support  of  the  Ninth,  now  heavily 
pressed,  and  the  combined  forces  repelled  the  enemy,  who  suf 
fered  a  serious  loss.  The  new  position  gained  by  the  Fifth 
Corps  was  maintained  and  fortified.  On  the  2d  of  October, 
the  Rebels  again  fell  back  fron*  Warren's  front,  to  their  main 
lines,  from  the  Petersburg  Lead  Works  to  the  Southside  rail 
road.  No  further  important  change  of  position  took  place  in 
this  vicinity,  until  near  the  close  of  the  month. 

A  new  movement  to  the  left  was  commenced  by  Grant  on 
the  26th  of  October,  toward  Hatcher's  Run,  the  object  of  which, 
apparently,  was  to  extend  our  lines  to  the  Southside  railroad. 
The  enemy  was  prepared  for  this  advance,  and  was  encountered 
in  strong  force,  on  the  27th,  near  the  Boydton  plank  road.  A 
severe  engagement  followed,  in  which  the  Union  losses  are 
stated  as  amounting  to  3,000,  while  those  of  the  Rebels  were 
considerably  less.  The  forces  engaged  in  this  movement 
returned  on  the  next  day,  resuming  nearly  their  former  posi 
tion.  The  two  armies  remained  comparatively  quiet  until,  on 
the  5th  of  November  (three  days  before  the  Presidential  elec^ 
tion),  the  Rebels  made  an  attack  on  Fort  Sedgwick,  near  the 
Jerusalem  plank  road,  being  handsomely  repulsed.  These 


600  LIFE    Oi'    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

attempts  were  renewed  elsewhere,  a  purpose  being  manifested 
of  piercing  the  center  of  the  Union  lines,  with  the  hope  of  gain 
ing  a  substantial  advantage  that  would  damage  the  Govern 
ment  at  this  special  juncture,  and  weaken  its  cause  in  the  loyal 
States.  All  these  efforts  were  fortunately  foiled. 

"While  affairs  were  thus  indecisive  around  Petersburg,  atten 
tion  had  been  directed,  at  first  anxiously — for  misfortune  had 
there  followed  misfortune — to  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  The 
first  movement  under  the  new  commander,  Sheridan,  had  seem 
ingly  terminated  little  better  than  previous  operations  in  that 
quarter.  He  had  assumed  command  on  the  7th  of  August, 
with  an  army  formidable  in  numbers  and  tried  in  the  service ; 
had  advanced  to  Strasburg,  and  had  hastily  retreated  to  Charles- 
town.  Here. he  still  remained,  at  the  beginning  of  Septem 
ber.  On  the  3d  day  of  that  month,  Sheridan's  army  was  again 
put  in  motion,  and  marched  about  ten  miles,  encamping  near 
Berryville.  Here  a  line  of  battle  was  formed,  and  intrench- 
inents  thrown  up.  Before  the  entire  army  had  reached  this 
point,  Gen.  Crook's  command  repulsed  a  spirited  attack  of  the 
enemy.  It  was  not  until  the  19th  that  the  movement  was 
resumed,  and  a  new  position  taken  up,  three  or  four  miles  east 
of  Winchester.  On  the  day  previous,  Gen.  Averill  had  driven 
a  Rebel  force  from  Martinsburg  up  the  Valley.  The  enemy 
was  found  in  position  at  "Winchester,  skirmishers  were  advanced 
about  10  o'clock,  on  the  19th,  and  at  noon,  the  action  became 
general,  lasting  until  5  o'clock,  when  the  enemy  was  forced  to 
retreat,  and  was  sent  "whirling  up  the  Valley  "  by  Sheridan's 
vigorous  pursuit.  Early  lost  seriously  in  killed  and  wounded, 
and  5,000  prisoners  and  five  guns  were  captured  fro»iu  him. 

On  the  20th,  Sheridan's  infantry  marched  sixteen  miles,  to 
the  vicinity  of  Strasburg.  On  the  21st,  the  army  remained 
quiet  on  Cedar  Creek,  the  enemy  occupying  a  strong  position 
on  Fisher's  Hill.  Before  daylight  on  the  22d,  the  Union 
troops  were  in  motion,  and  a  flanking  column  speedily  appeared 
in  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  and  a  general  charge  along  his  lines 
drove  him  in  great  confusion  from  his  works,  securing  another 
brilliant  victory.  Among  the  Rebel  losses  on  this  memorable 
day  were  1,100  prisoners,  and  sixteen  guns.  Pursuit  was  con« 


LIFE    OF    AliR  All  AM    LINCOLN.  601 

tinned  through  the  night,  the  enemy  retiring  beyond  Mount 
Jackson,  the  terminus  of  the  railroad.  On  the  25th,  Sheri 
dan's  forces  were  at  Harrisonburg,  a  portion  of  them  having 
marched  fifty  miles  in  two  days.  The  remnant  of  Early 'a 
army  retired  by  Cross  Keys  and  Port  Republic,  toward  Char- 
lottesville,  going  through  Brown's  Gap,  on  the  26th,  where  the 
Rebel  rear-guard  arrested  the  pursuit  made  by  Gen.  Merritt's 
cavalry. 

General  Wilson's  division  of  cavalry  advanced  to  Staunton 
on  the  27th,  destroying  the  railroad  depot  at  that  place,  with 
a  large  amount  of  supplies ;  and  on  the  28th  visited  Waynes- 
boro,  destroying  an  important  railroad  bridge  and  other  pro 
perty.  A  cavalry  force,  supported  by  the  Sixth  and  Nineteenth 
Corps,  was  at  the  same  time  advanced  from  Harrisonburg  to 
Mount  Crawford,  ten  miles  distant,  destroying  mills,  granaries 
and  other  Rebel  stores  and  sources  of  supply.  Wilson  retired 
to  the  same  point  from  Waynesboro,  and  all  returned  to  Harri- 
sonburg  on  the  29th.  As  a  military  necessity,  the  country  was 
"  desolated  "  for  a  circuit  of  several  miles  around. 

Having  driven  the  enemy  from  the  Valley  and  deprived  him, 
to  a  great  degree,  of  the  fruits  of  his  late  harvestings  in  that 
region,  as  well  as  of  the  means  of  support  in  any  future 
advance,  Sheridan  leisurely  returned  down  the  valley,  reaching 
New  Market  on  the  6th  of  October,  and  Strasburg  on  the  8th. 
The  main  army  went  into  camp  on  the  north-east  side  of  Cedar 
Creek,  in  the  vicinity  of  Middletown,  on  the  10th,  and  there 
intrenched. 

On  the  8th  of  October,  the  cavalry  under  Merritt  and  Custer 
gained  a  decisive  victory  over  the  Rebel  cavalry  divisions  of 
Rosser  and  Lomax,  in  the  battle  of  Thorn's  Brook,  driving  the 
enemy  twenty  miles,  and  capturing  a  number  of  prisoners,  as 
well  as  several  pieces  of  artillery. 

The  enemy,  anxious  to  retrieve  the  misfortunes  he  had 
suffered  under  the  vigorous  hand  of  Sheridan,  had  promptly 
dispatched  large  reinforcements  of  infantry  and  cavalry,  the 
former  from  Longstreet's  corps,  the  latter  under  a  new  com 
mander,  Rosser,  to  operate  in  the  valley.  This  was  done  with 
all  the  stealth  which  strategic  skill  and  the  peculiar  charac- 


602  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

ter  of  the  country,  favorable  to  secrecy  of  movement,  could 
command.  Kosser  was  fallen  in  with  at  an  early  day,  however, 
as  already  seen,  and  severely  chastised.  The  presence  of  Long- 
street's  men  was  more  carefully  concealed  until  the  moment 
arrived  for  the  intended  decisive  blow.  This  was  struck 
during  the  temporary  absence  of  Sheridan  in  "VVa-shington. 

On  the  morning  of  the  19th  of  October,  just  as  the  army, 
in  its  position  at  Cedar  Creek,  was  preparing  breakfast,  the 
Rebels  suddenly  attacked  the  Eighth  Corps,  on  the  left  of  the 
line,  completely  surprising  the  men,  and  driving  them  in  great 
confusion  from  their  camp.  Pursuit  was  continued  for  nearly 
four  miles,  flanking  the  position  of  the  main  army,  and  com 
municating  the  panic  to  other  parts  of  the  line.  The  Sixth 
and  Nineteenth  Corps  were  almost  hopelessly  endeavoring 
to  stem  the  tide  of  defeat,  when  Sheridan,  who  had  hast 
ened  to  the  front,  arrived  in  time  to  throw  the  inspiring  influ 
ence  of  his  presence  into  the  scale,  and  to  save  the  day  by  his 
guidance.  He  speedily  made  new  dispositions  of  his  forces, 
and  by  vigorous  flank  attacks,  succeeded  in  repulsing  the 
enemy  and  driving  him  back  in  utter  rout.  The  victory  was 
even  more  signal  than  that  gained  a  month  before  at  Winches 
ter.  The  enemy  lost  about  fifty  guns,  a  large  number  of 
killed  and  wounded,  and  thousands  of  prisoners.  The  pursuit 
was  continued  that  night  to  Fisher's  Hill,  and  on  the  follow 
ing  day,  the  cavalry  pursued  the  flying  battalions  as  far  as 
Mount  Jackson.  Returning,  the  army  re-occupied  its  old  camp 
between  Middleton  and  Cedar  Creek.  Among  the  deeply 
lamented  losses  in  this  famous  battle,  was  that  of  Col.  Lowell, 
a  gallant  officer  of  the  cavalry. 

These  important  victories  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley  gave 
unbounded  joy  to  loyal  hearts  throughout  the  nation.  They 
gratified  the  popular  thirst  for  military  success,  and  awakened 
a  true  enthusiasm  for  the  heroic  commander  who  had  redeemed 
the  history  of  the  Valley.  General  Sheridan  was  promoted, 
by  the  President,  to  be  a  Major-General  of  the  Regular  Army, 
in  place  of  Gen.  George  B.  McClellan,  immediately  after  the 
latter  had  tendered  his  resignation,  taking  effect  on  the  8th  of 
November. 


LIFE    OP    ABIIAIIAM    LINCOLN.  603 

On  the  day  following  the  memorable  victory  at  Cedar  Creek, 
the  President  issued  the  following  proclamation,  for  a  day  of 
national  thanksgiving: 

A   PROCLAMATION. 

It  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  prolong  our  national  life 
another  year,  defending  us  with  his  guardian  care  against 
unfriendly  designs  from  abroad,  and  vouchsafing  to  us  in  His 
mercy  many  and  signal  victories  over  the  enemy,  who  is  of  our 
own  household.  It  has  also  pleased  our  Heavenly  Father  to 
favor  as  well  our  citizens  in  their  homes  as  our  soldiers  in 
their  camps,  and  our  sailors  on  the  rivers  and  seas,  with 
unusual  health.  He  has  largely  augmented  our  free  popula 
tion  by  emancipation  and  by  immigration,  while  He  has  opened 
to  us  new  sources  of  wealth,  and  has  crowned  the  labor  of  our 
workirigtnen  in  every  department  of  industry  with  abundant 
rewards.  Moreover,  He  has  been  pleased  to  animate  and 
inspire  our  minds  and  hearts  with  fortitude,  courage,  and  reso 
lution  sufficient  for  the  great  trial  of  civil  war  into  which  we 
have  been  brought  by  our  adherence  as  a  nation  to  the  cause 
of  freedom  and  humanity,  and  to  afford  to  us  reasonable  hopes 
of  an  ultimate  and  happy  deliverance  from  all  our  dangers  and 
afflictions. 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States,  do  hereby  appoint  and  set  apart  the  last  Thurs 
day  of  November  next  as  a  day  which  I  desire  to  be  observed 
by  all  my  fellow-citizens,  wherever  they  may  be,  as  a  day  of 
thanksgiving  and  praise  to  Almighty  God,  the  beneficent 
Creator  and  Ruler  of  the  Universe.  And  I  do  further  recom 
mend  to  my  fellow-citizens  aforesaid,  that,  on  that  occasion, 
they  do  reverently  humble  themselves  in  the  dust,  and  from 
thence  offer  up  penitent  and  fervent  prayers  and  supplications 
to  the  Great  Disposer  of  events  for  a  return  of  the  inestimable 
blessings  of  peace,  union,  and  harmony  throughout  the  land 
which  it  has  pleased  Him  to  assign  as  a  dwelling-place  for 
ourselves  and  our  posterity  throughout  all  generations. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  afiixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington  this  twentieth  day  of  October, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
[L.  s.]    and   sixty-four,    and   of   the   independence   of  the 
United  States  the  eighty-ninth. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
By  the  President : 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWABD,  Secretary  of  State. 


604  LIFE    OJ?    AliiiAIIAM    LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Gen.  Sherman  s  Campaign  in  Georgia. — From  Marietta  to  Atlanta.—* 
Passage  of  the  Chattahoochee. — Rousseau's  Raid. — Battles  before 
Atlanta. — Heavy  losses  of  the  Rebels  after  Hood  succeeds  John 
ston. — Cavalry  expeditions  under  Stoneman  and  McCook. — Their 
Failure. — Operations  around  Atlanta. — Kilpatrick's  Raid. — Sher 
man's  Army  on  the  Macon  Railroad. —  Battle  of  Jonesboro. — 
Capture  of  Atlanta. — Rebel  Raids. — Hood's  operations  in  Sher 
man's  rear. — Price's  Invasion  of  Missouri. — General  Results  of 
the  South-western  Campaigns. 

ON  retiring  from  Kenesaw  Mountain,  the  Rebel  commander 
in  Georgia  had  taken  up  a  strong  position  on  the  further  bank 
of  the  Chattahoochee,  having  succeeded  in  effecting  the  cross 
ing  without  interruption.  He  had  previously  provided  a  strong 
tete  depont  covering  his  communication  across  the  stream,  and 
an  advanced  line  of  intrenchments  on  the  hither  side,  crossing 
the  railroad  at  Smyrna,  five  miles  south  of  Marietta,  These 
works  had  secured  his  safe  retreat.  The  river  is  one  of  such 
depth  and  rapidity  of  current  as  not  to  be  fordable,  except  at 
one  or  two  points.  A  reconnoissance  made  on  the  5th  of  July 
showed  that  Johnston's  position  could  not  be  turned  except  by 
crossing  this  stream.  General  Sherman  accordingly  made  his 
dispositions  to  effect  this  object  with  the  least  possible  delay. 

General  Schofield  was  ordered  up  to  Smyrna,  from  his  posi 
tion  on  the  right,  and  directed  to  throw  a  force  across  the 
river,  near  the  mouth  of  Soap's  Creek.  This  he  satisfactorily 
effected  on  the  7th  of  July,  surprising  the  guard,  and  laying 
secure  bridges.  The  place  he  occupied  was  on  advantageous 
ground,  commanding  roads  leading  eastward.  Gen.  Garrard's 
cavalry  division,  operating  with  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee, 
was  hastening  forward  to  Roswell,  where  there  were  factories 
which  had  long  been  engaged  in  manufacturing  cloth  for  the 
Jlebel  armies.  After  destroying  these  factories,  Garrard  took 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  605 

possession  of  the  ford  across  the  Chattahoocheo,  near  by,  and 
McPherson's  army  was  speedily  transferred  from  the  right,  to 
this  position  on  the  extreme  left.  In  the  mean  time  General 
Howard  had  succeeded  in  throwing  a  briilge  across  the  river  at 
Powers'  Ferry,  two  miles  below  where  the  Army  of  the  Ohio 
had  crossed,  and  had  taken  position  on  the  right  of  the  latter. 
These  important  advantages  having  been  gained  by  Gen.  Sher 
man,  Johnston  destroyed  his  bridge  on  the  10th  of  July,  and 
left  the  right  bank  of  the  Chattahoochee  to  the  Union  armies 
without  further  contest. 

During  the  next  six  days,  the  main  army  rested  in  camp, 
while  supplies  were  accumulated  at  Marietta  and  Vining's 
Station  (near  the  Chattahoochee),  and  the  garrisons  and 
guards  along  the  railroad  were  strengthened.  It  was  now,  too, 
that  the  word  was  given  for  the  setting  out  of  an  important 
cavalry  expedition,  under  Gen.  Rousseau,  to  break  Johnston's 
railroad  communications,  in  Alabama,  on  the  main  thoroughfare 
between  Atlanta  and  the  South-west,  running  from  Opelika 
Junction  to  Montgomery.  The  force  intended  for  this  pur 
pose  had  been  for  some  time  past  gathering  at  Decatur,  in 
Northern  Alabama,  and  numbered,  at  the  time  of  starting,  but 
little  more  than  two  thousand  men.  The  movement  began  on 
the  10th  of  July,  and  continued,  with  only  occasional  interrup 
tions,  to  destroy  stores  accumulated  by  impressment  for  the 
Rebel  army,  or  to  chastise  a  guerrilla  party,  until  the  river 
Coosa  was  reached,  near  Ashville,  on  the  evening  of  the  13th. 
The  First  Brigade  crossed  the  river,  while  the  Second  remained 
on  the  north  bank,  and  on  the  next  day  the  forces  began  their 
march  down  the  stream,  a  brigade  on  each  side,  until  the  ford 
was  reached  where  Jackson  crossed  in  1814,  and  defeated  the 
Creek  Indians.  Here,  as  the  Second  Brigade  began  to  pass 
over,  they  were  fired  upon  from  the  shelter  of  rocks  and 
thickets  by  a  considerable  Rebel  force  under  Clan  ton,  mostly 
dismounted  cavalry.  The  Second  Brigade  speedily  found  a 
favorable  position  from  which  the  fire  was  returned  with  effect. 
The  First  Brigade  charged  upon  Clanton's  men,  completely 
routing  them.  Gen.  Rousseau  then  resumed  his  march,  reach 
ing  Talladega  late  the  same  evening,  and  driving  in  the 


606  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN, 

enemy's  pickets.  Entering  the  town  in  the  morning,  ho 
destroyed  the  commissary  stores  found  there,  and  continued 
his  march.  On  the  evening  of  the  16th,  the  Tallapoosa  river 
was  crossed  at  Smith's  Ford,  near  Youngville,  about  thirty-fivo 
miles  from  Montgomery.  On  the  17th,  the  railroad  was  struck 
at  Loccopaca,  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles  south-west  of 
Atlanta,  and  on  the  following  day  the  work  of  destruction  was 
earnestly  commenced.  The  column  which  proceeded  toward 
Montgomery  was  attacked  near  Chewa  Station,  by  a  much 
superior  forae  sent  dpwn  from  Montgomery,  but  being  ree'n- 
fiorced  by  the  main  body  under  Rousseau  in  person,  our  men 
defeated  and  drove  back  the  enemy,  destroying  an  important 
trestle  work  about  twelve  miles  from  the  city.  Rousseau's 
forces  then  proceeded  eastward  to  Opelika,  destroying  the  road 
as  they  went.  On  the  19th  they  entered  Opelika  and  burned 
"  Confederate  "  storehouses,  railroad  depots^  and  army  supplies 
of  various  kinds.  A  large  Rebel  force  approaching  from  West 
Point,  Rousseau  turned  aside  from  the  railroad  toward  Lafay 
ette.  The  march  was  continued  on  the  next  two  days  in  the 
direction  of  Sherman's  lines,which  were  reached  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  22d  of  July.  The  expedition  had  traveled  450 
miles,  losing  less  than  thirty  men,  and  fully  accomplishing  its 
purpose. 

Preparatory  to  an  intended  advance,  Gen.  Sherman  had  also 
sent  the  cavalry  of  Gens.  Stoneman  and  McCook  down  the 
Chattahoochee  river,  scouting  far  to  the  right,  and  diverting 
the  enemy's  attention.  On  the  17th  of  July,  a  general 
advance  commenced,  the  army  of  Thomas  crossing  at  the 
bridges  built  by  Howard,  and  marching  toward  Atlanta  by  way 
of  Buckhead ;  Schofield,  already  over,  proceeding  by  Cross 
Keys  ;  and  McPherson  moving  directly  toward  a  point  near 
Stone  Mountain,  on  the  Augusta  railroad,  east  of  Decatur.  A 
general  line  was  formed  along  the  Old  Peach  Tree  road. 
McPherson  reached  the  Augusta  road,  seven  miles  east  of 
Decatur,  on  the  18th,  and  destroyed  the  track  for  a  distance  of 
four  miles.  Schofield,  on  the  same  day,  entered  the  town  of 
Decatur.  On  the  19th,  the  lines  were  contracted  from  the 
left,  McPherson  marching  into  Decatur,  and  Schofield  advanc- 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  607 

ing  some  distance  by  one  of  the  roads  (passing  the  Howard 
House),  from  that  place  to  Atlanta.  Thomas  meanwhile 
crossed  Peach  Tree  Creek,  under  fire  from  the  enemy's  well 
intrenched  lines  on  the  south  bank.  Each  of  these  three 
columns  encountered  opposition,  and  skirmished  on  its  way. 
On  the  20th  all  were  closed  in,  converging  upon  Atlanta. 
About  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  the  enemy  sud 
denly  sallied  from  his  works,  and  heavily  attacked  Sherman's 
right  center,  engaging  Hooker's  corps,  and  portions  of  How 
ard's  and  Palmer's  corps.  The  Twentieth  Corps  was  entirely 
unprotected  by  fortifications,  and  Newton's  division  of  the 
Fourth  Corps,  which  was  first  assailed,  was  only  partially 
covered  by  hastily  constructed  lines  of  rail  piles.  The  enemy, 
notwithstanding  these  advantages,  was  repulsed  with  great  loss, 
leaving  over  500  dead  on  the  field,  about  1,000  severely 
wounded,  and  many  prisoners — in  the  aggregate  not  far  from 
5,000  men.  The  total  casualties  on  the  side  of  the  Govern 
ment  were  estimated  by  the  commanding  general  at  not  exceed 
ing  1,500,  mostly  in  Hooker's  corps.  The  battle  of  Peach 
Tree  Creek,  resulting  in  so  depressing  a  defeat  of  the  Rebels, 
had  almost  immediately  followed  a  change  of  commanders — • 
Gen.  Hood  having  succeeded  Johnston,  after  the  latter's  fail 
ure  to  hold  the  line  of  the  Chattahochee. 

By  a  reconnoissance  on  the  next  day,  the  enemy's  intrenched 
lines  were  found  to  be  on  commanding  hights  beyond  Peach 
Tree  Creek,  extending  across  the  Augusta  road,  on  the  east,  to 
near  Turner's  Ferry,  on  the  Chattahoochee,  at  a  distance  of 
about  four  miles  from  Atlanta.  On  the  22d,  to  the  surprise 
of  Gen.  Sherman,  this  strong  line  was  found  to  be  abandoned. 
But  Atlanta  was  not  yet  to  be  surrendered.  The  new  Rebel 
general  had  determined  on  a  change  of  strategy,  of  which  the 
battle  of  the  20th  afforded  the  first  illustration.  The  Union 
army  passed  over  the  deserted  works  of  Hood,  advancing  until 
the  lines  were  approached  to  within  a  general  distance  of  two 
miles  from  the  city.  The  enemy  had  now  taken  shelter  behind 
a  line  of  redoubts  built  a  year  before,  and  was  busily  engaged 
in  connecting  and  strengthening  these  by  the  usual  works.  The 
Army  of  the  Tennessee,  in  advancing  from  Decatur,  had  sub- 


608  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

stantially  followed  the  railroad,  Logan's  Corps  (the  Fifteenth) 
and  Blair's  (the  Seventeenth)  on  the  left,  and  Dodge's  (the 
Sixteenth)  on  the  right.  In  contracting  the  arc,  the  Fifteenth 
Corps  had  connected  directly  with  the  left  of  Schofield,  near  the 
Howard  House,  leaving  the  Sixteenth  Corps  out  of  line.  Blair's 
corps,  on  the  extreme  left,  after  a  severe  fight,  had  gained  pos 
session  of  a  high  hill,  giving  a  view  into  the  heart  of  the  town. 
Dodge  was  ordered  to  the  support  of  the  left  in  this  position,  and 
was  moving  by  a  diagonal  path  for  that  purpose,  when  the  enemy 
moved  out,  soon  after  noon,  on  the  22d  of  July,  to  attack  that 
part  of  the  lines.  Gen.  McPherson,  while  passing  by  a  narrow 
road,  leading  by  the  rear,  through  wooded  ground,  from 
Dodge's  corps  to  the  division  on  the  extreme  left  of  Blair,  was 
killed  by  Rebel  sharpshooters — a  death  deeply  lamented. 
Maj.-Gen.  John  A.  Logan  temporarily  succeeded  to  his  com 
mand.  A  severe  engagement  had  already  begun.  Hardee's 
corps  assailed  and  enveloped  Blair's  left  flank,  while  Stewart's 
corps  attacked  in  front.  The  two  divisions  of  Generals  Giles  A. 
Smith  and  Leggett,  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  maintained  the 
fight  with  desperate  valor,  while  the  moving  column  of  Gen. 
Dodge  speedily  closed  up  the  line  holding  the  enemy  in  check, 
and  driving  him  back  with  destructive  blows.  The  battle  raged 
over  this  part  of  the  ground  until  about  4  o'clock,  when  there 
was  a  brief  lull,  followed  by  a  desperate  attempt  of  the  enemy 
to  break  through  the  lines  where  they  had  been  weakened  by 
the  withdrawal  of  Martin's  brigade  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  to 
reenforce  the  left.  This  attack,  after  partial  success,  was  finally 
repulsed,  and  the  corps  regained  all  the  ground  lost,  with  all 
the  guns  captured  by  the  enemy,  but  two. 

The  Union  loss  in  this  battle  of  Atlanta  was  3,722,  in 
killed,  wounded  and  prisoners.  Gen.  Sherman  estimates  the 
enemy's  total  loss  as  certainly  not  less  than  8,000  men,  while 
Gen.  Logan  reported  the  number  as  at  least  10,000.  Of  his 
dead,  2,200  were  actually  counted  on  the  field.  His  aggre 
gate  losses  in  the  two  battles  of  the  20th  and  22d,  probably 
exceeded  15,000. 

On  the  21st,  Garrard's  division  of  cavalry  had  been  dis 
patched  to  Covington,  forty-two  miles  east  of  Atlanta,  on  tha 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  009 

Augusta  railroad,  to  destroy  two  important  bridges  in  that 
vicinity.  During  Garrard's  absence,  Wheeler  had  attempted  to 
destroy  the  wagon  trains  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  left 
behind  at  Decatur ;  but  they  were  protected  and  safely  with 
drawn,  by  the  management  of  Col.  (afterward  Gen.)  Spraguc, 
and  the  three  regiments  under  his  command.  On  the  23d, 
Garrard  returned,  having  fully  accomplished  his  purpose,  and 
bringing  in  a  number  of  prisoners  and  horses,  "with  the  loss 
of  but  two  men. 

The  Rebel  commander  was  now  reduced  to  the  Macon  rail 
road  exclusively,  for  the  transportation  of  his  supplies.  To 
reach  this  road,  therefore,  became  an  important  object  to  Gen. 
Sherman.  Two  expeditionary  forces  of  cavalry  were  accord 
ingly  organized  for  this  purpose — one  numbering  not  less  than 
5,000,  placed  under  the  command  of  Gen.  Stoneman,  and  the 
Other  numbering  about  4,000,  under  Gen  McCook ;  the  former 
to  move  by  the  left  beyond  Atlanta,  to  McDonough,  and  the 
latter  by  the  right  to  Fayetteville — the  two  bodies  acting  in 
concert,  to  meet  at  a  given  time  and  place  on  the  Macon  rail 
road.  This  joint  expedition,  which  seemed  to  promise  com 
plete  success,  and  was  to  have  been  followed  by  an. attempt  to 
release  the  Union  prisoners  at  Andersonville,  resulted  in  dis 
aster,  Gen.  Stoneman  himself  having  been  taken  prisoner,  with 
700  of  his  men,  near  Macon.  It  appears  that  he  had  attempted 
a  sudden  descent  on  Andersonville,  before  completing  the  con 
templated  work  in  conjunction  with  McCook.  The  latter  offi' 
cer  proceeded  at  the  same  time  to  execute  his  part  of  the  plan 
of  operations,  crossing  the  Chattahoochee  near  Rivertown,  and 
moving  rapidly  to  the  West  Point  railroad,  near  Palmetto  Sta 
tion,  where  he  broke  up  the  road ;  and  thence  to  Fayetteville, 
destroying  500  wagons  and  various  supplies  for  the  army  found 
there.  He  then  struck  the  Macon  Railroad  at  Lovejoy's,  on 
the  night  of  the  29th  of  July,  as  appointed.  Failing  to  hear 
from  Stoneman,  and.  being  heavily  pressed,  he  withdrew  to  New 
man,  on  the  West  Point  road,  where  he  fell  in  with  a  consid 
erable  infantry  force,  moving  from  Mississippi  to  Atlanta,  which 
had  been  stopped  there  by  the  break  which  McCook  had  just 

previously  made  at  Palmetto.     He  was  speedily  hemmed  in  and 
39 


610  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

forced  to  give  battle.  He  succeeded  in  cutting  his  way  out, 
with  a  loss  of  about  500  men,  and  reached  Marietta  without 
further  interruption.  The  serious  losses  from  this  raid  wero 
not  compensated  by  any  material  advantages — the  slight  dam 
age  done  to  the  railroads  beyond  East  Point  being  easily 
repaired  by  the  enemy. 

Gen.  Sherman  had  determined  to  withdraw  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee  from  its  position  on  the  left,  and  move  it  around,  by 
the  rear  of  Schofield  and  Thomas,  to  the  right,  extending  tho 
Union  lines  below  Proctor's  Creek,  while  Schofield  extended 
his  forces  to  the  Augusta  railroad.  This  change  was.  com 
menced  on  the  night  of  the  26th  of  July,  and  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee  (Gen.  0.  0.  Howard  having  now  succeeded  to 
the  command),  was  in  its  new  position  on  the  28th,  and  speed 
ily  threw  up  the  temporary  covering  works  which  our  troops  had 
accustomed  themselves  to  construct.  The  enemy,  hoping  to 
find  Howard's  troops  still  in  motion  and  unprepared  to  receive 
an  attack,  repeated  the  attempt  which  had  cost  him  so  heavily  on 
the  20th  and  22d.  A  series  of  assaults  (on  some  points  as 
many  as  seven),  were  made,  chiefly  on  Logan's  corps,  and  each 
time  repulsed,  with  comparatively  little  loss  on  the  Union  side. 
The  Rebel  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  not  less  than  5,000. 
Of  Rebel  dead  left  on  the  field,  642  were  counted  by  our  men, 
who  buried  them.  The  aggregate  Union  loss  was  reported  at 
less  than  500.  This  battle,  so  disastrous  to  the  assailants, 
terminated  Hood's  efforts  of  this  sort,  the  three  actions  fought 
within  little  more  than  a  week  having  cost  him  over  20,000 
men,  without  profit,  and  with  only  a  proportionately  very  small 
reduction  of  the  strength  of  our  armies.  Henceforward  the 
enemy  remained  on  the  defensive,  and  endeavored,  by  strong 
works,  to  prevent  a  further  extension  of  Sherman's  lines  south 
ward  toward  the  railroad  below  East  Point. 

Gen.  Schofield's  army  was  subsequently  transferred  to  the 
right  of  Howard,  and  also  Gen.  Palmer's  corps,  of  the  Army 
of  the  Cumberland.  The  latter  corps  moved  into  position 
beiow  Utoy  Creek,  on  the  1st  of  August,  and  Schofield,  going 
etill  farther  to  the  right,  extended  the  line  to  a  location  near 
East  Point.  These  changes  were  made  without  interruption 


LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN  611 

from  Hood.  The  extension  of  the  right  was  continued  by 
Gen.  Sherman,  with  demonstrations  along  the  whole  line,  until 
the  5th. 

On  the  promotion  of  Gen.  Howard  to  the  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee,  Maj.-Gen.  D.  S,  Stanley  succeeded 
him  as  commander  of  the  Fourth  Corps.  Gen.  J.  C.  Davis, 
nearly  at  the  same  time,  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the 
Fourteenth  Corps,  in  place  of  Gen.  Palmer,  resigned.  Gen. 
Hooker,  dissatisfied  at  not  being  appointed  to  succeed  Gen. 
McPherson,  asked  to  be  relieved  from  the  command  of  the 
Twentieth  Corps,  and  was  succeeded  by  Gen.  H.  W.  Slocum,  as 
soon  as  the  latter  could  arrive  from  Vicksburg,  where  he  had 
been  in  command. 

It  appears  that  the  Rebel  general  had  now  received  large 
accessions  of  militia,  and  other  reinforcements,  so  that  he  was 
able  to  maintain  a  defensive  line  stretching  from  near  Decatur 
to  a  point  below  East  Point,  a  distance  of  about  fifteen  miles. 
An  attempt  was  made  by  a  brigade  of  Gen.  Cox's  division  of 
Schofield's  army  to  break  through  the  hostile  lines  at  a  point 
below  Utoy  Creek,  on  the  5th  of  August,  but  the  assault 
failed,  with  a  loss  of  400  men.  On  the  6th,  this  position  was 
turned  by  Gen.  Hascall,  but  without  succeeding  in  reaching 
the  Maeon  railroad,  or  that  to  West  Point.  To  cut  these  roads, 
and  particularly  that  to  Macon — the  failure  of  Stoneman  and 
McCook  being  now  known — was  a  necessary  work  which  the 
main  army  must  somehow  perform.  Sherman  ordered  four 
heavy  siege  guns  from  Chattanooga,  which  were  put  in  position 
on  the  10th,  and  were  kept  constantly  at  work,  night  and  day, 
for  some  time,  doing  considerable  damage  in  the  city,  without 
affecting  the  pertinacity  with  which  the  enemy  maintained  his 
defensive  lines.  Gen.  Sherman  consequently  decided  on  a  new 
movement  to  get  possession  of  the  Macon  road,  and  to  compel 
the  evacuation  of  Atlanta.  So  quietly  had  it  been  planned, 
that  his  own  men  were  puzzled,  and  the  enemy  mystified  when 
its  execution  was  actually  commenced.  This  was  nothing  less 
than  a  withdrawal  from  the  works  before  the  city,  and  an  ulti 
mate  movement  of  the  army  by  the  right  flank,  crossing  the 


612  LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

West  Point  railroad,  and  striking  the  Macon  road  some  distance 
south  of  Atlanta. 

As  the  movement  was  about  to  have  begun  on  the  18th  of 
August,  information  was  received  that  Hood  had  dispatched  a 
cavalry  expedition,  numbering  from  6,000  to  10,000  men,  under 
Wheeler,  to  cut  Gen.  Sherman's  communications  by  the  single 
railroad  northward  to  Chattanooga.  This  force  had  struck 
Adairsville,  capturing  900  beef  cattle,  and  had  torn  up  the 
railroad  track  near  Calhoun.  Nothing  could  have  happened 
more  opportunely  for  Sherman's  purpose.  Gen.  Kilpatrick, 
with  5,000  cavalry,  advanced  to  the  right  on  the  night  of  the 
18th,  thoroughly  broke  the  West  Point  railroad,  near  Fair- 
born,  and  then  struck  the  Macon  road  near  Jonesboro,  engaging 
and  defeating  a  cavalry  force  under  Ross,  and  holding  the 
road  for  five  hours,  doing  such  damage  to  it  as  he  was  able. 
He  was,  however,  compelled  to  retire — an  overwhelming  force 
of  infantry  and  cavalry  assailing  him — and,  making  a  circuit, 
again  came  upon  the  railroad  near  Lovejoy's  Station,  but  was 
again  so  heavily  menaced  that,  after  a  charge  upon  the  Rebel 
cavalry,  capturing  a  number  of  prisoners,  and  four  guns,  he 
withdrew  to  Decatur,  arriving  on  the  22d  of  August.  Gen. 
Sherman,  hoping  that  Kilpatrick's  raid  would  accomplish  his 
purpose,  without  the  aid  of  the  main  army,  had  postponed  the 
general  movement  ordered  for  the  18th.  It  now  became  mani 
fest  that  the  Macon  road  had  not  been  sufficiently  broken  to 
interrupt  the  trains  for  many  days,  and  the  original  plan  of 
"  taking  the  field  with  our  main  force,  and  using  it  against  the 
communications  of  Atlanta,  instead  of  against  its  intrench- 
ments,"  was  resumed. 

On  the  night  of  the  25th,  the  Fourth  Corps  (Stanley's) 
withdrew  from  the  extreme  left,  and  marched  below  Proctor's 
Creek,  on  the  right.  The  Twentieth  Corps  (temporarily  com 
manded  by  Gen.  Williams)  at  the  same  time  moved  back  to 
the  Chattahoochee  river.  On  the  night  of  the  26th,  the  armies 
of  the  Tennessee  and  the  Cumberland  drew  out  of  their  lines 
and  moved  on  to  the  right,  the  former  army  advancing  circui- 
tously,  and  approaching  Sandtown.  The  next  move  brought 
Howard's  army  upon  the  West  Point  railroad,  above  Fairborn 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  613 

and  Thomas's  army  near  Bed  Oak — Schofield,  who  had  hitherto 
remained  in  his  former  position,  now  bringing  up  the  rear. 
The  entire  day  was  spent,  on  the  28th,  in  destroying  the  West 
Point  railroad,  more  than  twelve  miles  of  the  track  being 
thoroughly  broken  up.  On  the  29th,  the  armies  moved  east 
ward  by  several  roads,  Howard  advancing,  on  the  right,  toward 
Jonesboro,  Thomas,  in  the  center,  by  Shoal  Creek  Church  to 
Couch's,  and  Schofield,  on  the  left,  toward  Morrow's  Mills.  The 
position  thus  aimed  at  was  deemed  so  decidedly  advantageous, 
that  Gen.  Sherman  was  anxious  to  secure  it  at  the  earliest 
moment.  Thomas  reached  his  assigned  place  early  in  the  after 
noon,  without  much  opposition.  Schofield  moved  in  a  circuit 
around  East  Point,  which  the  enemy  still  tenaciously  held,  and 
came  into  the  position  intended,  toward  Rough-and-Ready 
Station.  Gen.  Howard  had  the  greatest  distance  to  move,  and 
was  more  or  less  delayed  by  skirmishing  with  cavalry  of  the 
enemy,  supported  by  artillery,  at  different  points  on  the  way. 
He  continued  his  march,  however,  until  within  half  a  mile  of 
Jonesboro,  when  darkness  prevented  his  further  advance,  and 
he  encamped  for  the  night.  In  the  morning  (August  31st)  he 
found  a  heavy  Rebel  force  in  his  front,  and  made  his  disposi 
tions  accordingly.  Gen.  Sherman,  who  was  with  the  center, 
immediately  gave  directions  for  strengthening  both  Howard 
and  Schofield,  and  ordered  the  latter  at  once  to  strike  the 
Macon  railroad  near  Rough-and-Ready.  Meanwhile,  the 
enemy  came  out  from  his  works  at  Jonesboro,  and  attacked 
Howard's  forces,  which  were  now  in  a  good  situation  to  receive 
their  assailants.  The  assault  was  made  by  Hardee's  and  Lee's 
corps.  The  conflict  lasted  for  more  than  two  hours,  when  the 
enemy  withdrew,  leaving  over  400  dead  on  the  field,  and  hav 
ing  about  2,500  wounded.  The  Union  looses  were  compara 
tively  light.  The  movements  ordered  on  the  left  and  center  • 
were  entirely  successful,  and  the  work  of  destruction  was  soon 
going  on  with  vigor,  all  along  the  line.  The  troops  were 
ordered,  in  the  afternoon,  to  concentrate  around  Jonesboro, 
while  Kilpatrick's  cavalry  was  sent  to  attack  or  menace  the  rail 
road  below  that  place.  The  various  corps  having  closed  in  as 
ordered,  Davis  attacked  the  enemy's  lines  about  4  o'clock  in 


614  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  afternoon  of  the  1st  of  September,  charging  across  open 
fields,  and  carrying  the  works  in  a  brilliant  manner.  The 
corps  of  Schofield  and  Stanley  had  been  unable  to  get  up 
until  night  on  account  of  the  difficult  nature  of  the  country  to 
be  traversed,  and  the  enemy  effected  his  escape  southward. 
Pursuit  was  made  next  day  as  far  as  Lovejoy's  Station,  where 
the  Rebel  forces  were  found  in  a  strongly  intrenched  position, 
covering  the  McDonough  and  Fayetteville  road. 

On  the  night  of  September  1st,  Hood  began  the  evacuation 
of  Atlanta,  blowing  up  seven  trains  of  cars,  and  destroying 
other  property.  Gen.  Slocum,  who  had  now  assumed  com 
mand  of  the  Twentieth  Corps,  left  on  the  Chattahoochee,  took 
possession  of  the  place  on  the  2d  of  September.  The  work  of 
destroying  the  railroad  ceased  when  these  facts  became  known 
to  Gen.  Sherman,  and  the  entire  forces  south  of  Atlanta  were 
gradually  withdrawn  to  that  place,  the  grand  objective  point 
of  the  campaign  being  now  gained. 

The  news  of  the  fall  of  Atlanta  gave  exuberant  joy  to  the 
friends  of  the  Government  every-where.  It  created  a  corre 
sponding  depression  among  the  adherents  of  the  "  Confederacy." 
It  was  a  brilliant  triumph,  nobly  earned  by  officers  and  men. 
It  remained  to  be  seen  whether  the  place  could  be  securely 
held,  with  a  single  line  of  communication  so  extended,  to  be 
maintained,  and  with  an  army  of  100,000  men  to  be  sup 
ported.  But  enough  for  the  moment  was  the  delight  of  vic 
tory.  This  was  no  time  to  doubt  that  our  gallant  generals  and 
armies  would  take  care  of  the  rest,  and  turn  the  triumph  to 
good  account. 

The  raid  of  Wheeler's  cavalry,  on  Sherman's  line  of  railroad 
communication  with  Chattanooga,  accomplished  far  less  than 
might  have  been  reasonably  expected.  Care  had  been  taken, 
however,  in  guarding  the  road,  and  in  garrisoning  important 
points ;  and  under  the  efficient  and  skillful  direction  of  Col. 
Wright,  in  charge  of  construction  and  repairs,  the  temporary 
damage  done  at  different  points  was  so  speedily  repaired  as  to 
occasion  no  real  inconvenience  to  the  main  army,  which  con 
tinued  to  be  amply  supplied.  After  breaking  the  road  and 
destroying  property  at  Adairsville  and  Calhoun,  Wheeler,  on 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  615 

the  14th  of  August,  appeared  before  Dalton,  where  there  was 
a  garrison  of  less  than  500  men  under  Col.  Laibold,  and,  after 
surrounding  the  place,  denranded  its  surrender.  The  gallanti 
officer  laconically  replied:  "I  have  been  placed  here  to  defend 
this  post,  and  not  to  surrender  it."  And  he  performed  that 
duty,  withstanding  a  severe  and  long-continued  attack,  in  the 
hope  of  being  reenforced  in  season  to  hold  the  place.  This 
expectation  was  not  disappointed.  Gen.  Steadman  arrived  next 
morning  with  fresh  troops,  and  Wheeler  was  driven  off.  His 
next  movement  was  into  Tennessee,  where  he  appears  ulti 
mately  to  have  met  Forrest,  after  his  capture  of  Athens,  part 
of  the  cooperating  forces  moving  northward,  crossing  the  Hol- 
ston  and  the  Clinch  rivers,  near  Strawberry  Plains  and  Clinton, 
and  going  around  by  the  Sequatchee  Valley,  into  middle 
Tennessee.  Other  raiders  approached  Nashville  at  Lebanon, 
Murfreesboro  and  Franklin.  These  parties,  which  were 
apparently  aiming  to  effect  a  junction  at  Tullahoma,  were  driven 
toward  Florence,  and  finally  out  of  the  State,  by  the  forces 
under  Generals  Rousseau,  Steadman  and  Granger.  Near  Mur 
freesboro,  on  the  1st  of  September,  Rousseau  had  an  engage 
ment  with  the  invading  forces,  driving  them  back  three  miles, 
and  on  the  3d,  they  were  further  chastised.  On  the  4th,  the 
notorious  John  Morgan  was  surprised  and  killed  by  General 
Gillem,  at  Greenville,  in  East  Tennessee,  and  his  forces  cap 
tured  or  dispersed.  On  the  8th,  the  Rebel  Jessie  and  100  of 
his  men  were  captured  at  Ghent,  in  Kentucky.  The  attempts 
to  create  an  invasion  excitement  like  that  which  had  formerly 
led  Gen.  Buell  into  hasty  retreat  were  all  foiled.  Not  a  little 
damage  in  several  localities  was  done  by  guerrilla  parties,  and 
by  the  larger  expeditions  of  Wheeler  and  Forrest,  but  on  the 
general  military  situation,  all  these  affairs  combined  had  no 
perceptable  effect. 

After  the  loss  of  Atlanta,  Hood  withdrew  to  Macon.  Here 
he  was  visited  by  his  chief,  Jefferson  Davis,  who,  appalled  at 
the  disaster  which  had  undoubtedly  been  hastened  by  his 
removal  of  Johnston,  was  eager  to  avert  the  further  misfor 
tunes  impending  in  that  quarter.  The  Governor  of  Georgia, 
on  the  other  hand,  had  almost  immediately  recalled  fifteen 


616  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

thousand  of  the  militia  of  that  State,  in  undisguised  rage  at 
the  central  management  of  military  affairs,  and  in  manifest 
contempt  for  Hood.  Consequent  upon  this  visit  of  Davis  to 
Macon,  a  new  military  scheme  was  entered  upon,  such  as  the 
situation  in  fact  not  unnaturally  invited,  for  compelling  Gen. 
Sherman  to  release  his  hold  upon  Georgia.  This  scheme  was 
simply  that  of  an  aggressive  movement,  in  mass,  upon  the 
communications  of  the  Union  commander,  with  an  invasion  of 
the  territory  in  his  rear.  The  raids  of  Wheeler,  Forrest  and 
other  cavalry  leaders  had  indeed  foreshadowed  this  movement, 
but  merely  as  an  incident,  not  as  the  main  purpose,  of  a  cam 
paign.  And  it  was  quite  another  matter  to  move  the  main 
army  of  infantry  on  so  long  an  expedition,  abandoning  the 
country  in  front  of  the  invading  force. 

Hood's  main  force  was  soon  moved  in  a  westward  direction, 
turning  Sherman's  right,  by  a  circuitous  march.  For  some 
days  following  the  29th  of  September,  telegraphic  and  other 
communication  between  Atlanta  and  Chattanooga  was  inter 
rupted.  The  purpose  of  Hood  was  now  fully  disclosed,  and 
he  proceeded  to  execute  it  with  his  accustomed  vigor.  On  the 
3d  of  October,  Gen.  Sherman,  leaving  Gen.  Slocuin  in  com 
mand  at  Atlanta,  with  only  the  Twentieth  Corps  as  a  garrison, 
re-crossed  the  Chattahoochee  with  the  main  army,  which  was 
provided  with  fifteen  days'  rations.  General  Thomas  was  on 
the  same  day  dispatched  to  Chattanooga.  Hood  gained  pos 
session  of  Big  Shanty  and  Acworth  on  the  5th,  and  destroyed 
several  miles  of  the  railroad.  On  the  6th,  he  appeared  before 
Alatoona,  but  was  repulsed  by  its  brave  garrison  with  severe 
loss.  The  approach  of  Gen.  Sherman  caused  him  to  retire 
from  that  vicinity  on  the  9th,  when  he  fell  back  upon  Cedar- 
town,  some  distance  west  of  Alatoona,  and  south  of  Rome. 
Sherman's  forces  moved  up  the  railroad,  which  was  rapidlj 
repaired,  and  were  concentrated  about  Rome  on  the  12th  of 
the  month.  About  the  same  time  Hood,  having  moved  in 
advance  of  Sherman  on  the  left,  struck  the  railroad  again  at 
Resacca,  which  place  our  forces  reached  on  the  14th.  Hood 
retired  across  Taylor's  Bridge,  obstructing  Snake  Creek  Gap, 
which  was  quickly  again  made  passable  for  the  army  and  trains. 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  617 

On  the  16th,  Sherman  took  possession  of  Shipp's  Gap,  in  the 
same  mountain  range,  capturing  some  Rebel  prisoners.  The 
rear  of  Hood's  army  left  Lafayette  at  daylight  on  the  morning 
of  the  17th,  retiring  south-westwardly  into  a  mountainous  and 
uncultivated  region  of  Alabama,  were  prolonged  pursuit  was 
impracticable.  Our  advance  stopped  at  Gaylesville  in  that 
State.  Hood  had  carefully  avoided  giving  battle,  since  his 
disastrous  repulse  at  Allatoona,  but  had  succeeded  in  destroy 
ing  the  railroad  for  about  twenty  miles  between  Resaca  and 
Tunnel  Hill,  and  for  considerable  distances  at  other  points. 
All  this  damage  was  repaired,  however,  with  remarkable 
rapidity,  and  the  supplies  at  Atlanta  were  ample  for  the  inter 
mediate  period.  On  the  29th,  the  main  portion  of  the  army 
moved  back  toward  Atlanta.  For  several  days,  tke  head 
quarters  remained  at  Kingston,  a  portion  of  the  army  having 
advanced  as  far  as  Marietta  on  the  5th  of  November.  An 
attack  on  the  outposts  of  Atlanta  was  made  by  Rebel  militia 
under  Iverson  on  the  9th,  and  repulsed  by  Gen.  Slocum. 

A  new  campaign  was  announced  in  general  orders  issued  at 
Kingston  on  the  7th  of  November,  and  the  final  preparations 
were  made  for  its  commencement. 

A  well-organized  and  somewhat  formidable  invasion  of  Mis 
souri  was  undertaken  this  season,  under  the  leading  auspices 
of  the  Rebel  Price.  This  was  doubtless  but  a  fragment  of 
a  broken  scheme  of  general  aggressive  warfare,  transferring 
the  seat  of  war  into  the  loyal  States,  which  had  been  devised 
at  Richmond,  and  with  the  execution  of  which  Lieut.-Gen. 
Grant  had  early  and  persistently  interfered.  The  debris  of 
this  grand  plan  could  be  discerned  all  along  the  border  line, 
eastward  and  in  the  center ;  but  in  Missouri  and  the  far  South 
west,  the  parts  assigned  appear  to  have  been  undertaken  sub 
stantially,  as  at  first  intended.  With  such  means  as  could 
reasonably  be  placed  at  his  disposal,  Gen.  Rosecrans  ener 
getically  combatted  the  earlier  guerrilla  movements  in  his 
department,  and  the  later  well-matured  expedition  of  Price. 
Gen.  Curtis,  commanding  in  Kansas,  also  bore  his  part  in 
repelling  a  movement  which  threatened  his  own  district,  as  well 
as  the  Department  of  the  Missouri. 


618  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

The  situation  of  affairs  in  many  parts  of  Missouri  was  indeed 
deplorable,  prior  to  the  operations  under  the  larger  bands  of 
Price  and  Shelby.  In  an  address  to  the  people  of  that  State, 
issued  on  the  28th  of  June,  1864,  Gen.  Rosecrans  said: 
"  With  a  great  and  populous  State,  a  fertile  soil,  vast  mineral 
-wealth,  supplied  with  outlets  by  water  and  railroad,  for  all 
your  productions,  no  actual  war  within  your  borders  for  the 
last  two  years,  and  yet  plundering,  robbery  and  arson,  have 
prevailed  every  where  to  a  certain  extent,  except  at  points 
garrisoned  by  troops,  and  some  few  strictly  loyal  sections  of 
the  State."  Earnestly  appealing  to  the  people  to  unite  with 
him  in  his  efforts  to  put  down  these  disorders,  and  to  respond 
to  the  arrangement  made  with  the  Governor  of  the  State  for 
calling  out  a  portion  of  the  enrolled  militia,  Gen.  Rosecrans 
gave  his  earnest  attention — with  the  best  results,  as  ultimately 
appeared — to  the  difficult  work  before  him.  These  duties 
occupied  the  forces  in  his  Department — the  details  of  their 
operations  being  too  minute  and  disconnected  for  any  summary 
recital — until  the  appearance  of  considerable  invading  forces 
from  across  the  border,  with  the  manifest  purpose  of  attempt 
ing  to  overrun  and  re -conquer  the  State. 

With  a  force  estimated  at  10,000  men,  Price  crossed  the 
White  River  at  Salina,  Arkansas,  on  the  14th  of  September, 
on  his  way  through  the  north-eastern  portion  of  Arkansas 
into  Missouri.  His  advance,  under  Shelby,  reached  the  little 
town  of  Bloomfield,  in  Stoddard  County,  Missouri,  in  the 
south-eastern  corner  of  the  State,  on  the  23d  of  the  month. 
He  appears  to  have  ranged  through  the  country  with  very 
little  opposition,  depredating  and  "  conscripting  "  at  will.  On 
the  26th,  Gen.  Rosecrans  issued  another  stirring  order,  calling 
on  the  people  to  prepare  a  fitting  reception  for  the  invader; 
and  Gov.  Gamble  took  prompt  measures  for  putting  a  militia 
force  in  the  field.  Gen.  Rosecrans  authorized  the  formation 
of  a  Veteran  Brigade  at  St.  Louis,  under  Col.  Laibold  (of 
Dalton  memory)  "  for  the  defense  of  the  city,  and  to  punish 
Price,  Shelby  and  their  companions,  as  well  as  the  traitors  at 
home  who  are  waiting  to  join  them,  and  who  have  aided  and 


LIFE   OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  619 

supplied  them  with  horses,  stolen  from  their  neighbors  during 
the  last  few  weeks,  and  sent  South." 

A  brigade  of  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith's  command,  under  Gen. 
Ewing,  was  sent  out  to  operate  against  Price's  column,  and 
occupied  the  town  of  Pilot-knob  on  the  25th  of  September; 
anticipating  the  movement  of  the  enemy,  who  appeared  before 
that  place  on  the  26th.  Price  proceeded  at  once  to  attack  our 
lines,  but  was  repulsed  in  all  his  attempts,  suffering  serious 
loss.  Swing's  position  was,  however,  subsequently  made 
untenable  by  Price's  occupation  of  Shepherd's  Mountain.  He 
accordingly  blew  up  his  magazine,  and  retired  to  Harrison's 
Station,  where  he  made  a  stand  behind  intrenchments  previ 
ously  erected  by  a  militia  force  that  had  occupied  the  place. 
Price  closely  followed  him,  breaking  the  railroad  on  each  side 
of  Ewing,  and  putting  his  smaller  force  in  imminent  danger. 
But  the  latter  soon  extricated  himself  from  the  enemy's  toils, 
brought  his  command,  with  little  loss,  to  Holla,  which  was  a 
fortified  post  occupied  by  Gen.  McNeil. 

Gen.  Steele,  having  been  reinforced  by  troops  drawn  from 
Memphis  and  other  points,  despatched  a  force  under  .Gen. 
Mower  from  Brownsville,  Arkansas,  on  the  17th  of  Septem 
ber,  in  pursuit  of  Bl-ice.  This  column  reached  Cape  Girardeau 
on  or  about  the  6th  of  October,  without  falling  in  with  any 
hostile  force.  Price,  in  the  meantime,  after  feigning  an 
advance  on  St.  Louis,  where  Gen.  Rosecrans  had  concentrated 
considerable  forces,  moved  off  toward  the  interior  of  the 
State,  threatening  Jefferson  City.  Mower's  forces  speedily 
embarked  on  transports  at  Cape  Girardeau  for  St.  Louis,  and 
from  thence  proceeded  up  the  Missouri  River  to  Jefferson 
City.  Gen.  Rosecrans  left  St.  Louis  for  the  front  on  the  13th 
of  October,  and  took  the  field  in  person  on  the  19th.  The 
various  Union  forces  in  the  State  were  concentrating  about  the 
scene  of  Price's  operations,  Gen.  Curtis  advancing  from  Kan 
sas,  and  Gen.  Pleasanton  leading  the  forces  that  moved  out 
from  St.  Louis,  where  he  had  been  in  command  of  the 
defenses  of  the  city. 

Glasgow,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Missouri  River,  was  taken 
by  the  Rebel  Clark  on  the  15th,  and  a  large  amount  of  prop- 


620  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

erty  destroyed,  while  the  guerrilla  parties  were  active  in  vari 
ous  parts  of  northern  Missouri,  from  which  section  a  large 
number  of  recruits  were  obtained  for  Price.  About  this  time, 
Shelby  crossed  the  river  at  Booneville,  with  2,000  cavalry,  and 
started  on  a  circuit  north  and  west. 

After  remaining  some  time  in  the  vicinity  of  Jefferson  City, 
on  which  he  hesitated  to  make  his  threatened  attack,  Price 
had  retired  westward,  destroying  the  La  Mine  bridge,  on  the 
Pacific  railroad,  and  hovering  about  Booneville,  in  some  of  the 
earlier  days  of  October,  Gen.  Sanborn  harassing  the  enemy's 
flanks  and  rear.  Jeff.  Thompson  defeated  the  militia  garrison 
at  Sedalia,  and  entered  that  town  on  the  16th  of  October. 
Price  got  possession  of  Lexington  on  the  17th.  Curtis  drove 
a  Rebel  force  from  Independence  on  the  16th,  and  advanced 
toward  Lexington,  while  the  forces  of  Rosecrans  moved  rap 
idly  up  from  the  East.  Price  quickly  abandoned  the  latter 
place,  and  fell  back  toward  the  Kansas  border,  sending  off  his 
long  wagon  train  toward  the  South-west,  while  his  raiders  in 
northern  Missouri  re-crossed  the  river.  Price  was  defeated  at 
the  Little  Blue  River,  on  the  22d  of  October,  and  driven  to 
the  Big  Blue.  Shelby  gained  a  temporary  advantage  at  West- 
port,  on  the  23d,  but  was  afterward  beat«,  on  the  same  day, 
by  our  main  army.  On  the  25th,  Price  was  again  attacked,  on 
the  Fort  Scott  road,  and  beaten  with  serious  loss.  Still  more 
decisive  victories  were  gained  over  him  at  Mine  Creek,  on  the 
26th,  when  his  Generals,  Marmaduke  and  Cabell,  were  cap 
tured,  with  a  large  number  of  their  men ;  on  the  27th,  at 
Marais  des  Cygnes  (in  Kansas) ;  and  again  at  Newtonia  on 
the  28th. 

The  invasion  of  Missouri  was  now  at  an  end.  The  residue 
of  Price's  men — including  the  fresh  recruits,  whose  departure 
was  not  disadvantageous  to  the  peace  and  civilized  order  of  the 
State — were  but  too  glad  to  escape  without  a  further  contest. 

With  a  grasp  upon  Georgia  that  could  not  be  shaken  off, 
with  an  utter  dispersion  of  the  invading  expedition  of  Price 
in  Missouri,  with  Mobile  Bay  commanded  by  our  Navy,  and 
with  firm  possession,  despite  occasional  raids,  of  all  the  terri 
tory  thus  far  regained  west  of  the  Alleghany  range,  the  Pre- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  621 

sident,  in  the  early  days  of  November,  looked  with  gladdened 
sight  upon  a  military  situation  portending  a  near  approach  of 
the  end.  With  the  taking  of  Atlanta — as  the  event  has  fully 
proved — all  the  Rebel  territory  between  the  Savannah  and  the 
Mississippi,  embracing  three  of  the  most  important  Gulf  States, 
had  been  practically  conquered  and  reclaimed,  as  the  result  of 
the  season's  work.  Texas  was  long  since  isolated.  Arkansas 
was  still  held  by  Gen.  Steele.  The  Mississippi  river  was  not 
seriously  obstructed  by  the  persistent  attempts  to  interrupt 
navigation  on  its  waters.  Tennessee  could  not  be  wrested  from 
the  firm  hand  of  the  military  Governor,  Andrew  Johnson. 
Practically,  the  area  of  the  Rebellion  was  now  narrowed  to  the 
limits  of  the  Carolinas  and  South-eastern  Virginia,  with  tho 
flash  of  loyal  bayonets  and  the  thunder  of  "  Lincoln  gun 
boats  "  all  along  the  sea-board  of  each. 


622  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Presidental  Canvass  of  1864  concluded. — Spirit  of  the  Opposi 
tion. — The  North-western  Conspiracy. — The  Issue  Concerning  the 
Habeas  Corpus  and  Military  Arrests. — Letters  of  Mr.  Lincoln  on 
these  Subjects. — Efforts  of  the  Rebel  Cabal  in  Canada  to  influence 
the  Election. — The  State  Elections  of  September  and  October. — The 
Voice  of  the  Soldiers.— The  Presidential  Vote. — The  President's 
Gratitude  to  the  Army  and  Navy. — Maryland  a  Free  State. — Mr. 
Lincoln's  Speech  to  Mary  landers. — Cipher  Dispatches,  and  Schemes 
of  the  Canadian  CabaL — Affairs  in  Tennessee. — The  Canvass  in  New 
York. 

THE  actual  opening  of  the  Presidential  canvass  was  marked 
by  the  subsidence  of  all  opposition  to  Mr.  Lincoln  within  the 
Republican  Union  party.  Those  who  had  reluctantly  como 
into  his  support,  did  not  covet  the  position  of  leaders  without 
any  following.  Those  who  had  tested  the  futile  scheme  for 
bringing  about  his  withdrawal,  speedily  learned  that  the  peo 
ple  had  no  inclination  for  such  trifling.  Gen.  Fremont*,  who 
had  begged  an  instantaneous  acceptance  of  his  resignation  as 
a  Major-General,  that  he  might  use  the  more  freedom  in  the 
letter  of  acceptance,  which  he  was  in  haste  to  write,  now  (not 
too  graciously)  recalled  that  acceptance.  Mr.  Chase,  hitherto, 
silently  awaiting  the  turn  of  events,  no  longer  hesitated  to  take 
the  stump  for  Lincoln  and  Johnson.  Radicals  and  Conserva 
tives  heartily  united  in  the  common  cause,  and  all  minor  divi 
sions  were  forgotten. 

The  Democratic  National  Convention,  in  its  platform,  as 
well  as  in  its  nominations,  had  shown  a  singular  misapprehen 
sion  of  the  strong  current  of  loyal  opinion.  It  pronounced 
the  fatal  words,  "  four  years  of  failure  to  restore  the  Union 
by  the  experiment  of  war,"  which  vexed  the  ears  of  the 
heroic  soldiers  and  of  the  faithful  citizens  alike.  More 
untimely  and  infatuated  still,  was  the  "  demand  that  im 
mediate  efforts  be  made  for  the  cessation  of  hostilities,"  at 


LIFE    OF   ABRAIIAM    LINCOLN.  623 

the  moment  when  our  brave  soldiers  were  entering  Atlanta. 
Recreant  leaders  sealed  the  doom  of  their  party  on  the  moment 
of  these  strange  utterances.  Vain  was  McClellan's  attempted 
change  of  base,  in  his  letter  of  acceptance.  Unavailing  was 
Pendleton's  abstinence  of  speech.  There  was  nothing  in  the 
record  of  either,  to  their  misfortune,  that  neutralized  the  effect 
of  these  significant  words. 

If  by  these  grave  mistakes,  the  Opposition  had  thrown  itself 
into  a  hopelessly  defensive  attitude,  scarcely  less  maladroit 
were  its  aggressive  attempts.  Issues  were  raised,  so  transpa 
rently  false,  as  to  offend  the  plainest  common  sense.  Arbitrary 
arrests,  interference  with  liberty  of  speech,  ambitious  despotism, 
and  a  general  infraction  of  the  Constitution,  were  resolutely 
charged  upon  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration.  The  people  were 
told  that  their  rights  were  recklessly  trampled  under  foot.  In 
fact,  the  Chicago  Democratic  platform — in  anti-climatic  eager 
ness — averred  that  "  the  Constitution  itself  has  been  disre 
garded  in  every  part,  and  public  liberty  and  private  right  alike 
trodden  down,  and  the  material  prosperity  of  the  country 
essentially  impaired."  By  a  curious  infelicity,  complaint  was 
iiiade  of  an  alleged  "  direct  interference  of  the  military  author 
ity  of  the  United  States  in  the  recent  elections  held  in  Ken 
tucky,  Maryland,  Missouri,  and  Delaware,"  coupled  with  a 
threat  of  resistance  by  force  of  arms.  Was  it  supposed  that 
the  people  had  so  soon  forgotten  the  military  interference  of 
the  Opposition  candidate,  in  arresting  a  whole  legislature  in 
Maryland,  and  forcibly  preventing  the  intended  steps  toward 
"  secession  "  ?  Or  that  this  action — the  brightest  in  his  career 
— was  heartily  approved  by  public  opinion  throughout  the 
country  ?  To  deny  the  right  of  preventing  the  consummation 
of  plotted  treason,  was  only  to  claim  immunity  for  treason, 
itself.  And  such  was,  throughout,  the  spirit  of  this  platform. 
It  lamented  restraints  upon  the  liberties  of  traitors  and  their 
abettors;  it  arraigned  the  exercise  of  the  war  power,  in  meeting 
a  war  begun  by  rebels;  it  denounced  the  refusal  of  "  the  right 
of  asylum"  to  a  foreign  slave-pirate  ;  it  grew  indignant  at  "the 
employment  of  unusual  test  oaths,"  from  which  no  loyal  nerve 
ever  suffered  a  twingle  ;  and  grieved  over  the  strangely  asserted 


624  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN, 

"  denial  of  the  right  of  the  people  to  bear  arms  " — meaning 
the  refusal  of  permission  to  a  secret  order  of  conspirators  in 
Indiana,  and  elsewhere,  which  had  already  been  exposed,  to 
arm  and  organize  in  private  for  the  direct  cooperation  with  tho 
Southern  Rebel  forces.* 

It  is  not  surprising  that  Thompson  and  Sanders,  those  arch 
Rebels  "  in  the  confidential  employment "  of  Jefferson  Davis 
in  Canada,  promptly  telegraphed  their  agent  in  Halifax,  on 
the  conclusion  of  this  Chicago  conclave,  in  the  following  terms: 
"Platform  and  Vice  President  satisfactory;  speeches  very  sat 
isfactory."  Subsequent  disclosures  throw  a  lurid  glare  over 
these  historic  words.  Humiliating  enough  it  certainly  was, 
for  men  not  utterly  lost  to  all  sense  of  loyalty,  and  to  all  love 
of  country,  to  receive  such  an  indorsement  from  known 
traitors  ;  but  from  traitors  plotting  the  unparalleled  iniquities 
which  time  was  erelong  to  reveal,  what  could  be  more  lastingly 
iniquitous  than  this  approbation  ?  In  this  view,  some  of  the 
"  very  satisfactory  "  speeches  become  too  strangely  significant 
to  be  passed  over  as  they  might  otherwise  deserve.  Tho 
reports  to  be  quoted  from  appeared  in  the  Chicago  Times,  a 
party  organ  of  the  opposition,  and  the  speeches  were  made  by 
delegates,  either  actually  in  the  Convention,  or  at  popular 
meetings  outside,  on  that  occasion. 

A  delegate — certainly  not  a  "  Senator  "  in  Congress,  as  the 
reporter  intfciated ;  can  it  have  been  the  identical  Samuel  S. 
Cox,  of  Ohio,  who,  two  years  before,  when  greatly  in  need  of 
Republican  votes  to  secure  his  election  to  Congress,  called  on 
his  auditors  in  a  strongly  loyal  county  to  give  "three  cheers 
for  Abraham  Lincoln "?  A  delegate  to  the  Chicago  Demo 
cratic  National  Convention  was  thus  reported  by  the  party  organ 
on  that  occasion : 

Senator  Cox  being  introduced,  said  he  did  not  want  to  use 
any  harsh  language  toward  Old  Abe  [cries  of  "give  it  to 
him"].  He  had  attempted  in  his  own  city,  a  few  weeks  since, 
to  show,  in  a  very  quiet  way,  that  Abraham  Lincoln  had 
deluged  the  country  with  blood,  created  a  debt  of  four  thou- 

*  For  the  Chicago  Democratic  Platform,  entire,  see  page  578. 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  625 

Band   millions  of  dollars,   sacrificed  two  millions  of  human 
lives,  and  filled  the  land  with  grief  and  mourning. 

For  less  offenses  than  Mr.  Lincoln,  had  been  guilty  of,  the 
English  people  had  chopped  off  the  head  of  the  first  Charles. 
In  his  opinion,  Lincoln  and  Davis  ought  to  be  brought  to  the 
same  block  together.  The  other  day  they  arrested  a  friend  of 
his,  a  member  of  Congress  from  Missouri,  for  saying,  in  pri 
vate  conversation,  that  Lincoln  was  no  better  than  JeiGf.  Davis, 
lie  was  ready  to  say  the  same  here  now  in  Chicago. 

Another  Democratic  orator  and  delegate,  H.  Clay  Dean,  of 
Iowa,  is  represented  as  follows  in  the  same  journal's  report : 

He  said  in  the  presence  of  the  force  of  Camp  Douglas,  and 
all  the  Batraps  of  Lincoln,  that  the  American  people  were 
ruled  by  felons.  Lincoln  had  never  turned  a  dishonest  man 
out  of  office  or  kept  an  honest  one  in.  [A  voice — "  What 
have  you  to  say  of  Jeff.  Davis?"]  I  have  nothing  to  say  about 
him.  Lincoln  is  engaged  in  a  controversy  with  him,  and  I 
never  interfere  between  black  dogs.  *  *  *  * 

And  still  the  monster  usurper  wanted  more  men  for  his 
slaughter-pens.  [Loud  cries  of  "  he  shan't  have  more."] 
The  careful  husbandman,  in  deadening  the  forest,  was  always 
careful  in  preserving  the  young  growth  of  timber  ;  and  in 
selecting  his  swine  for  the  slaughter,  he  preserved  the  younger 
ones  for  future  use.  But  the  tyrant  and  despot  who  ruled  this 
people  to  destruction  paid  no  regard  to  age  or  condition.  He 
desired  to  double  the  widowhood  and  duplicate  the  orphans. 
He  blushed  that  such  a  felon  should  occupy  the  highest  place 
in  the  gift  of  the  people.  Perjury  and  larceny  were  written 
over  him  as  often  as  was  "one  dollar  "  on  the  one  dollar  bills 
of  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Indiana.  [Cries  of  "  the  old 
villain."] 

Eccr  since  the  usurper,  traitor  and  tyrant  had  occupied  the 
Presidential  chair,  the  Republican  party  had  shouted  war  to 
the  knife,  and  the  knife  to  the  hilt.  Blood  had  flowed  in  tor 
rents,  and  yet  the  thirst  of  the  old  monster  was  not  quenched. 
His  cry  was  for  more  blood. 

A  delegate  named  Benjamin  Allen,  of  New  York,  is  reported 
in  the  same  journal,  to  have  said  : 

The  people  will  soon  rise,  and  if  they  can  not  put  Lincoln 
out  of  power  by  the  ballot  they  will  by  the  bullet.  [Loud 
cheers.] 

40 


626  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

These  examples  will  suffice  to  show  the  spirit  of  the 
speeches  made  at  the  Chicago  Democratic  Convention,  which 
were  so  "  very  satisfactory"  to  the  men  "  in  the  confidential 
employment"  of  the  "  Confederate  Government."  Such  was, 
to  a  great  extent,  the  character  of  the  opposition  made  to  Mr. 
Lincoln,  during  the  canvass  of  1864.  That  "  Confederate" 
funds  were  used  in  sustaining  the  secret  organization  which  so 
largely  influenced  this  convention,  or  that  these  conspirators 
were  in  constant  communication  and  full  accord  with  those 
malignants  who  were  already  hatching  their  terrible  brood  of 
crimes,  across  the  Canada  border,  has  since  been  placed  beyond 
reasonable  doubt. 

The  exposure  of  the  "  privy  conspiracy  and  rebellion  "  in 
Indiana,  and  the  trial  of  some  of  the  leaders  concerned 
therein,  was  not  without  effect  upon  the  canvass.  At  first 
incredulous,  the  whole  country  was  speedily  startled  by  damn 
ing  proofs  of  the  reality  of  this  treasonable  secret  order,  and 
of  the  existence  of  designs  even  more  reckless  and  wicked 
than  were  originally  surmised.  In  an  elaborate  report,  made 
on  the  8th  of  October,  Judge  Advocate  General  Holt  stated  at 
length  the  purposes  of  this  infamous  order,  as  thus  far  shown 
by  undoubted  testimony,  under  the  following  heads  : 

1.  Aiding  soldiers  to  desert,  and  harboring  and  protecting 
deserters. 

2.  Discouraging  enlistments,  and  resisting  the  draft. 

3.  Circulation  of  disloyal  and  treasonable  publications. 

4.  Communicating   with    and    giving    intelligence    to    the 
enemy. 

5.  Aiding   the  enemy  by  recruiting  for  them,  or  assisting 
them  to  recruit,  within  our  lines.  \ 

6.  Furnishing  the  Rebels  with  arms,  ammunition,  etc. 

7.  Co-operating  with  the  enemy  in  raids  and  invasions. 

8.  Destruction  of  Government  property. 

9.  Destruction    of    private    property    and    persecution    of 
Union  men. 

10.  Assassination  and  murder. 

11.  Establishment  of  a  North-western  Confederacy. 
in  concluding  his  report,  Judge  Holt  said; 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  627 

But,  although  the  treason  of  the  Order  has  heen  thoroughly- 
exposed,  and  although  its  capacity  for  fatal  mischief  has,  by 
tneans  of  the  arrest  of  its  leaders,  the  seizure  of  its  arms,  and 
the  other  vigorous  means  which  have  been  pursued,  been  seri 
ously  impaired,  it  is  still  busied  with  its  secret  plottings  against 
the  Government,  and  with  its  perfidious  designs  in  aid  of  the 
Southern  rebellion.  It  is  reported  to  have  recently  issued  new 
signs  and  passwords,  and  its  members  assert  that  foul  means 
will  be  used  to  prevent  the  success  o.f  the  Administration  at 
the  coming  election,  and  threaten  an  extended  revolt  in  the 
event  of  the  reflection  of  President  Lincoln. 

In  the  presence  of  the  rebellion  and  this  secret  Order — 
which  is  but  its  echo  and  faithful  ally — we  can  not  but  be 
amazed  at  the  utter  and  wide-spread  profligacy,  personal  and 
political,  which  these  movements  against  the  Government  dis 
close.  The  guilty  men  engaged  in  them,  after  casting  aside 
their  allegiance,  seem  to  have  trodden  under  foot  every  senti 
ment  of  honor  and  every  restraint  of  law,  human  and  Divine. 
Judea  produced  but  one  Judas  Iscariot,  and  Rome,  from  the 
ginks  of  her  demoralization,  produced  but  one  Cataline,  and 
yet,  as  events  prove,  there  has  arisen  together  in  our  land  an 
entire  brood  of  such  traitors,  all  animated  by  the  same  parri 
cidal  spirit,  and  all  struggling  with  the  same  relentless  malig 
nity  for  the  dismemberment  of  our  Union.  Of  this  extraor 
dinary  phenomenon — not  paralleled,  it  is  believed,  in  the 
world's  history — there  can  be  but  one  explanation,  and  all 
these  blackened  and  fetid  streams  of  crime  may  well  be  traced 
to  the  same  common  fountain.  So  fiercely  intolerant  and 
imperious  was  the  temper  engendered  by  slavery,  that  when 
the  Southern  people,  after  having  controlled  the  national  coun 
cils  for  half  a  century,  were  beaten  at  an  election,  their  leaders 
turned  upon  the  Government  with  the  insolent  fury  with  which 
they  would  have  drawL.  their  revolvers  on  a  rebellious  slave  in 
one  of  their  negro  quarters  ;  and  they  have  continued  since  to 
prosecute  their  warfare,  amid  all  the  barbarisms  and  atrocities 
naturally  and  necessarily  inspired  by  the  infernal  institution  in 
whose  interests  they  are  sacrificing  alike  themselves  and  their 
country.  Many  of  these  conspirators,  as  is  well  known,  were 
fed,  clothed,  and  educated  at  the  expense  of  the  nation,  and 
were  loaded  with  its  honors  at  the  very  moment  they  struck  at 
its  life  with  the  horrid  criminality  of  a  son  stabbing  the 
bosom  of  his  own  mother  while  impressing  kisses  on  hia 
cheeks.  The  leaders  of  the  traitors  in  the  loyal  States,  who 
so  completely  fraternize  with  these  conspirators,  and  whose 
machinations  are  now  unmasked,  it  is  as  clearly  the  duty  of 
the  Administration  to  prosecute  and  punish,  as  it  is  its  duty  to 


628 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


subjugate  the  Rebels  who  are  openly  in  arms  against  the  Gov 
ernment.  In  the  performance  of  this  duty,  it  is  entitled  to 
expect,  and  will  doubtless  receive,  the  zealous  cooperation  of 
true  men  everywhere,  who,  in  crushing  the  truculent  foo 
ambushed  in  the  haunts  of  this  secret  Order,  should  rival  in 
courage  and  faithfulness  the  armies  which  are  so  nobly  sus 
taining  our  flag  on  the  battle-fields  of  the  South. 

The  deadly  spirit  of  hatred  to  the  Government,  and  of 
affinity  with  treason,  thus  forcibly  and  truthfully  described, 
had  been  more  or  less  exhibited  in  the  North  from  the  begin 
ning  of  the  rebellion.  Vallandigham,  fitly  chosen  as  the  head 
of  this  organization,  had  defiantly  affirmed,  before  war  actually 
began,  that  he  would  resist  any  attempt  to  coerce  the  Sece- 
ders — that  any  armed  force  going  from  his  district  to  subju 
gate  the  South  should  "march  over  his  dead  body  "  before 
they  left  the  State.*  His  conduct  was  accordant  with  this  pro 
mise  of  aid  to  the  Rebel  cause.  In  the  course  of  his  efforts 
of  this  nature,  as  mentioned  in  previous  pages,  he  had  been 
arrested,  subjected  to  a  military  trial,  refused  a  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  on  appeal  to  the  civil  courts,  and  sent  through  the 
lines  of  the  Rebel  army.  Escaping  on  a  blockade-runner, 
he  had  arrived  in  Canada,  somewhat  in  advance  of  Thompson, 
Clay  and  Sanders.  From  thence  he  escaped  in  the  summer  of 
1864,  after  the  latter  traitors  "  in  the  confidential  employ 
ment "  of  the  Richmond  "government"  had  become  fully 
installed  at  Montreal,  Niagara  Falls,  and  Toronto. 

It  was  in  behalf  of  this  Vallandigham  and  such  precious 
patriots  as  he,  that  the  great  outcry  concerning  arbitrary  arrests 
and  the  suspension  of  the  habeas  corpus  was  made.  In  May, 
1863,  a  "Democratic  "  meeting  held  at  Albany,  had  seen  fit  to 
pass  resolutions  on  this  subject,  and  to  inclose  them  to  Presi 
dent  Lincoln.  His  reply  is  an  exhaustive  one,  and  may  fitly 
be  reproduced  here,  as  a  masterly  and  unanswerable  vindication 
of  the  Administration  from  every  assault  of  this  character,  no 
less  than  as  a  clear  exposition  of  constitutional  law  that  will 
have  a  lasting  remembrance  and  authority. 

*  This  statement  is  made  on  evidence  which  the  writer  had  at  the 
Very  time,  and  which,  despite  a  subsequent  denial,  was  definitely 
proved  bjr  witnesses  of  unquestioned,  veracity. 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  629 

LETTER  FROM  THE  PRESIDENT  TO  HON.  ERASTU8  COBNINQ  AND 

OTHERS. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         \ 
WASHINGTON,  June  13,  18G3.    } 

HON..  ERASTUS  CORNING  and  others — Gentlemen:  Your 
letter  of  May  19th,  inclosing  the  resolutions  of  a  public  meet 
ing  held  at  Albany,  New  York,  on  the  IGth  of  the  same  month, 
•was  received  several  days  ago. 

The  resolutions,  as  I  understand  tfiem,  are  resolvable  into 
two  propositions — first,  the  expression  of  a  purpose  to  sustain 
the  cause  of  the  Union,  to  secure  peace  through  victory,  and 
to  support  the  Administration  in  every  constitutional  and  law 
ful  measure  to  suppress  the  rebellion  ;  and,  secondly,  a  decla 
ration  of  censure  upon  the  Administration  for  supposed  uncon 
stitutional  action,  such  as  the  making  of  military  arrests.  And 
frorn  the  two  propositions  a  third  is  deduced,  which  is,  that  the 
gentlemen  composing  the  meeting  are  resolved  on  doin^  their 
part  to  maintain  our  common  Government  and  country,  despite 
the  folly  or  wickedness,  as  they  may  conceive,  of  any  Adminis 
tration.  This  position  is  eminently  patriotic,  and  as  such  I 
thank  the  meeting  and  congratulate  the  nation  for  it.  My  own 
purpose  is  the  same,  so  that  the  meeting  and  myself  have  a 
common  object,  and  can  have  no  difference,  except  in  the  choice 
of  means  or  measures  for  effecting  that  object. 

And  here  I  ought  to  close  this  paper,  and  would  close  it,  if 
there  were  no  apprehension  that  more  injurious  consequences 
than  any  merely  personal  to  myself  might  follow  the  censures 
systematically  cast  upon  me  for  doing  what,  in  my  view  of  duty, 
I  could  not  forbear.  The  resolutions  promise  to  support  me  iu 
every  constitutional  and  lawful  measure  to  suppress  the  rebel 
lion,  and  I  have  not  knowingly  employed,  nor  shall  knowingly 
employ  any  other.  But  the  meeting,  by  their  resolutions, 
assert  and  argue  that  certain  military  arrests,  and  proceedings 
following  them,  for  which  I  am  ultimately  responsible,  are  un 
constitutional.  I  think  they  are  not.  The  resolutions  quote 
from  the  Constitution  the  definition  of  treason,  and  also  the 
limiting  safeguards  and  guarantees  therein  provided  for  the 
citizen  on  trial  for  treason,  and  on  his  being  held  to  answer  for 
capital,  or  otherwise  infamous  crimes,  and  in  criminal  prosecu 
tions,  his  right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  an  impartial 
jury.  They  proceed  to  resolve,  "  that  these  safeguards  of  the 
rights  of  the  citizen  against  the  pretensions  of  arbitrary  power 
were  intended  more  especially^  for  his  protection  in  timea  of 
civil  commotion." 

And,  apparently  to  demonstrate  the  proposition,  the  resoltt- 


630  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

tions  proceed  :  "  They  were  secured  substantially  to  the  Eng 
lish  people  after  years  of  protracted  civil  war,  and  were  adopted 
into  our  Constitution  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution."  Would 
not  the  demonstration  have  heen  better  if  it  could  have  been 
truly  said  that  these  safeguards  had  been  adopted  and  applied 
during  the  civil  wars  and  during  our  Revolution,  instead  of 
after  the  one  and  at  the  close  of  the  other  ?  I,  too,  am  de 
votedly  for  them  after  civil  war,  and  before  civil  war,  and  at 
all  times,  "  except  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion, 
the  public  safety  may  require  "  their  suspension.  The  resolu 
tions  proceed  to  tell  us  that  these  safeguards  "  have  stood  the 
test  of  seventy-six  years  of  trial,  under  our  republican  system, 
under  circumstances  which  show  that,  while  they  constitute  the 
foundation  of  all  free  government,  they  arc  the  elements  of  the 
enduring  stability  of  the  Republic."  No  one  denies  that  they 
have  so  stood  the  test  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  present  re 
bellion,  if  we  except  a  certain  occurrence  at  New  Orleans;  nor 
does  any  one  question  that  they  will  stand  the  same  test  much 
longer  after  the  rebellion  closes.  But  these  provisions  of  the 
Constitution  have  no  application  to  the  case  we  have  in  hand, 
because  the  arrests  complained  of  were  not  made  for  treason — 
that  is,  not  for  the  treason  defined  in  the  Constitution,  and 
upon  conviction  of  which  the  punishment  is  death — nor  yet 
were  they  made  to  hold  persons  to  answer  for  any  capital  or 
otherwise  infamous  crimes  ;  nor  were  the  proceedings  following, 
in  any  constitutional  or  legal  sense,  "  criminal  prosecutions." 
The  arrests  were  made  on  totally  different  grounds,  and  the 
proceedings  following  accorded  with  the  grounds  of  the  arrest. 
Let  us  consider  the  real  case  with  which  we  are  dealing,  and 
apply  to  it  the  parts  of  the  Constitution  plainly  made  for  such 
cases. 

Prior  to  my  installation  here,  it  had  been  inculcated  that 
any  State  had  a  lawful  right  to  secede  from  the  National  Union, 
and  that  it  would  be  expedient  to  exercise  the  right  whenever 
the  devotees  of  the  doctrine  should  fail  to  elect  a  President  to 
their  own  liking.  I  was  elected  contrary  to  their  liking,  and 
accordingly,  so  far  as  it  was  legally  possible,  they  had  taken 
seven  States  out  of  the  Union,  and  had  seized  many  of  the 
United  States  forts,  and  had  fired  upon  the  United  States  flag, 
all  before  I  was  inaugurated,  and,  of  course,  before  I  had  done 
any  official  act  whatever.  The  rebellion  thus  began,  soon  ran 
into  the  present  civil  war ;  and,  in  certain  respects,  it  began  on 
very  unequal  terms  between  the  parties.  The  insurgents  had 
been  preparing  for  it  more  than  thirty  years,  while  the  Govern 
ment  had  taken  no  steps  to  resist  them.  The  former  had  care 
fully  considered  all  the  means  which  could,  be  turned  to  tLeii 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  631 

account.  It  undoubtedly  was  a  well-pondered  reliance  with 
1  them  that,  in  their  own  unrestricted  efforts  to  destroy  Union, 
Constitution,  and  law  altogether,  the  Government  would,  iu 
great  degree,  be  restrained  by  the  same  Constitution  and  law 
from  arresting  their  progress.  Their  sympathizers  pervaded 
all  departments  of  the  Government,  and  nearly  all  communities 
of  the  people.  From  this  material,  under  cover  of  "  liberty 
of  speech,"  "liberty  of  the  press,"  and  "habeas  corpus,"  they 
hoped  to  keep  ou  foot  among  us  a  most  efficient  corps  of  spies, 
informers,  suppliers,  and  aiders  and  abettors  of  their  cause  in 
a  thousand  ways.  They  knew  that  in  times  such  as  they  were 
inaugurating,  by  the  Constitution  itself,  the  "  habeas  corpus  " 
might  be  suspended  ;  but  they  also  knew  they  had  friends  who 
would  make  a  question  as  to  who  was  to  suspend  it ;  mean- 
vrhile,  their  spies  and  others  might  remain  at  large  to  help  on 
their  cause.  Or  if,  as  has  happened,  the  Executive  should 
suspend  the  writ,  without  ruinous  waste  of  time,  instances  of 
arresting  innocent  persons  might  occur,  as  are  always  likely  to 
occur  in  such  cases,  and  then  a  clamor  could  be  raised  in  regard 
to  this  which  might  be,  at  least,  of  some  service  to  the  insur 
gent  cause.  It  needed  no  very  keen  perception  to  discover  this 
part  -of  the  enemy's  programme,  so  soon  as,  by  open  hostilities, 
their  machinery  was  put  fairly  in  motion.  Yet,  thoroughly 
imbued  with  a  reverence  for  the  guarranteed  rights  of  individ 
uals,  I  was  slow  to  adopt  the  strong  measures  which  by  degrees 
I  have  been  forced  to  regard  as  being  within  the  exceptions  of 
the  Constitution,  and  as  indispensable  to  the  public  safety. 
Nothing  is  better  known  to  history  than  that  courts  of  justice 
are  utterly  incompetent  in  such  cases.  Civil  courts  are  organ 
ized  chiefly  for  trials  of  individuals,  or  at  most,  a  few  individ 
uals  acting  in  concert,  and  this  in  quiet  times,  and  on  charges 
of  crimes  well-defined  in  the  law.  Even  in  times  of  peace, 
bands  of  horse -thieves  and  robbers  frequently  grow  too  numer 
ous  and  powerful  for  the  ordinary  courts  of  justice.  But  what 
comparison,  in  numbers,  have  such  bands  ever  borne  to  the 
insurgent  sympathizers  even  iri  many  of  the  loyal  States? 
Again,  a  jury  too  frequently  has  at  least  one  member  inoro 
ready  to  hang  the  panel  than  to  hang  the  traitor.  And  yet, 
again,  he  who  dissuades  one  man  from  volunteering,  or  induces 
one  soldier  to  desert,  weakens  the  Union  cause  as  much  as  he 
who  kills  a  Union  soldier  in  battle.  Yet  this  dissuasion  or 
inducement  may  be  so  conducted  as  to  be  no  defined  crime  of 
which  any  civil  court  would  take  cognizance. 

Ours  is  a  case  of  rebellion — so  called  by  the  resolutions 
before  me — in  fact  a  clear,  fragrant  and  gigantic  case  of  rebel 
lion  •  and  the  provision  of  the  Constitution  that  "  the  privilege 


632  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  the  "Writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended  unless 
•vrhen,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may 
require  it,"  is  the  provision  which  specially  applies  to  our  pres 
ent  case.  This  provision  plainly  attests  the  understanding  of 
those  who  made  the  Constitution,  that  ordinary  courts  of 
justice  are  inadequate  to  "  cases  of  rebellion  " — attests  their 
purpose  that,  in  such  cases,  men  may  be  held  in  custody 
whom  the  courts,  acting  on  ordinary  rules,  would  discharge. 
Habeas  corpus  does  not  discharge  men  who  are  proved  to  be 
guilty  of  defined  crime;  and  its  suspension  is  allowed  by  the 
Constitution  on  purpose  that  men  may  be  arrested  and  held 
who  can  not  be  proved  to  be  guilty  of  defined  crime,  "when,  in 
cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may  require 
it."  This  is  precisely  our  present  case — a  case  of  rebellion, 
wherein  the  public  safety  does  require  the  suspension.  Indeed, 
arrests  by  process  of  courts,  and  arrests  in  cases  of  rebellion, 
do  not  proceed  altogether  upon  the  same  basis.  The  former 
is  directed  at  the  small  percentage  of  ordinary  and  continuous 
perpetration  of  crime ;  while  the  latter  is  directed  at  sudden 
and  extensive  uprisings  against  the  Government,  which  at 
most  will  succeed  or  fail  in  no  great  length  of  time.  In  the 
latter  case  arrests  are  made,  not  so  much  for  what  has  been 
done  as  for  what  probably  would  be  done.  The  latter  is  more 
for  the  preventive  and  less  for  the  vindictive  than  the  former. 
In  such  cases  the  purposes  of  men  are  much  more  easily 
understood  than  in  case?  of  ordinary  crime.  The  man  who 
stands  by  and  says  nothing  when  the  peril  of  his  Government 
is  discussed,  can  not  be  misunderstood.  If  not  hindered, 
he  is  sure  to  help  the  enemy  j  much  more^  if  he  talks  ambig- 
ously — talks  for  his  country  with  "  buts,"  and  "  ifs "  and 
"  ands."  Of  how  little  value  the  constitutional  provisions  I 
have  quoted  will  be  rendered,  if  arrests  shall  never  be  made 
until  defined  crimes  shall  have  been  committed,  may  be  illus 
trated  by  a  few  notable  examples.  Gen.  John  C.  Breckin- 
ridge,  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee,  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  Gen. 
John  B.  Magruder,  Gen.  William  B.  Preston,  Gen.  Simon  B. 
Buckner,  and  Commodore  Franklin  Buchanan,  now  occupying 
the  very  highest  places  in  the  rebel  war  service,  were  all  within 
the  power  of  the  Government  since  the  rebellion  began,  and 
were  nearly  as  well  known  to  the  traitors  then  as  now.  Un 
questionably,  if  we  had  siczed  and  held  them,  the  insurgent 
cause  would  be  much  weaker.  But  no  one  of  them  had  then 
committed  any  crime  defined  by  law.  Every  one  of  them,  if 
arrested,  would  have  been  discharged  on  habeas  corpus,  were 
the  writ  allowed  to  operate.  lu  view  of  these,  and  similar 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  633 

cases,  I  think  the  time  not  unlikely  to  come  when  I  shall  be 
blamed  for  having  made  too  few  arrests  rather  than  too  many. 
By  the  third  resolution,  the  meeting  indicate  their  opinion 
that  military  arrests  may  be  constitutional  in  localities  where 
rebellion  actually  exists,  but  that  such  arrests  are  unconstitu 
tional  in  localities  where  rebellion  or  insurrection  does  not  act 
ually  exist.  They  insist  that  such  arrests  shall  not  be  mado 
"  outside  of  the  lines  of  necessary  military  occupation  and  the 
scenes  of  insurrection."  Inasmuch,  however,  as  the  Constitu 
tion  itself  makes  no  such  distinction,  I  am  unable  to  believe 
that  there  is  any  such  constitutional  distinction,  I  concede  that 
the  class  of  arrests  complained  of  can  be  constitutional  only 
when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may 
require  them  ;  and  I  insist  that  in  such  cases  they  are  constitu 
tional  wherever  the  public  safety  does  require  them;  as  well  in 
places  to  which  they  may  prevent  the  rebellion  extending,  as 
in  those  where  it  may  be  already  prevailing,  as  well  where 
they  may  restrain  mischievous  interference  with  the  raising  and 
supplying  of  armies  to  suppress  the  rebellion,  as  where  the 
rebellion  may  actually  be  ;  as  well  where  they  may  restrain  the 
enticing  men  out  of  the  army,  as  where  they  would  prevent 
mutiny  in  the  army ;  equally  constitutional  at  all  places  where 
they  will  conduce  to  the  public  safety,  as  against  the  dangers 
of  rebellion  or  invasion.  Take  the  particular  case  mentioned 
by  the  meeting.  It  is  asserted,  in  substance,  that  Mr.  Vallau- 
digham  was,  by  a  military  commander,  siezed  and  tried  "for  no 
other  reason  than  words  addressed  to  a  public  meeting,  in  criti 
cism  of  the  course  of  the  Administration,  and  in  condemnation 
of  the  military  orders  of  the  general."  Now,  if  there  be  no 
mistake  about  this — if  this  assertion  is  the  truth  and  the  whole 
truth — if  there  was  no  other  reason  for  the  arrest,  then  I  con 
cede  that  the  arrest  was  wrong.  But  the  arrest,  as  I  under 
stand,  was  made  for  a  very  different  reason.  Mr.  Vallandigham 
avows  his  hostility  to  the  war  on  the  part  of  the  Union  ;  and 
his  arrest  was  made  because  he  was  laboring,  with  some  effect, 
to  prevent  the  raising  of  troops ;  to  encourage  desertion  from 
the  army,  and  to  leave  the  rebellion  without  an  adequate  mili 
tary  force  to  suppress  it.  He  was  not  arrested  because  he  was 
damaging  the  political  prospects  of  the  Administration,  or  the 
personal  interests  of  the  commanding  general,  but  because  he 
was  damaging  the  army,  upon  the  existence  and  vigor  of  which 
the  life  of  the  nation  depends.  He  was  warring  upon  the  mili 
tary,  and  this  gave  the  military  constitutional  jurisdiction  to 
lay  hands  upon  him.  If  Mr.  Vallandigham  was  not  damaging 
the  military  power  of  the  country,  then  Ms  arrest  was  made  oa 


634  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

mistake  of  fact,  which  I  would  be  glad  to  correct  on  reason 
ably  satisfactory  evidence. 

I  understand  the  meeting  whose  resolutions  I  am  considering 
to  be  in  favor  of  suppressing  the  rebellion  by  military  force — 
by  armies.  Long  experience  has  shown  that  armies  can  not  be 
maintained  unless  desertions  shall  be  punished  by  the  severe 
penalty  of  death.  The  case  requires,  and  the  law  and  the  Con 
stitution  sanction,  this  punishment.  Must  I  shoot  a  simple- 
minded  soldier  boy  who  deserts,  while  I  must  not  touch  a  hair 
of  a  wily  agitator  who  induces  him  to  desert  ?  This  is  none  the 
less  injurious  when  effected  by  getting  a  father,  or  brother,  or 
friend,  into  a  public  meeting,  and  there  working  upon  his  feel 
ings  till  he  is  persuaded  to  write  the  soldier  boy  that  he  is  fight 
ing  in  a  bad  cause,  for  a  wicked  Administration  of  a  contempt 
ible  Government,  too  weak  to  arrest  and  punish  him  if  he  shall 
desert.  I  think  that  in  such  a  case  to  silence  the  agitator  and 
save  the  boy  is  not  only  constitutional,  but  withal  a  great  mercy. 

If  I  be  wrong  on  this  question  of  constitutional  power,  my 
error  lies  in  believing  that  certain  proceedings  are  constitu 
tional  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety 
requires  them,  which  would  not  be  constitutional  when,  in  the 
absence  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  does  not 
require  them ;  in  other  words,  that  the  Constitution  is  not,  in 
its  application,  in  all  respects  the  same — in  cases  of  rebellion 
or  invasion  involving  the  public  safety,  as  it  is  in  time  of  pro 
found  peace  and  public  security.  The  Constitution  itself  makes 
the  distinction  ;  and  I  can  no  more  be  persuaded  that  the  Gov 
ernment  can  constitutionally  take  no  strong  measures  in  time 
of  rebellion,  because  it  can  be  shown  that  the  same  could  not 
be  lawfully  taken  in  time  of  peace,  than  I  can  be  persuaded 
that  a  particular  drug  is  not  good  medicine  for  a  sick  man, 
because  it  can  be  shown  not  to  be  good  food  for  a  well  one. 
Nor  am  I  able  to  appreciate  the  danger  apprehended  by  tho 
meeting,  that  the  American  people  will,  by  means  of  military 
arrests  during  the  rebellion,  lose  the  right  of  public  discussion, 
the  liberty  of  speech  and  the  press,  the  law  of  evidence,  trial 
by  jury,  and  habeas  corpus,  throughout  the  indefinite  peaceful 
future,  which  I  trust  lies  before  them,  any  more  than  I  am  able 
to  believe  that  a  man  could  contract  so  strong  an  appetite  for 
emetics,  during  temporary  illness,  as  to  persist  in  feeding  upon 
them  during  the  remainder  of  his  healthful  life. 

In  giving  the  resolutions  that  earnest  consideration  which 
you  request  of  me,  I  can  not  overlook  the  fact  that  the  meeting 
speak  as  "Democrats."  Nor  can  I,  with  full  respect  for  their 
known  intelligence,  and  the  fairly  presumed  deliberation  with 
which  they  prepared  their  resolutions,  be  permitted  to  suppose 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  635 

that  this  occurred  by  accident,  or  in  any  way  other  than  that 
they  preferred  to  designate  themselves  "Democrats"  rather 
than  "American  Citizens."  In  this  time  of  National  peril,  I 
would  have  preferred  to  meet  you  on  a  levtl  one  step  higher 
than  any  party  platform  ;  because  I  am  sure  that,  from  such 
more  elevated  position,  we  could  do  better  battle  for  the  coun 
try  we  all  love,  than  we  possibly  can  from  those  lower  ones 
where,  from  the  force  of  habit,  the  prejudices  of  the  past,  and 
selfish  hopes  of  the  future,  we  are  sure  to  expend  much  of  our 
ingenuity  and  strength  in  finding  fault  with  and  aiming  blow3 
at  each  other.  But,  since  you  have  denied  me  this,  I  will  yet 
be  thankful,  for  the  country's  sake,  that  not  all  Democrats  have 
done  so.  He  on  whose  discretionary  judgment  Mr.  Vallandig- 
ham  was  arrested  and  tried  is  a  Democrat,  having  no  old  party 
affinity  with  me  ;  and  the  judge  who  rejected  the  constitutional 
view  expressed  in  these  resolutions,  by  refusing  to  discharge 
Mr.  Vallandigham  on  habeas  corpus,  is  a  Democrat  of  better 
days  than  these,  having  received  his  judicial  mantle  at  the 
hands  of  President  Jackson.  And  still  more,  of  all  those 
Democrats  who  are  nobly  exposing  their  lives  and  shedding 
their  blood  on  the  battle-field,  I  have  learned  that  many 
approve  the  course  taken  with  Mr.  Yallandigham,  while  I  have 
not  heard  of  a  single  one  condemning  it.  I  can  not  assert  that 
there  are  none  such. 

And  the  name  of  Jackson  recalls  an  incident  of  pertinent 
history  :  After  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  and  while  the  fact 
that  the  treaty  of  peace  had  been  concluded  was  well  known  in 
the  city,  but  before  official  knowledge  of  it  had  arrived,  Gen. 
Jackson  still  maintained  martial  or  military  law.  Now  that  it 
could  be  said  the  war  was  over,  the  clamor  against  martial  law, 
which  had  existed  from  the  first  grew  more  furious.  Among 
other  things,  a  Mr.  Louiallier  published  a  denunciatory  news 
paper  article.  Gen.  Jackson  arrested  him.  A  lawyer  by  the 
name  of  Morrel  procured  the  United  States  Judge  Hall  to  issue 
a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  to  relieve  Mr.  Louiallier.  Gen.  Jackson 
arrested  both  the  lawyer  and  the  Judge.  A  Mr.  Hollander  ven 
tured  to  say  of  some  part  of  the  matter  that  "  it  was  a  dirty 
trick."  Gen.  Jackson  arrested  him.  When  the  officer  under 
took  to  serve  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  Gen.  Jackson  took  it 
from  him,  and  sent  him  away  with  a  copy.  Holding  the  judge 
in  custody  a  few  days,  the  General  sent  him  beyond  the  limits 
of  his  encampment,  and  set  him  at  liberty,  with  an  order  to 
remain  till  the  ratification  of  peace  should  be  regularly 
announced,  or  until  the  British  should  have  left  the  Southern 
coast.  A  day  or  two  more  elapsed,  the  ratification  of  a  treaty 
of  peace  was  regularly  announced,  and  the  judge  and  others 


636  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

were  fully  liberated.  A  few  days  more  and  the  judge  called 
Gen.  Jackson  into  court  and  fined  him  $1,000  for  having 
arrested  him  and  the  others  named.  The  General  paid  the 
fine,  and  there  the  matter  rested  for  nearly  thirty  years,  when 
Congress  refunded  principal  and  interest.  The  late  Senator 
Douglas,  then  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  took  a  leading 
part  in  the  debates,  in  which  the  Constitutional  question  was 
much  discussed.  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  whom  the  journals 
would  show  to  have  voted  for  the  measure. 

It  may  be  remarked  :  First,  that  we  had  the  same  Constitu 
tion  then  as  now ;  secondly,  that  we  then  had  a  case  of  inva 
sion,  and  now  we  have  a  case  of  rebellion  ;  and,  thirdly,  that 
the  permanent  right  of  the  people  to  public  discussion,  the  lib 
erty  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  the  trial  by  jury,  the  law  of 
evidence,  and  the  habeas  corpus,  suffered  no  detriment  what 
ever  by  that  conduct  of  General  Jackson,  or  its  subsequent 
approval  by  the  American  Congress. 

And  yet,  let  me  say  that,  in  my  own  discretion,  I  do  not 
know  whether  I  would  have  ordered  the  arrest  of  Mr.  Vallan- 
digham.'  While  I  can  not  shift  the  responsibility  from  myself, 
I  hold  that,  as  a  general  rule,  the  commander  in  the  field  is 
the  better  judge  of  the  necessity  in  any  particular  case.  Of 
course,  I  must  practice  a  general  directory  and  revisory  power 
in  the  matter. 

One  of  the  resolutions  expresses  the  opinion  of  the  meeting 
that  arbitrary  arrests  will  have  the  effect  to  divide  and  distract 
those  who  should  be  united  in  suppressing  the  rebellion,  and  I 
am  specifically  called  on  to  discharge  Mr.  Vallandigham.  I 
regard  this  as,  at  least,  a  fair  appeal  to  me  on  the  expediency 
of  exercising  a  constitutional  power  which  I  think  exists.  In 
response  to  such  appeal,  I  have  to  say,  it  gave  me  pain  when  I 
learned  that  Mr.  Vallandigham  had  been  arrested — that  is,  I 
was  pained  that  there  should  have  seemed  to  be  a  necessity  for 
arresting  him — arid  that  it  will  afford  me  great  pleasure  to  dis 
charge  him  as  soon  as  I  can,  by  any  means  believe  the  public 
safety  will  not  suffer  by  it.  I  further  say  that,  as  the  war  pro 
gresses,  it  appears  to  me,  opinion  and  action  which  were  in 
great  confusion  at  first,  take  shape  and  fall  into  more  regular 
channels,  so  that  the  necessity  for  strong  dealing  with  them 
gradually  decreases.  I  have  every  reason  to  desire  that  it 
should  cease  altogether  ;  and  far  from  the  least  is  my  regard 
for  the  opinions  and  wishes  of  tho,se  who,  like  the  meeting  at 
Albany,  declare  their  purpose  to  sustain  the  Government  in 
every  constitutional  and  lawful  measure  to  suppress  the  rebel 
lion  Still,  I  must  continue  to  do  su  much  as  may  seem  to  bo 
required  by  public  safety.  A. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  637 

A  fortnight  after  this  letter  was  written,  a  committee  of 
Ohio  Democrats  waited  upon  President  Lincoln,  presenting 
resolutions  of  their  State  Convention,  which  had  seen  fit  to 
nominate  Vallandigham  for  Governor,  demanding  his  release 
from  the  sentence  of  exile.  The  committee  backed  their  appeal 
by  such  arguments  as  the  occasion  suggested  to  them.  The 
reply  of  Mr.  Lincoln  is  a  proper  pendant  to  the  foregoing  let 
ter  : 

THE  PRESIDENT'S    REPLY  TO    THE    COMMITTEE   FROM  OHIO 
URGING  THE  RECALL  OF  MR.  VALLANDIGHAM. 

WASHINGTON,  June  29,  1863. 

GENTLEMEN  :  The  resolutions  of  the  Ohio  Democratic  State 
Convention,  which  you  present  me,  together  with  your  intro 
ductory  and  closing  remarks,  being,  in  position  and  argument, 
mainly  the  same  as  the  resolutions  of  the  Democratic  meeting 
at  Albany,  New  York,  I  refer  you  to  my  response  to  the  latter 
as  meeting  most  of  the  points  in  the  former. 

This  response  you  evidently  used  in  preparing  your  remarks, 
and  I  desire  no  more  than  that  it  be  used  with  accuracy.  In  a 
single  reading  of  your  remarks,  I  only  discovered  one  inaccu 
racy  in  matter  which  I  suppose  you  took  from  that  paper.  It 
is  where  you  say,  "  The  undersigned  are  unable  to  agree  with 
you  in  the  opinion  you  have  expressed  that  the  Constitution  is 
different  in  time  of  insurrection  or  invasion  from  what  it  is  in 
time  of  peace  and  public  security." 

A  recurrence  to  the  paper  will  show  you  that  I  have  not 
expressed  the  opinion  you  suppose.  I  expressed  the  opinion 
that  the  Constitution  is  different  in  its  application  in  cases  of 
rebellion  or  invasion  involving  the  public  safety,  from  what  it 
is  in  times  of  profound  peace  and  public  security.  And  this 
opinion  I  adhere  to,  simply  because,  by  the  Constitution  itself, 
things  may  be  done  in  the  one  case  which  may  not  be  done  in 
the  other. 

I  dislike  to  waste  a  word  on  a  merely  personal  point,  but  I 
must  respectfully  assure  you  that  you  will  find  yourselves  at 
fault  should  you  ever  seek  for  evidence  to  prove  your  assump 
tion  that  I  "  opposed,  in  discussions  before  the  people,  the 
policy  of  the  Mexican  War." 

You  say  :  "  Expunge  from  the  Constitution  this  limitation 
upon  the  power  of  Congress  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  cor- 
PUS,  and  yet  the  other  guarantees  of  personal  liberty  would 
remain  unchanged."  Doubtless,  if  this  clause  of  the  Consti- 


€38  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

tution,  improperly  called,  as  I  think,  a  limitation  upon  thd 
power  of  Congress,  were  expunged,  the  other  guarantees  would 
remain  the  same  ;  but  the  question  is,  not  how  those  guaran 
tees  would  stand  with  that  clause  out  of  the  Constitution,  but 
how  they  stand  with  that  clause  remaining  in  it,  in  case  of 
rebellion  or  invasion  involving  the  public  safety.  If  tho 
liberty  could  be  indulged,  in  expunging  that  clause,  letter  and 
.spirit,  I  really  think  the  constitutional  argument  would  be  with 
you. 

My  general  view  on  this  question  was  stated  in  the  Albany 
response,  and  hence  I  do  not  state  it  now.  I  only  add  that,  as 
seems  to  me,  the  benefit  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  the  great 
means  through  which  the  guarantees  of  personal  liberty  are 
conserved  and  made  available  in  the  last  resort;  and  corrobor 
ative  of  this  view  is  the  fact  that  Mr.  Vallandigham,  in  tho 
very  case  in  question,  under  the  advice  of  able  lawyers,  saw 
not  where  else  to  go  but  to  the  habeas  corpus.  But  by  the 
Constitution,  the  benefit  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  itself  may 
be  suspended,  when,  in  case  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  pub 
lic  safety  may  require  it. 

You  ask,  in  substance,  whether  I  really  claim  that  I  may 
override  all  the  guaranteed  rights  of  individuals,  on  the  plea 
of  conserving  the  public  safety — when  I  may  choose  to  say  the 
public  safety  requires  it.  This  question,  divested  of  the  phrase 
ology  calculated  to  represent  me  as  struggling  for  an  arbitrary 
personal  prerogative,  is  either  simply  a  question  icho  shall 
decide,  or  an  affirmation  that  nobody  shall  decide,  what  the 
public  safety  does  require  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion. 
The  Constitution  contemplates  the  question  as  likely  to  occur 
for  decision,  but  it  does  not  expressly  declare  who  is  to  decide 
it.  By  necessary  implication,  when  rebellion,  or  invasion 
comes,  the  decision  is  to  be  made  from  time  to  time  ;  and  I 
think  the  man  whom,  for  the  time,  the  people  have,  under  the 
Constitution,  made  their  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and 
Navy,  is  the  man  who  holds  the  power  and  bears  the  responsi 
bility  of  making  it.  If  he  uses  the  power  justly,  the  same 
people  will  probably  justify  him  ;  if  he  abuses  it,  he  is  in  their 
hands,  to  be  dealt  with  by  all  the  modes  they  have  reserved  to 
themselves  in  the  Constitution. 

The  earnestness  with  which  you  insist  that  persons  can  only, 
in  times  of  rebellion,  be  lawfully  dealt  with  in  accordance  with 
the  rules  for  criminal  trials  and  punishments  in  times  of  peace, 
induces  me  to  add  a  word  to  what  I  said  on  that  point  in  the 
Albany  response.  You  claim  that  men  may,  if  they  choose, 
embarrass  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  combat  a  giant  rebellion, 
and  then  be  dealt  with  only  in  turn  us  if  there  were  no  rebel- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  639 

lion.  The  Constitution  itself  rejects  this  yiew.  The  military 
arrests  and  detentions  which  have  been  made,  including  those 
of  Mr.  Vallandigham,  which  are  not  different  in  principle  from 
the  other,  have  been  for  prevention,  and  not  for  punishment — 
as  injunctions  to  stay  injury,  as  proceedings  to  keep  the  peace— 
and  hence,  like  proceedings  in  such  cases  and  for  like  reasons, 
they  have  not  been  accompanied  with  indictments,  or  trial  by 
juries,  nor  in  a  single  case  by  any  punishment  whatever  beyond 
what  is  purely  incidental  to  the  prevention.  The  original  sen 
tence  of  imprisonment  in  Mr.  Vallandigham's  case  was  to 
prevent  injury  to  the  military  service  only,  and  the  modifica 
tion  of  it  was  made  as  a  less  disagreeable  mode  to  him  of 
securing  the  same  prevention. 

I  am  unable  to  perceive  an  insult  to  Ohio  in  the  case  of  Mr. 
Vallandigham.  Quite  surely  nothing  of  this  sort  was  or  is  in  • 
tended.  I  was  wholly  unaware  that  Mr.  Vallandigham  was,  at 
the  time  of  his  arrest,  a  candidate  for  the  Democratic  nomina 
tion  for  Governor,  until  so  informed  by  your  reading  to  me  the 
resolutions  of  the  convention.  I  am  grateful  to  the  State  of 
Ohio  for  many  things,  especially  for  the  brave  soldiers  and  offi 
cers  she  has  given,  in  the  present  National  trial,  to  the  armies 
of  the  Union. 

You  claim,  as  I  understand,  that,  according  to  my  own  posi 
tion  in  the  Albany  response,  Mr.  Vallandigham  should  be 
released  ;  and  this  because,  as  you  claim,  he  has  not  damaged  the 
military  service  by  discouraging  enlistments,  encouraging  deser 
tions,  or  otherwise ;  and  that  if  he  had,  he  should  have  been 
turned  over  to  the  civil  authorities  under  the  recent  act  of  Con 
gress.  I  certainly  do  not  know  that  Mr.  Vallandigham  has 
specifically  and  by  direct  language  advised  against  enlistments 
and  in  favor  of  desertions  and  resistance  to  drafting.  We  all 
know  that  combinations,  armed,  in  some  instances,  to  resist 
the  arrest  of  deserters,  began  several  months  ago  ;  that  more 
recently  the  like  has  appeared  in  resistance  to  the  enrollment 
preparatory  to  a  draft ;  and  that  quite  a  number  of  assassina 
tions  have  occurred  from  the  same  animus.  These  had  to  be 
met  by  military  force,  and  this  again  has  led  to  bloodshed  and 
death.  And  now,  under  a  sense  of  responsibility  more  weighty 
and  enduring  than  any  which  is  merely  onicial,  I  solemnly 
declare  my  belief  that  this  hindrance  of  the  military,  including 
maiming  and  murder,  is  due  to  the  cause  in  which  Mr.  Vallan 
digham  has  been  engaged,  in  a  greater  degree  than  to  any 
other  cause  ;  and  it  is  due  to  him  personally  in  a  greater  degree 
than  to  any  other  man. 

These  things  have  been  notorious,  known  to  all,  and  of  course 
known  to  Mr,  Vallandigham,  Perhaps  I  would  not  bo  wrong 


640  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

to  say  they  originated  with  his  especial  friends  and  adherents. 
With  perfect  knowledge  of  them  he  has  frequently,  if  not  con 
stantly,  made  speeches  in  Congress  and  before  popular  assem 
blies  ;  and  if  it  can  be  shown  that,  with  these  things  staring 
him  in  the  face,  he  has  ever  uttered  a  word  of  rebuke  or  coun 
sel  against  them,  it  will  be  a  fact  greatly  in  his  favor  with  me, 
and  one  of  which,  as  yet,  I  am  totally  ignorant.  When  it  is 
known  that  the  whole  burden  of  his  speeches  has  been  to  stir 
up  men  against  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  that  in  the 
midst  of  resistance  to  it,  he  has  not  been  known  in  any  instance 
to  counsel  against  such  resistance,  it  is  next  to  impossible  to 
repel  the  inference  that  he  has  counseled  directly  in  favor  of  it. 

With  all  this  before  their  eyes,  the  convention  you  represent 
have  nominated  Mr.  Vallandigham  for  governor  of  Ohio,  and 
both  they  and  you  have  declared  the  purpose  to  sustain  the 
^National  Union  by  all  constitutional  means,  but,  of  course,  they 
and  you,  in  common,  reserve  to  yourselves  to  decide  what  are 
constitutional  means,  and,  unlike  the  Albany  meeting,  you  omit 
to  state  or  intimate  that,  in  your  opinion,  an  army  is  a  constitu 
tional  means  of  saving  the  Union  against  a  rebellion,  or  even 
to  intimate  that  you  are  conscious  of  an  existing  rebellion  being 
in  progress  with  the  avowed  object  of  destroying  that  very 
Union.  At  the  same  time,  your  nominee  for  governor,  ia 
whose  behalf  you  appeal,  is  known  to  you,  and  to  the  world, 
to  declare  against  the  use  of  an  army  to  suppress  the  rebellion. 
Your  own  attitude,  therefore,  encourages  desertion,  resistance 
to  the  draft,  and  the  like,  because  it  teaches  those  who  incline 
to  desert  and  to  escape  the  draft  to  believe  it  is  your  purpose 
to  protect  them,  and  the  hope  that  you  will  become  strong 
enough  to  do  so. 

After  a  personal  intercourse  with  you,  gentlemen  of  tho 
committee,  I  can  not  say  I  think  you  desire  this  effect  to  follow 
your  attitude  ;  but  I  assure  you  that  both  friends  and  enemies 
of  the  Union  look  upon  it  in  this  light.  It  is  a  substantial 
hope,  and  by  consequence,  a  real  strength  to  the  enemy.  If  it 
is  a  false  hope,  and  one  which  you  would  willingly  dispel,  I 
will  make  the  way  exceedingly  easy.  I  send  you  duplicates 
of  this  letter,  in  order  that  you,  or  a  majority  of  you,  may,  if 
you  choose,  indorse  your  names  upon  one  of  them,  and  return 
it  thus  indorsed  to  me,  with  the  understanding  that  those  sign 
ing  are  thereby  committed  to  the  following  propositions,  and  to 
nothing  else : 

1.  That  there  ia  now  a  rebellion  in  the  United  States,  the 
object  and  tendency  of  which  is  to  destroy  the  National  Union; 
and  that,  in  your  opinion,  an  army  and  navy  are  constitutional 
means  for  suppressing  that  rebellion. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  641 

2.  That  no  one  of  you  will  do  any  thing  which,  in  his  own 
judgment,  will  tend  to  hinder  the  increase,  or  favor  the  decrease, 
or  lessen  the  efficiency  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  while  engaged 
in  the  effort  to  suppress  that  rebellion ;  and — 

3.  That  each  of  you  will  in  his  sphere,  do  all  he  can  to  have 
the  officers,  soldiers,  and  seamen  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  while 
engaged  in  the  effort  to  suppress  the  rebellion,  p. -id,  fed,  clad, 
and  otherwise  well  provided  and  supported. 

And  with  the  further  understanding  that  upon  receiving  the 
letter  and  names  thus  indorsed,  I  will  cause  them  to  be  pub 
lished,  which  publication  shall  be,  within  itself,  a  revocation  of 
the  order  in  relation  to  Mr.  Vallandigham. 

It  will  not  escape  observation  that  I  consent  to  the  release 
of  Mr.  Vallandigham  upon  terms  not  embracing  any  pledge 
from  him  or  from  others  as  to  what  he  will  or  will  not  do.  I 
do  this  because  he  is  not  present  to  speak  for  himself,  or  to 
authorize  others  to  speak  for  him  ;  and  hence  I  shall  expect 
that  on  returning  he  would  not  put  himself  practically  in 
antagonism  with  the  position  of  his  friends.  But  I  do  it 
chiefly  because  I  thereby  prevail  on  other  influential  gentlemen 
of  Ohio  to  so  define  their  position  as  to  be  of  immense  value 
to  the  army — thus  more  than  compensating  for  the  consequen 
ces  of  any  mistake  in  allowing  Mr.  Vallandigham  to  return,  so 
that,  on  the  wbole,  the  public  safety  will  not  have  suffered  by 
it.  Still,  in  regard  to  Mr.  Vallandigham  and  all  others,  I 
must  hereafter,  as  heretofore,  do  so  much  as  the  public  service 
may  seem  to  require. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  respectfully,  yours,  etc., 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

The  gentlemen  addressed,  many  of  whom  were  members 
elect  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  were  quite  indisposed  to 
comply  with  the  easy  terms  proposed  by  the  President  as  a 
condition  for  the  release  of  their  chosen  leader.  They  allowed 
him  still  to  pine  in  exile,  over  the  border,  and  apparently 
hoped  to  turn  his  "  cruel  wrongs  "  to  political  account.  In 
this,  however,  they  were  greatly  miscalculating  the  intelligence 
and  loyalty  of  the  people,  who  saw  nothing  to  admire  in  such 
a  political  character.  The  verdict  of  Ohio,  in  the  following 
October,  repudiating  Vallandigham  by  more  than  one  hundred 
thousand  majority,  was  sufficient  to  show  the  popular  judg 
ment  on  this  question,  Why,  then,  renew  the  issue  in  Lho 

41 


642  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Presidential  canvass  of  1864?  This  infatuation  only  aided 
their  gravitation  toward  defeat. 

Vallandigliam  had  suddenly  appeared  at  a  district  conven 
tion  held  in  Butler  county,  Ohio,  on  the  15th  of  June,  1864. 
After  more  than  a  year's  absence,  he  defiantly  released  him 
self,  and  probably  counted  upon  promised  resistance  by  organ 
ized  force,  on  his  anticipated  re-arrest,  as  the  act  which  was  to 
fire  the  secretly-prepared  train  of  revolution  in  the  North-west. 
He  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  Chicago  convention,  and 
"  instructed  to  favor  the  nomination  of  no  man  who  is  either 
directly  or  indirectly  committed  to  the  further  prosecution  of 
this  war.''  The  resolutions  of  this  local  convention,  in  the 
same  spirit,  declared  "  that  the  history  of  the  past  three  years 
has  already  demonstrated  the  utter  hopelessness,  as  well  as  the 
gigantic  wrong,  of  a  further  continuance  of  the  present  con 
flict."  Had  Sanders  himself  appeared  on  the  scene,  the  budget 
of  resolutions  could  not  have  been  more  acceptable  to  Jeffer 
son  Davis.  But  any  serious  danger  from  Vallandigham's  influ 
ence  was  no  longer  to  be  dreaded.  He  had  already  suffered  a 
year's  exile.  He  had  been  repudiated  by  the  people  of  his 
own  State.  No  notice  was  taken  of  his  escape  at  Washington. 
Henceforth  he  had  entire  freedom  of  locomotion,  and  liberty 
of  speech. 

A  more  potent  influence  from  Canada  was  that  of  the  Rebel 
funds  dispensed  at  the  will  of  Jacob  Thompson.  Three  days 
before  the  Chicago  convention,  he  had  procured  $250,000  in 
"  greenback  "  notes,  obviously  for  use  in  the  loyal  States. 
Evidence  was  given,  on  the  trial  of  the  Indiana  conspirators, 
going  to  show  that  money  for  arming  their  secret  Order  was 
obtained  from  the  same  source.  Later  in  the  season,  as  the 
Opposition  cause  became  more  desperate,  the  Rebel  funds  under 
the  control  of  Thompson,  as  purser,  were  employed  in  further 
ing  schemes  too  fiendish  for  belief,  were  they  not  definitely 
and  clearly  proved.  The  seizure  of  steamboats  on  Lake  Erie  j 
the  release  of  prisoners  at  Johnson's  Island,  Camp  Chase,  and 
elsewhere ;  attacks  upon  border  towns,  to  be  attended  with 
conflagrations,  pillago  and  murder;  and  robberies  of  banks, 
plunderings  of  villages,  and  massacres  of  non-belligerents,  were 


LIFE  OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  643 

among  the  gentler  plans  of  these  men  in  Canada,  whose  mis- 
Bion  was,  a  little  earlier,  so  gratuitously  assumed  by  innocent 
philanthropists  to  be  one  of  peace  and  brotherly  kindness. 
Compared  with  the  dark-hued  purposes  afterward  developed, 
even  these  malicious  projects — which  could  have  no  possible 
effect  in  aid  of  the  Rebel  cause,  and  which  were  devised  in 
bitter  hatred  and  rage  at  the  prospect  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  reflec 
tion — fade  into  venial  dimness  of  shade. 

The  active  canvass  was  to  be  short,  and  the  first  elec 
tion  after  the  "  Democratic  "  nominations  and  platform  were 
announced — that  occurring  in  the  State  of  Yermont,  where 
there  was  little  room  to  improve  on  previous  elections,  and 
every  effort  was  made  by  the  Opposition  to  insure  an  Admin 
istration  loss — was  regarded  with  anxious  interest,  as  indicating 
the  direction  of  the  popular  current.  The  result  gratified  the 
friends  of  the  Administration,  and  disheartened  its  enemies, 
there  being  a  decided  increase  of  the  Union  majority  of  the 
previous  year,  and  the  vote  being  more  than  two  to  one  for  the 
Administration  ticket,  Maine  soon  followed,  with  a  large 
majority  on  the  same  side.  It  was  no  longer  doubtful  that  the 
Republican  Union  party  was  united  and  true  in  the  support 
of  Lincoln  and  Johnson,  On  the  second  Tuesday  in  October, 
Pennsylvania,  Ohio  and  Indiana  were  to  hold  their  State  elec 
tions.  The  results  would  be  conclusive  as  to  the  Presidential 
election.  In  Ohio  and  Indiana  the  Administration  majorities 
were  unprecedentedly  large — 54,751  in  the  former,  and  20,883 
in  the  latter — and  in  Pennsylvania,  where  there  was  no  gen 
eral  ticket,  the  Union  aggregate  majority  for  members  of  Con 
gress,  though  small,  was  decisive.  These  elections  settled  the 
political  character  of  the  next  Congress.  In  the  previous 
House  of  Representatives,  Ohio  had  but  five  Administra 
tion  members,  to  fourteen  Opposition.  At  this  election,  sev 
enteen  Administration  Representatives  were  chosen,  and  two 
Opposition.  In  Indiana,  where  a  Democratic  Legislature  had 
refused  to  the  soldiers  in  the  field  the  right  of  voting,  eight 
Administration  Representatives  were  returned,  and  three  Oppo 
sition,  against  four  Administration  and  seven  Opposition  mem 
bers  in  the  previous  House*  In  Pennsylvania,  sixteen  Admin. 


644  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN 

istration  members  and  eight  Opposition  were  elected,  against 
fourteen  Administration  and  ten  Opposition  in  the  previous 
Congress.  In  the  three  States,  the  Administration  had  a 
majority  of  twenty-eight  members  in  the  new  Congress — the 
Opposition  a  majority  of  eight  members  in  the  last — making  a 
net  gain  of  thirty-six. 

The  State  elections  disclosed  very  clearly,  what  the  Opposi 
tion  had  hitherto  earnestly  disputed,  that  our  gallant  soldiers 
in  the  field  were  so  firmly  attached  to  Abraham  Lincoln,  and 
regarded  him  as  so  fully  the  representative  of  the  cause  on 
behalf  of  which  they  were  breasting  the  bayonets  and  bullets 
of  the  Rebels  in  the  field,  that  no  devotion  to  a  military  com 
mander — least  of  all  to  one  who  had  only  led  his  army  to 
defeat  or  to  indecisive  victory — could  seduce  them  into  the 
support  of  a  party  whose  success  was  earnestly  desired  by  the 
enemy  they  were  fighting.  With  a  unanimity  which  the  excep 
tions  only  rendered  more  emphatic,  they  supported  the  admin 
istration  tickets,  while  winning  victories  that  doubly  helped 
the  Union  cause — in  their  front  and  in  the  rear. 

No  one  more  deeply  and  sincerely  felt  the  unbounded  obli 
gations  of  the  country  to  the  men  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  or 
was  more  ready  on  all  occasions  to  recognize  their  services  than 
did  President  Lincoln.  In  a  note  to  the  Postmaster  General, 
early  in  the  summer,  he  expressed  his  wish  that  a  preference 
should  be  given,  in  his  appointments,  so  far  as  practicable,  to 
the  men  who  had  thus  proved  their  devotion  to  the  Republic. 
There  was  no  topic  to  which  he  recurred  more  naturally,  or  on 
which  he  spoke  with  more  emotion,  on  public  occasions,  than 
the  heroic  sacrifices  made  by  our  soldiers  and  seamen.  Ho 
was  tenderly  conscious  of  the  kind  sentiments  manifested  by 
them,  in  so  many  ways,  toward  himself  personally.  To  have 
been  reflected  without  their  hearty  support,  or  in  spite  of 
their  votes  for  another,  would  have  poorly  compensated  tho 
loss,  to  his  heart,  of  their  sympathy  and  preference. 

An  important  service  was  rendered,  during  the  season,  by  a 
portion  of  the  militia  force  of  several  Western  States,  who 
were  called  out  for  a  term  of  one  hundred  days,  mainly  during 
the  interval  between  the  expiration  of  the  time  of  a  large  num- 


LIFE  OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  645 

ber  of  enlistments  and  the  incoming  of  new  levies.  Ohio  fur 
nished  the  largest  number  of  "hundred-days'  men,"  who  served 
mainly  in  the  Eastern  Departments.  Many  of  these  last  were 
reviewed  by  the  President  at  the  close  of  their  service,  and  were 
thanked  and  complimented  by  him  in  person.  The  following 
order,  relating  to  the  other  Western  militia  thus  serving,  iu 
another  quarter,  shows  the  feeling  entertained  toward  all : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  October  1,  18G4. 

Special  Executive  Order,  returning  thanks  to  the  volunteers 
for  one  hundred  days  from  the  States  of  'Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa, 
and  Wisconsin. — The  term  of  one  hundred  days,  for  which 
volunteers  from  the  States  of  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Wis 
consin  volunteered,  under  the  call  of  their  respective  Govern 
ors,  in  the  months  of  May  and  June,  to  aid  in  the  recent  cam 
paign  of  General  Sherman,  having  expired,  the  President 
directs  an  official  acknowledgment  to  be  made  of  their  patri 
otic  service.  It  was  their  good  fortune  to  render  effective  ser 
vice  in  the  brilliant  operations  iu  the  South-west,  and  to 
contribute  to  the  victories  of  the  national  arms  over  the  Rebel 
forces  in  Georgia,  under  the  command  of  Johnston  and  Hood. 
On  all  occasions,  and  in  every  service  to  which  they  were 
assigned,  their  duty,  as  patriotic  volunteers,  was  performed 
with  alacrity  and  courage,  for  which  they  are  entitled,  and  are 
hereby  tendered,  the  national  thanks,  through  the  Governors 
of  their  respective  States. 

The  Secretary  of  War  is  directed  to  transmit  a  copy  of  this 
order  to  the  Governors  of  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Wiscon 
sin,  and  to  cause  a  certificate  of  this  honorable  service  to  be 
delivered  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  States  above 
named,  who  recently  sr.rved  in  the  military  forces  of  the  United 
States,  as  volunteers  for  one  hundred  days. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

On  the  12th  of  October,  the  day  following  the  elections,  a 
vote  was  taken  by  the  people  of  Maryland  on  the  New  State 
Constitution  adopted  by  their  convention,  in  regard  to  which 
the  main  issue  was  the  section  providing  for  immediate  and 
unconditional  emancipation.  The  result  made  Maryland  for 
ever  a  free  State.  The  contest  had  been  an  earnest  one.  In 
the  strongly  Secession  counties,  the  pro-slavery  vote  was 


646  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

unexpectedly  large,  many  disregarding  the  prescribed  oath 
intended  to  exclude  those  who  had  actually  participated  in  tho 
Rebellion,  or  taking  that  oath  under  the  advice  of  an  eminent 
counsellor,  that  no  "  moral  injunction "  was  violated  in  so 
doing,  because  the  convention  had  no  right  to  require  such  a 
qualification  for  voting.  When  it  is  recollected  that  this  oath 
related  to  the  past  record  of  the  party  taking  it,  not  to  his 
present  sentiments  of  loyalty,  it  may  be  inferred  that  the 
casuistry  on  which  such  advice  was  based  had  regard  rather  to 
.  legal  technicality  than  to  the  moral  sentiments  or  to  religious 
sanctions.  Despite  all-  efforts  of  the  friends  of  the  old  order, 
however,  the  Constitution  was  adopted,  and  became  the  organic 
law  of  the  State. 

In  honor  of  this  great  event,  when  the  result  was  finally 
ascertained,  a  party  of  loyal  Marylanders,  with  accessions  to 
their  number  from  other  residents  in  Washington,  serenaded 
President  Lincoln  at  the  Executive  Mansion,  on  the  evening  of 
October  19th.  In  reply  to  this  call,  Mr.  Lincoln  said: 

Friends  and  Fellow  Citizens :  I  am  notified  that  this  is  a 
compliment  paid  me  by  tbe  loyal  Marylanders  resident  in  this 
District.  I  infer  that  the  adoption  of  the  new  Constitution  for 
that  State  furnishes  the  occasion,  and  that  in  your  view  tho 
extirpation  of  slavery  constitutes  the  chief  merit  of  the  new 
Constitution.  Most  heartily  do  I  congratulate  you  and  Mary 
land  and  the  nation,  and  the  world  upon  the  event.  I  regret 
that  it  did  not  occur  two  years  sooner,  which  I  am  sure  would 
have  saved  to  the  nation  more  money  than  would  have  met  all 
the  private  loss  incident  to  the  measure.  But  it  has  come  afc 
last,  and  I  sincerely  hope  its  friends  may  fully  realize  all  their 
anticipations  of  good  from  it ,  and  that  its  opponents  may  by 
its  effect  be  agreeably  and  profitably  disappointed. 

A  word  upon  another  subject.  Something  was  said  by  the 
Secretary  of  State,  in  his  recent  speech  at  Auburn,  which  has 
been  construed  by  some  into  a  threat  that  if  I  should  be  beaten 
at  the  election,  I  will,  between  then  and  the  end  of  my  con 
stitutional  term,  do  what  I  may  be  able  to  ruin  the  Govern 
ment.  Others  regard  the  fact  that  the  Chicago  Convention 
adjourned,  not  sine  die,  but  to  meet  again  if  called  to  do  so  by 
a  particular  individual,  as  the  intimation  of  a  purpose  that  if 
their  nominee  shall  be  elected  he  will  at  once  seize  control  of 
the  Government. 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  647 

I  hope  the  good  people  will  permit  themselves  to  suffer  no 
uneasiness  on  either  point.  I  am  struggling  to  maintain  the 
Government;  not  to  overthrow  it.  I  am  struggling  especially 
to  prevent  others  from  overthrowing  it,  and  I  therefore  say, 
that  if  1  shall  live,  I  shall  remain  President  until  the  4th  of 
next  March,  and  that  whoever  shall  be  constitutionally  elected 
thereto  in  November,  shall  be  duly  installed  as  President  on 
the  4th  of  March,  and  that  in  the  meantime  I  shall  do  my 
utmost,  that  whoever  is  to  hold  the  helm  for  the  next  voyage 
shall  start  with  the  best  possible  chance  to  save  the  ship.  This 
is  due  to  the  people,  both  on  principle  and  under  the  Constitu 
tion.  Their  will,  constitutionally  expressed,  is  the  ultimate 
law  for  all. 

If  they  should  deliberately  resolve  to  have  immediate  peace, 
even  at  the  loss  of  their  country  and  their  liberties,  I  know 
not  the  power  or  the  right  to  resist  them.  It  is  their  own 
business,  and  they  must  do  as  they  please  with  their  own.  I 
believe,  however,  they  are  still  resolved  to  preserve  their  coun 
try  and  their  liberty,  and  in  this,  in  office  or  out  of  it,  I  am 
resolved  to  stand  by  them. 

I  may  add  that  in  this  purpose,  to  save  the  country  and  its 
liberties,  no  classes  of  people  seem  so  nearly  unanimous  as  the 
soldiers  in  the  field  and  the  seamen  afloat.  Do  they  not  have 
the  hardest  of  it?  Who  should  quail  while  they  do  not? 

God  bless  the  soldiers  and  seamen,  with  all  their  brave  com 
manders. 

It  is  now  knawn  that  communication  was  kept  up  between 
the  Rebel  cabal  in  Canada  and  the  men  at  Richmond,  in  whose 
"  confidential  employment "  they  were,  by  means  of  special 
messengers  passing  through  the  States.  Directly  after  the 
October  elections,  a  dispatch  in  cipher,  which  has  since  come 
into  the  possession  of  the  Government,  was  sent  from  Canada 
to  headquarters,  found  to  contain  the  following  language,  under 
date  of  October  13th,  1864: 

We  again  urge  our  gaining  immediate  advantages.  Strain 
every  nerve  for  victory.  We  now  look  upon  the  reelection  of 
Lincoln  as  certain,  and  we  need  to  whip  the  hirelings  to  pre 
vent  it.  Besides,  with  Lincoln  reflected,  and  his  armies  vic 
torious,  we  need  not  hope  even  for  recognition,  much  less  the 
help  mentioned  in  our  last.  Holcombe  will  explain  this.  Our 
friend  shall  be  immediately  set  to  work  as  you  direct. 


648  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Perhaps  Professor  Holcombe  alone  can  now  fully  explain 
the  exact  "work"  referred  to,  or  who  was  the  "friend  "  that 
was  to  take  it  in  hand.  The  enterprise  may  have  been  tho 
piratical  seizure  of  steamers  on  the  lakes  ;  the  descent  upon 
St.  Albans,  or  the  contemplated,  but  never  executed,  attack  on 
Ogdcnsburgh  and  Buffalo.  Possibly,  as  the  feeling  of  despe 
ration  increased,  the  plots  had  already  reached  a  more  fiendish 
stage,  and  the  "friend"  may  have  been  Beall  or  Kennedy, 
about  to  undertake  the  conflagration  of  New  York,  with  an 
indiscriminate  destruction  of  the  lives  of  men,  women  and 
children.  These  schemes,  and  more  infernal  ones  than  these, 
were  already  beginning  to  be  discussed,  during  the  months  of 
October  and  November.  "Secretary"  Benjamin  returned  a 
reply  to  this  missive,  on  the  19th  of  October,  which  being 
decyphcred,  reads  on  this  wise: 

"Your  letter  of  the  13th  inst.,  is  at  hand.  There  is  yet 
time  enough  to  colonize  many  voters  before  November.  A 
blow  will  shortly  be  stricken  here.  It  is  not  quite  time.  Gen. 
Longstreet  is  to  attack  Sheridan  without  delay,  and  then  move 
north,  as  far  as  practicable,  toward  unprotected  points.  This 
will  be  made  instead  of  the  movements  before  mentioned.  Ho 
will  endeavor  to  assist  the  Republicans  in  the  collection  of 
their  ballots.  Be  watchful,  and  assist  him." 

"  Plaquemine "  days  hopefully  revive  in  the  memory  of 
trusty  Benjamin.  Votes  for  McClellan  must  be  "  colonized." 
May  we  not  at  least  carry  New  York,  and  save  Governor  Sey 
mour  to  the  cause  ?  Grant  is  shortly  to  be  attacked  (as  it  has 
already  been  seen  he  was,  a  little  after  this  date — with  poor 
results  to  the  attacking  party).  Longstreet  is  to  attack  Gen. 
Sheridan  at  once — as  he  or  Early  did  this  very  day,  at  Cedar 
Creek  with  what  result  we  know.  It  was  not  to  be  the  for 
tune  of  Longstreet — near  as  the  object  seemed  to  be,  for  a 
few  hours  on  that  memorable  19th  of  October — to  collect 
Republican  ballots.  Sheridan  the  rather,  before  night  closed 
upon  them,  was  busy  in  collecting  his  enemy's  standards,  his 
small  arms,  his  two  or  three  score  of  cannon,  his  scattering 
host.  But  Longstreet  had  at  least  gallantly  done  his  best  for 
.McClellan  and  Pendleton.  Benjamin  must  rely  solely,  now, 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  649 

but  upon  the  process  of  "colonizing   voters,"  while  Purser 
Thompson,  dispenses  his  funds  with  a  liberal  hand. 

The  Baltimore  Convention,  which  expressed  the  will  of  the 
people,  but  without  the  power  conferred  upon  their  earlier 
elected  Representatives  in  Congress,  had  recognized  Tennessee 
as  a  loyal  State,  not  only  by  admitting  her  delegation  with 
full  powers,  but  also  by  nominating  one  of  her  heroic  sons  to 
the  office  of  Vice  President.  It  was  not  strange  that  the  peo 
ple  of  this  State  should  consequently  desire  to  vote.  To  guard 
this  sacred  privilege  from  desecration  by  traitors,  Governor 
Johnson,  at  the  request  of  a  State  Convention,  had  prescribed 
certain  regulations  to  govern  the  election,  such  as  his  own 
experience,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  people  led  him  to  adopt. 
A  McClellan  electoral  ticket  had  already  been  nominated,  and 
the  gentlemen  whose  names  appeared  thereon  felt  aggrieved 
that  Ilebels,  sympathizing  with  their  candidates  and  platform, 
should  find  any  obstacles  in  the  way  of  their  voting.  These 
candidates  for  electors  consequently  waited  upon  President 
Lincoln,  with  a  memorial  on  the  supject.  Fully  appreciating, 
as  he  did,  the  real  frivolousness  of  their  complaints,  anu  that 
their  zeal  to  make  political  capital  for  their  friends  in  other 
States,  by  this  very  paper,  was  quite  equal  to  their  concern 
about  carrying  the  vote  of  Tennessee,  the  validity  of  which 
was  at  least  doubtful,  and  which  in  fact  was  not  ultimately 
received,  Mr.  Lincoln  bestowed  no  great  amount  of  time  on 
the  petitioners.  Their  interruption  of  his  more  important  busi 
ness  with  such  a  paper,  no  doubt  seemed  to  him  a  little  imper 
tinent.  Soon  after,  however,  he  addressed  to  this  delegation, 
and  furnished  to  the  public  press,  a  reply  containing  their 
memorial  at  length,  the  proclamation  of  Governor  Johnson 
complained  of,  and  a  few  characteristic  words  of  his  own,  dis 
posing  of  the  whole  matter.  This  document,  omitting  certain 
unimportant  portions  as  indicated,  is  in  the  following  words: 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         ") 
WASHINGTON,  October  22,  1864.  j 

Messrs.  Wm.  B.  Camplell,  Thos.  A.  R.  Nelson,  James  T.  B. 
Carter,  John  William*,  A.  Blizzard,  Henry  Cooper,  Bailie 
Peyton^  John  Lellyett,  Em.  Etheridge*  John  D.  Ferryman  ; 


650  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

GENTLEMEN  :  On  the  15th  day  of  this  month,  as  I  remem 
ber,  a  printed  paper,  with  a  few  manuscript  interlineations, 
called  a  protest,  with  your  names  appended  thereto,  and 
accompanied  by  another  printed  paper  purporting  to  be  a  proc 
lamation  by  Andrew  Johnson,  Military  Governor  of  Tennessee, 
and  also  a  manuscript  paper  purporting  to  be  extracts  from 
the  Code  of  Tennessee,  was  laid  before  me.  The  Protest, 
Proclamation  and  Extracts  are  respectively  as  follows  : 

To  Jiis  Excellency  ^Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  tlie  United 

States  : 

SIR  :  The  undersigned,  loyal  citizens  of  the  United  States 
and  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  on  our  own  behalf  and  on  behalf 
of  the  loyal  people  of  our  State,  ask  leave  to  submit  this  Pro 
test  against  the  Proclamation  of  his  Excellency  Andrew  John 
son,  Military  Governor,  ordering  an  election  to  be  held  for 
President  and  Vice  President,  under  certain  regulations  and 
restrictions  therein  set  forth.  A  printed  copy  of  said  procla 
mation  is  herewith  inclosed. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  provides  that  "  Each 
State  shall  appoint,  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature  thereof 
may  direct,  a  number  of  electors,"  etc.  Under  this  provision  of 
the  Federal  Constitution,  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee,  years 
before  the  present  rebellion,  prescribed  the  mode  of  election  to 
be  observed,  which  will  be  found  to  differ  essentially  from  the 
mode  prescribed  by  the  Military  Governor.  We  herewith 
inclose  a  copy  of  the  law  of  Tennessee  governing  the  holding 
of  said  election. 

The  Military  Governor  expressly  assumes,  by  virtue  of 
authority  derived  from  the  President,  to  so  alter  and  amend 
the  election  law  of  Tennessee,  (enacted' under  authority  of  tho 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  as  above  set  forth),  as  to 
make  the  same  conform  to  his  own  edict  as  set  forth  in  tho 
proclamation  aforesaid. 

He  assumes  so  to  modify  our  law  as  to  admit  persons  to  vote 
at  the  said  election  who  are  not  entitled  to  vote  under  the  law 
and  the  Constitution  of  Tennessee.  Instance  this :  our  Con 
stitution  and  law  require  that  each  voter  shall  be  "a  citizen  of 
the  county  wherein  he  may  offer  his  vote,  for  six  months  next 
preceding  the  day  of  election  ;"  while  the  Governor's  order 
only  requires  that  he  shall  (with  other  qualifications  named) 
be  a  citizen  of  Tennessee  for  six  mouths,  etc.  This  provision 
would  admit  to  vote  many  persons  not  entiled  by  law. 

We  will,  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  pass  over  some  less  impor 
tant  points  of  conflict  between  the  proclamation  and  the  law, 
but  will  instance  in  this  place  another.  By  our  law  it  is  pro- 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  651 

vided  that  the  polls  shall  be  opened  in  every  civil  district,  in 
each  county  in  the  State ;  but  the  proclamation  provides  only 
for  their  being  opened  at  one  place  in  each  county.  This  pro 
vision  would  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  many  legal  voters  tc 
exercise  the  elective  franchise. 

We  solemnly  protest  against  these  infringements  of  our  law, 
conflicting  as  they  do  with  the  very  letter  of  the  Federal  Con 
stitution,  because  they  are  without  authority,  and  because  they 
will  prevent  a  free,  fair,  and  true  expression  of  the  will  of  the 
loyal  people  of  Tennessee. 

But  we  protest  still  more  emphatically  against  the  most 
unusual  and  impracticable  test  oath  which  it  is  proposed  to 
require  of  all  citizen  voters  in  Tennessee.  A  citizen  qualified 
to  vote,  and  whose  loyalty  can  not  be  "  disproved  by  other  tes 
timony,"  is  to  be  required  to  swear,  first,  that  he  "  will  hence 
forth  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  defend 
it  against  all  enemies."  This  obligation  we  are  willing  to  renew 
daily ;  but  this  is  not  yet  deemed  a  sufficient  test  of  loyalty. 
lie  is  required  to  make  oath  and  subscribe  to  a  mass  of  vain 
repetitions  concerning  his  activity  as  a  friend  of  the  Union 
and  the  enemy  of  its  enemies — concerning  his  desires,  his 
hopes  and  fears — and  that  he  finds  it  in  his  heart  to  rejoica 
over  the  scenes  of  blood,  and  of  wounds,  of  anguish  and  death, 
wherein  his  friends,  his  kindred,  his  loved  ones  are  slain,  or 
maimed,  or  made  prisoners  of  war — whereby  the  land  of  his 
birth  or  adoption  is  made  desolate,  and  lamentation  and  mourn 
ing  are  spread  over  the  whole  nation.  While  all  the  civilized 
world  stands  aghast  in  contemplation  of  the  unequalcd  horrors 
of  our  tremendous  strife,  the  citizen  of  Tennessee  is  called 
upon  by  her  military  Governor,  under  your  authority,  to  swear 
that  in  these  things  he  finds  occasion  to  rejoice!  As  if  this 
were  still  not  enoug-h,  the  citizen  is  further  required  to  swear 
to  the  indefinite  prolongation  of  this  war,  as  follows  :  "  That 
I  will  cordially  oppose  all  armistices  or  negotiations  for  peace 
with  rebels  in  arms,  until  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  all  laws  and  proclamations  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  shall 
be  established  over  all  the  people  of  every  State  and  Territory 
embraced  within  the  National  Union ;"  until  (in  brief)  the 
war  shall  be  at  an  end.  Now,  we  freely  avow  to  your  Excel 
lency,  and  to  the  world,  that  we  earnestly  desire  the  return  of 
peace  and  good-will  to  our  now  unhappy  country— that  we 
seek  neither  pleasure,  profit,  nor  honor  in  the  perpetuation  of 
war — that  we  should  feel  bound,  as  Christians,  as  patriots  and 
as  civilized  men — that  we  are  bound  by  the  oaths  we  have 
taken — to  countenance  and  encourage  any  negotiations  which 
may  be  entered  into  by  the  proper  authorities,  with  the  intent 


652  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

to  restore  peace  and  union  tinder  the  Constitution  we  have 
sworn  to  support  and  defend.  We  should  be  traitors  to  our 
country,  false  to  our  oaths — false,  indeed,  to  the  primary  clause 
of  the  oath  we  are  now  discussing,  to  oppose  such  negotiations. 
"We  can  not  consent  to  swear  at  the  ballot-box  a  war  of  exter 
mination  against  our  countrymen  and  kindred,  or  to  prolong 
by  our  opposition,  for  a  single  day  after  it  can  be  brought  to 
an  honorable  and  lawful  conclusion,  a  contest  the  most  san 
guinary  and  ruinous  that  has  scourged  mankind. 

You  will  not  have  forgotten,  that  in  the  month  of  July  last, 
you  issued  the  fallowing  proclamation : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,      ) 
WASHINGTON,  July  8,  1864.  } 
"  To  whom  it  may  concern  : 

11  Any  proposition  which  embraces  the  restoration  of  peace, 
the  integrity  of  the  whole  Union,  and  the  abandonment  of 
slavery,  and  which  comes  by  and  with  an  authority  that  can 
control  the  armies  now  at  war  against  the  United  States,  will 
be  received  and  considered  by  the  Executive  Government  of 
the  United  States,  and  will  be  met  by  liberal  terms  on  other 
substantial  and  collateral  points ;  and  the  bearer  or  bearers 
thereof  shall  have  safe  conduct  both  ways. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 

This  is  certainly  a  proposition  to  treat  with  Eebels  in  arms — 
with  their  chiefs.  Are  we  now  to  understand  by  this  procla 
mation  of  one  acting  under  your  authority,  and  himself  a  can 
didate  with  you  for  the  second  office,  that  even  the  above 
proposition  is  withdrawn — that  you  will  henceforth  have  no 
negotiations  upon  any  terms,  but  unrelenting  war  to  the  bitter 
end  ?  Or,  are  we  to  understand,  that  while  you  hold  this  prop 
osition  open,  or  yourself  free  to  act  as  your  judgment  may 
dictate,  we,  the  citizens  of  Tennessee,  shall  swear  to  OPPOSE 
your  negotiations  ? 

In  the  next  breath,  the  voter  who  has  been  thus  qualified,  is 
required  to  swear  that  he  will  "heartily  aid  and  assist  the  loyal 
people  in  whatever  measures  may  be  adopted  for  the  attainment 
of  these  ends."  Adopted  by  whom  ?  The  oath  does  not  say. 
We  can  not  tell  what  measures  may  be  adopted.  Wre  can  not 
comment  upon  the  absurdity  of  the  obligation  here  imposed, 
without  danger  of  departing  from  that  respectful  propriety  of 
language  which  we  desire  to  preserve  in  addressing  the  Chief 
Magistrate  of  the  American  people.  But  this  is  the  clause  of 
an  oath  which  the  candidate  for  the  Vice  Presidency  requires 
at  the  lips  of  the  loyal  and  qualified  voters  of  Tennessee, 


LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN,  653 

before  these  citizens  shall   be   allowed  to  vote  for  or  against 
you  and  himself  at  the  coming  election  ? 

For  these  reasons,  and  others,  which,  for  the  sake  of  brevity, 
we  omit,  we  solemnly  protest  against  the  interference  of  tho 
Military  Governor  With  the  freedom  of  the  elective  franchise 
in  Tennessee.  We  deny  his  authority  and  yours,  to  alter, 
amend,  or  annul  any  law  of  Tennessee.  We  demand  that 
Tennessee  be  allowed  to  appoint  her  Electors,  as  expressly  pro 
vided  by  the  Federal  Constitution,  which  you  have  sworn  to 
support,  protect,  and  defend,  in  the  manner  which  the  Legis 
lature  thereof  has  prescribed.  And  to  that  end,  we  respectfully 
demand  of  you,  as  the  principal  under  whose  authority  this 
order  has  been  issued,  that  the  same  shall  be  revoked.  We  ask 
that  all  military  interference  shall  be  withdrawn  so  far  as  to 
allow  the  loyal  men  of  Tennessee  a  full  and  free  election.  By 
the  loyal  men  of  Tennessee  we  mean  those  who  have  not  par 
ticipated  in  the  rebellion,  or  given  it  aid  and  comfort ;  or  who 
may  have  complied  with  such  terms  of  amnesty  as  have  been, 
offered  them  under  your  authority. 

On  the  8th  day  of  December,  18G3,  you,  as  President,  issued 
a  proclamation,  declaring  that  "  a  full  pardon  is  hereby  granted, 
with  restoration  of  all  rights  of  property,"  &c.,  to  each  of  our 
citizens  having  participated,  directly  or  by  implication,  in  the 
existing  rebellion,  (with  certain  exceptions,)  "  upon  the  condi 
tion  that  every  such  person  shall  take  and  subscribe  an  oath, 
and  thenceforward  keep  and  maintain  said  oath  inviolate." 
And  it  is  further  provided  in  the  Proclamation  aforesaid,  that 
in  the  contingency  of  the  re-organization  of  a  State  Government 
in  Tennessee,  or  certain  other  States  named,  the  persons  having 
taken  the  oath  referred  to,  being  otherwise  qualified  by  tho 
election  law  of  the  State,  shall  be  entitled  to  vote.  The  under 
signed  would  sUfte,  that  many  of  our  citizens  have  complied, 
in  good  faith,  with  the  terms  of  amnesty  proposed  in  your 
proclamation  aforesaid,  and  are,  therefore,  by  reason  of  the 
full  pardon  granted  them,  fully  entitled  to  vote  and  exercise  all 
other  rights  belonging  to  loyal  citizens,  without  let  or  hin 
drance  ;  and  we  respectfully  appeal  to  you  as  President  of  tho 
United  States,  to  make  good  your  promise  of  pardon  to  theso 
citizens,  by  the  removal  of  all  other  and  further  hindrance  to 
the  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise. 

But  if  it  be  claimed  upon  the  plea  of  military  necessity, 
that  guards  and  restrictions  shall  be  thrown  around  .the  ballot- 
box  in  Tennessee,  we  still  ask  the  withdrawal  of  the  Procla 
mation  of  the  Military  Governor,  because  the  conditions  thereby 
imposed  upon  the  loyal  men  of  Tennessee  as  a  qualification  for 
voting  are  irrelevant,  unreasonable,  and  not  in  any  sense  a  tesk 


654  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

of  loyalty.  But  they  pledge  the  citizen  to  oppose  the  lawful 
authorities  in  the  discharge  of  their  duty.  The  oath  required 
is  only  calculated  to  keep  legal  and  rightful  voters  from  the 
polls.  We  suggest  that  no  oath  be  required  but  such  as  is 
prescribed  by  law.  Our  people  will  not  hesitate,  however,  to 
take  the  usual  oath  of  loyalty — for  example,  in  thfe  language 
of  the  primary  clause  of  the  oath  in  question — "  That  I  will 
henceforth  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and 
defend  it  against  the  assaults  of  its  enemies."  Denying  your 
right  to  make  any  departure  from  the  law  in  the  case,  we  shall, 
however,  feel  no  hardship  in  this. 

The  convention  to  which  Gov.  Johnson  refers  was  a  mere 
partisan  meeting,  having  no  authority,  and  not  representing  the 
loyal  men  of  Tennessee,  in  any  sense. 

The  names  of  the  signers  of  this  protest  have  been  placed 
before  the  people  of  Tennessee  as  candidates  for  Electors,  who, 
if  chosen,  are  expected  to  cast  the  electoral  vote  of  Tennessee 
for  George  B.  McClellan  for  President,  and  George  H.  Pen  die- 
ton  for  Yice  President.  By  virtue  of  such  position,  it  becomes 
our  province  especially  to  appear  before  you  in  the  attitude 
we  do.  We  are  aware  that  grave  questions  may  arise,  in  any 
event,  with  regard  to  the  regularity  of  the  vote  in  Tennessee, 
in  consequence  of  the  partially  disorganized  condition  of  the 
State.  The  friends  of  your  re-election,  however,  announced 
an  electoral  ticket ;  and  the  public  became  aware  that  prepa 
rations  were  being  made  for  the  holding  of  the  election,  leav 
ing  that  matter  no  longer  a  question.  Some  time  thereafter, 
our  electoral  ticket  was  placed  before  the  public,  and  within  a 
few  days  followed  the  proclamation  complained  of.  We,  for 
ourselves  and  those  we  represent,  are  willing  to  leave  all  ques 
tions  involving  the  right  of  Tennessee  to  participate  in  the 
election  to  the  decision  of  competent  authority. 

[Here  follow  the  names  of  the  ten  signers  as  given  at  the 
beginning  of  this  letter.] 

PROCLAMATION. 
BY    THE    GOVERNOR. 

STATE  OF  TENNESSEE, 
EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 
NASHVILLE,  TENN.,Sept.  30th,  1864. 

WHEREAS,  A  respectable  portion  of  the  loyal  people  of  Ten 
nessee,  representing  a  large  number  of  the  counties  of  the 
State,  and  supposed  to  reflect  the  will  of  the  Union  men  in 


'  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN,  655 

their  respective  counties,  recently  held  a  convention  in  the  city 
of  Nashville,  in  which,  among  other  things  touching  the  re-or 
ganization  of  the  State,  they  with  great  unanimity  adopted  tho 
following  resolutions  : 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  people  of  Tenneessee,  who  are  now 
and  have  been  attached  to  the  National  Union,  do  hold  an  elec 
tion  for  President  and  Vice-President  in  the  ensuing  election 
in  November 

3.  That  the  electors  shall  be  the  following  and  no  others  ; 
the    same  being  free  white  men,    twenty-one   years   of   age, 
citizens  of  the  United   States,  and  for  six  months  previous  to 
the  election,  citizens  of  the  State  of  Tennessee — 

1st.  And  who  have  voluntarily  borne  arms  in  the  service  of 
the  United  States  during  the  present  war,  and  who  are  either  in 
the  service  or  have  been  honorably  discharged. 

2d.  All  the  known  active  friends  of  the  Government  of  tho 
United  States  in  each  county. 

4.  Resolved,  That  the  citizen  electors  designated  in  the  fore 
going  resolutions  shall,  at  least  fifteen  days  before  the  election, 
register  their  names  with  an  agent  to  be  appointed  for  that  pur 
pose,  and  no  citizen   not  thus  registered   shall  be  allowed  to 
vote.     Such  registration  shall  be  open  to  the  publfc  for  inspec 
tion,  and  to   be  executed  according  to  such  regulations  as  may 
hereafter  be  prescribed  :  Provided  that  the  officers  of  the  elec 
tion,  in   the  discharge  of  their  duty,  may  reject  any  party  so 
registered  on  proof  of  disloyalty. 

5.  Resolved,  That,  as  means  for  ascertaining  the  qualifica 
tions  of  the  voters,  the  registers  and  officers  holding  the  elec 
tion  may  examine  the  parties  on  oath  touching  any  matter  of 
fact.     And   each   voter,   before   depositing  his  vote,  shall  be 
required  to  take  and  subscribe  the  following  oath,  viz  : 

I  solemnly  swear,  that  I  will  henceforth  support  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States,  and  defend  it  against  the  assaults 
of  all  enemies  ;  that  I  am  an  active  friend  of  the  Government 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  enemy  of  the  so-called  Confede 
rate  States  ;  that  I  ardently  desire  the  suppression  of  the  pre 
sent  rebellion  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States ; 
that  I  sincerely  rejoice  in  the  triumph  of  the  armies  and  navies 
of  the  United  States,  and  in  the  defeat  and  overthrow  of  the 
armies,  navies,  and  of  all  armed  combination  in  the  interest  of 
the  so-called  Confederate  States  ;  that  I  will  cordially  oppose  all 
armistices  or  negotiations  for  peace  with  rebels  in  arms,  until 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  all  laws  and  procla 
mations  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  shall  be  established  over 
all  the  people  of  every  State  and  Territory  embraced  within 
the  National  Union,  and  that  I  will  heartily  aid  and  assist  the 


G56  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

loyal  people  in  -whatever  measures  may  be  adopted  for  the 
attainment  of  these  ends ;  and  further  that  I  take  this  oath 
freely  and  voluntarily,  and  without  mental  reservation.  So 
help  me  God. 

Said  oath  being  prima  facie  evidence,  subject  to  be  disap 
proved  by  other  testimony. 

6.  Resolved,  That  the  polls  be  opened  at  the  county  seat,  or 
some  other  suitable  place  in  each  county,  and  the  ballot-box  be 
so  guarded  and  protected  as  to  secure  to  electors  a  free,  fair, 
and  impartial  election,  and  that  polls  also  be  opened  for  the 
convenience  of  the  soldiers,  at  such  places  as  may  be  accessible 
to  them. 

And  whereas,  it  further  appears  from  the  proceedings  of  said 
Convention,  "  That  the  Military  Governor  of  the  State  of  Ten 
nessee  is  requested  to  execute  the  foregoing  resolutions  in  such 
manner  as  he  may  think  best  subserves  the  interests  of  tho 
Government." 

And  whereas  I,  Andrew  Johnson,  Military  Governor  of  tho 
State  of  Tennessee,  being  anxious  to  co-operate  with  the 
loyal  people  of  the  State,  and  to  encourage  them  in  all  lauda 
ble  efforts  .to  restore  the  State  to  law  and  order  again,  and  to 
secure  the  ballot-box  against  the  contamination  o£  treason  by 
every  reasonable  restraint  that  can  be  thrown  around  it,  I  dc* 
therefore  order  and  direct  that  an  election  for  President  and 
Yice-President  of  the  United  States  of  America  be  opened 
and  held  at  the  county  seat,  or  other  suitable  place  in  every 
county  in  the  State  of  Tennessee,  upon  the  first  Tuesday  after 
the  first  Monday  in  the  month  of  November  next,  at  which  all 
citizens  and  soldiers,  being  free  white  men,  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  for  six  months  prior 
to  the  election  citizens  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  who  have 
qualified  themselves  by  registration,  and  who  take  the  oath 
prescribed  in  the  foregoing  resolutions,  shall  be  entitled  to  vote, 
unless  said  oath  shall  be  disproved  by  other  testimony,  for  the 
candidates  for  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States. 

And  to  the  end  that  the  foregoing  resolutions,  which  are 
made  part  of  this  proclamation,  may  be  faithfully  executed, 
and  the  loyal  citizens  of  the  State,  and  none  others,  be  per 
mitted  to  exercise  the  right  of  suffrage  I  do  hereby  appoint  the 
several  gentlemen  whose  names  are  affixed  to  this  proclama 
tion,  to  aid  in  said  election,  and  Superintend  the  registration  of 
the  loyal  voters  in  their  respective  counties,  as  provided  by  tho 
fourth  resolution  above  quoted. 

But  as  the  day  of  election  is  near  at  hand,  and  there  may 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  657 

be  a  dificulty  in  completing  tlie  registration  within  the  time 
limited,  it  is  not  intended  that  the  registration  be  an  indispen 
sable  pre-requisite  to  the  qualification  of  the  voter  ;  and  in  such, 
cases,  where  it  is  impracticable,  and  where  the  voter  is  of 
known  and  established  loyalty,  he  shall  be  entitled  to  vote, 
notwithstanding  he  may  not  have  registered  his  name  as 
required  by  the  foregoing  resolution. 

The  election  shall  be  opened,  conducted,  returns  made,  etc., 
in  ail  respects  as  provided  by  the  4th  chapter  of  the  "  Code 
of  Tennnessee,"  except  so  far  as  the  same  is  modified  by  this 
proclamation. 

But  in  cases  where  the  County  Court  fail  or  neglect  to 
appoint  inspectors  or  judges  of  election,  and  there  is  no  Sheriff 
or  other  civil  officer  in  the  county  qualified  by  law  to  open  and 
hold  said  election,  the  registrating  agents,  hereto  appended, 
may  act  in  his  stead,  and  in  all  respects  discharge  the  duties 
imposed  in  such  cases  upon  sheriffs. 

In  like  manner  it  is  declared  the  duty  of  the  military  officers 
commanding  Tennessee  regiments,  battalions,  or  detached 
equads,  and  surgeons  in  charge  of  the  hospitals  of  Tennessee 
soldiers  to  open  and  hold  elections  on  the  day  aforesaid,  under 
the  same  rules  and  regulations  hereinbefore  prescribed,  and  at 
euch  suitable  places  as  will  be  convenient  to  the  soldiers  who 
are  hereby  declared  entitled  to  vote  without  registration. 

In  testimony  whereof,*!,  Andrew  Johnson,  Military 

Governor  of  the  State  of  Tennessee  do  hereunto  set 

[L.  s.]    my  hand,  and  have  caused  the  great  seal  of  the  State 

to  be  affixed  at  this  Department,  on  the  30th  day 

of  September,  A.  D.  1864. 

By  the  Governor :  ANDREW  JOHNSON. 

EDWARD  II.  EAST,  Secretary  of  State. 

[The  names  of  superintendents  of  election  in  the  several 
counties,  and  the  extracts  from  the  Tennessee  code  are  omitted 
here.  J 

At  the  time  these  papers  were  presented  as  before  stated,  I 
had  never  seen  either  of  them,  nor  heard  of  the  subject  to 
which  they  relate,  except  in  a  general  way,  only  one  day  pre 
viously.  Up  to  the  present  moment  nothing  whatever  upon 
the  subject  has  passed  between  Governor  Johnson,  or  any  one 
else  connected  with  the  proclamation  and  myself.  Since 
receiving  the  papers  as  stated,  I  have  given  the  subject  such 
brief  consideration  as  I  have  been  able  to  do  in  the  midst  of 
42 


658  LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

BO  many  pressing  public  duties.  My  conclusion  is  that  I  can 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  matter,  either  to  sustain  the  plan 
as  the  Convention  and  Governor  Johnson  have  initiated  it,  or 
to  revoke  or  modify  it  as  you  demand.  By  the  Constitution 
and  laws,  the  President  is  charged  with  no  duty  in  the  con 
duct  of  a  presidential  election  in  any  State ;  nor  do  I,  in  this 
case,  perceive  any  military  reason  for  his  interference  in  the 
matter.  The  movement  set  on  foot  by  the  Convention  and 
Governor  Johnson  does  not,  as  seems  to  be  assumed  by  you, 
emanate  from  the  National  Executive.  In  no  proper  sense 
can  it  be  considered  other  than  as  an  independent  movement 
of  at  least  a  portion  of  the  loyal  people  of  East  Tennessee.  I 
do  not  perceive  in  the  plan  any  menace  of  violence  or  coercion 
toward  any  one.  Governor  Johnson  like  any  other  loyal  cit 
izen  of  Tennessee,  has  the  right  to  favor  any  political  plan  he 
chooses,  and,  as  Military  Governor,  it  is  his  duty  to  keep  the 
peace  among  and  for  the  loyal  people  of  the  State.  I  can  not 
discern  that  by  this  plan  he  purposes  any  more.  But  you 
object  to  the  plan.  Leaving  it  alone  will  be  your  perfect 
eecurity  against  it.  It  is  not  proposed  to  force  you  into  it. 
Do  as  you  please  on  your  own  account  peacefully  and  loyally, 
and  Gov.  Johnson  will  not  molest  you;  but  will  protect  you 
against  violence  so  far  as  in  his  power. 

I  presume  that  the  conducting  of  a  Presidential  election  in 
Tennessee  in  strict  accordance  with  the  old  code  of  the  State 
is  not  now  a  possibility.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add 
that  if  any  election  shall  be  held,  and  any  votes  shall  be  cast 
in  the  State  of  Tennessee  for  President  and  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States,  it  will  belong,  not  to  the  military  agents 
nor  yet  to  the  Executive  Department,  but  exclusively  to 
another  department  of  the  Government,  to  determine  whether 
they  are  entitled  to  be  counted  ;  in  conformity  with  the  Con 
stitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States.  Except  it  be  to  give 
protection  against  violence,  'I  decline  to  interfere  in  any  way 
with  any  Presidential  election. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

However  important  this  question  might  be  regarded  by 
cither  side,  on  general  grounds,  it  was  already  sufficiently  man 
ifest  that  it  had  no  practical  bearing  on  the  grand  result  of  the 
Presidential  election.  It  might  well  be  doubted  how  far,  in  a 
close  contest,  it  would  have  been  expedient  or  just  to  insist 
OD  an  electoral  majority,  obtained  by  throwing  into  either 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  659 

scale  the  votes  of  States  in  the  condition  of  Tennessee,  Lou 
isiana  and  Arkansas;  but,  that  the  loyal  people  of  those 
States  should  be  protected  in  their  purpose  of  presenting  their 
votes  for  the  acceptance  or  rejection  of  the  two  Houses  of  Con 
gress,  manifestly  follows  from  the  measures  already  taken  to 
secure  to  them  the  enjoyment  of  a  loyal  republican  State  gov 
ernment  ;  and,  to  any  fair  exercise  of  this  privilege  of  voting, 
it  is  difficult  to  see  how  they  could  have  dispensed  with  safe 
guards  like  those  proposed  by  Governor  Johnson.  The 
McClellan  ticket  was,  however,  declared  to  be  withdrawn,  and 
and  the  opponents  of  the  Administration  in  Tennessee  mostly 
abstained  from  voting. 

Great  exertions  were  made  by  the  Opposition  to  carry  the 
State  of  New  York  for  McClellan,  and  to  re-elect  Governor 
Seymour.  The  Rebel  Benjamin's  project  of  "colonizing 
voters "  from  Canada,  may  or  may  not  have  been  actually 
undertaken.  Certain  it  is,  that  a  gigantic  fraud  was  attempted, 
under  the  peculiar  law  of  New  York,  in  regard  to  the  voting 
of  soldiers  by  proxy — a  fraud  requiring  no  small  expenditure 
of  money  for  its  execution.  The  parties  convicted  of  this 
crime  were  manifestly  but  the  tools  of  others  unknown,  from 
whom  they  received  the  means  and  the  incitement.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that,  but  for  the  discovery  of  this  enormity 
before  the  plot  was  fully  carried  out,  the  actual  voice  of  the  peo 
ple  of  New  York  would  have  been  annulled,  and  a  false  majority, 
returned.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  charges  of  fraud  or  unfair 
ness  in  elections  to  be  loosely  made  on  both  sides.  It  would 
certainly  be  unjust  to  hold  any  party,  as  such,  responsible  for 
all  that  designing  individuals  may  do  in  its  behalf.  But  the 
statements  made  in  this  instance  are  based  on  definite  proof, 
and  the  facts  fall  in,  not  unnaturally,  with  the  conduct  of  many 
of  the  men  who  were  zealously  striving  for  the  defeat  of  Mr. 
Lincoln. 

On  •  the  8th  day  of  November,  the  people  expressed  their 
sovereign  will  in  regard  to  the  Presidency  and  Vice-Presi 
dency  for  another  term.  In  the  midst  of  the  struggle  with  a 
powerful  rebellion,  at  the  close  of  a  canvass  in  which  the  party 


660  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

administering  the  government,  had  been  assailed  in  the  most 
violent  and  threatening  terms,  and  at  a  time  when  on-looking 
nations  might  naturally  expect  ruinous  convulsions  and  a  lapse 
into  anarchy  or  despotism,  the  election  in  every  city,  village, 
and  precinct  of  the  loyal  States,  proceeded  with  an  order  and 
decorum  scarcely  equalled  in  the  most  peaceful  times.  Even 
the  soldier  who  was  just  going  into  battle  remembered  the  day, 
and  was  careful  to  exercise  the  right  of  a  freeman.  The  spec 
tacle  was  impressive.  Its  lesson  could  nowhere  be  mistaken. 

In  I860,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  received  the  electoral  votes  of 
seventeen  States,  (that  of  New  Jersey  being  divided,)  in  all 
180  votes,  and  an  aggregate  popular  vote  of  1,866,452.  In 
1864,  the  number  of  States  that  voted  for  him  was  twenty- two,* 
having  a  total  electoral  vote  of  213,  while  he  received  an  aggre 
gate  popular  vote  of  2,203,831.  The  whole  number  of  votes 
cast  for  Mr.  Lincoln  in  1860,  in  the  slave -holding  States  was 
26,430.  In  1864,  he  received  in  those  States  (including  Mary 
land,  "West  Virginia  and  Missouri,  which  became  non-slavehold- 
ing  during  his  administration)  an  aggregate  vote  of  169,728. 
These  several  statements  do  not  include  Tennessee,  Louisiana 
or  Arkansas,  the  votes  of  which  were  excluded  in  the  official 
canvass  by  Congress. 

Only  three  States  voted  for  Gen.  McClellan,  namely :  New 
Jersey,  Delaware  and  Kentucky,  giving  an  aggregate  electoral 
vote  of  21.  Mr.  Lincoln  thus  received  more  than  ten  to  one 
in  the  electoral  college.  The  total  popular  vote  for  McClellan 
was  1,797,019.  The  majority  for  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  popular 
vote  was  406,812. 

*  This  includes  the  States  of  Kansas  and  Nevada,  admitted  into  tho 
Union  since  1860,  and  of  West  Virginia,  formed  by  the  division  of 
the  State  of  Virginia. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


661 


The  vote  of  the  several  States  may  be  se'en  in  the  following 
table: 


STATES. 

POPULAR  VOTE. 

ELECTORAL   VOTE. 

Lincoln 

M'Clellan 

Lincoln 

M'Clellan 

61,803 
36,400 
42,419 
126,742 
13,692 
44,691 
368,735 
60,723 
296,391 
8,155 
40,153 
26,592 
264,975 
.150,238 
189,496 
71,676 
85,352 
83,458 
89,075 
58,698 
25,060 
9,888 
16,441 
23,152 
9,826 

44,211 
32,871 
13.321 
48,745 

8,470 
42,285 
1    361,986 
68,024 
'    276,316 
8,767 
32,739 
61,478 
205,557 
130,233 
158.730 
31J626 
67,370 
65,884 
49,596 
42,255 
17,375 
8,457 
3,691 
10,438 
6,504 

7 
5 
5 
12 
4 
6 
33 

26 
7 

21 
13 
16 
11 
8 
8 
8 
5 
4 
3 
3 
5 
3* 

213 

7 
3 
11 

21 

Kentucky  

Ohio  

Indiana  

Missouri     

Jklichi^an              •                     .  .. 

Wisconsin  

California  

Minnesota             ..         ...    ... 

Kansas  

Total  

2,203,831 

1,797,019 

On  the  evening  of  November  10th,  a  procession,  with  music, 
banners  and  transparencies,  marched  to  the  White  House  to 
pay  their  compliments  to  President  Lincoln.  A  national 
salute  was  fired,  and  cheers,  prolonged  and  earnest,  greeted 
the  appearance  of  the  President  at  the  window  from  which  he 
was  accustomed  to  speak  when  thus  called  out  by  his  friends. 
On  this  joyous  occasion,  free  from  any  manifestations  of  merely 


*Thc  official  report  of  the  Canvassing  Committee,  on  the  second 
Wednesday  in  February,  as  printed  in  the  Globe,  gives  but  two 
electoral  votes  for  Nevada,  and  a  total  for  Mr.  Lincoln  of  212. 


662  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

personal   or  even   partisan  triumph,  he   made   the  following 
memorable  speech : 

FRIENDS  AND  FELLOW  CITIZENS  :  It  has  long  been  a  gravo 
question  whether  any  government  not  too  strong  for  the  liber 
ties  of  its  people  can  be  strong  enough  to  maintain  its  own 
existence  in  great  emergencies.  On  this  point  the  present 
Rebellion  brought  our  Republic  to  a  severe  test ;  and  a  Presi 
dential  election,  occurring  in  regular  course  during  the  Rebel 
lion,  added  not  a  little  to  the  strain. 

If  the  loyal  people  united  were  put  to  the  utmost  of  their 
strength  by  the  rebellion,  must  they  not  fall  when  divided  and 
partially  paralyzed  by  a  political  war  among  themselves  ? 

But  the  election  was  a  necessity.  We  can  not  have  free 
government  without  elections ;  and  if  the  rebellion  could  force 
us  to  forego  or  postpone  a  national  election,  it  might  fairly 
claim  to  have  already  conquered  and  ruined  us.  The  strife  of 
the  election  is  but  human  nature  practically  applied  to  the 
facts  of  the  case.  What  has  occurred  in  this  case,  must  ever 
recur  in  similar  cases.  Human  nature  will  not  change.  In 
any  future  great  national  trial,  compared  with  the  men  of  this, 
we  shall  have  as  weak  and  as  strong,  as  silly  and  as  wise,  as 
bad  and  as  good. 

Let  us,  therefore,  study  the  incidents  of  this,  as  philosophy 
to  learn  wisdom  from,  and  none  of  them  as  wrongs  to  be 
revenged. 

But  the  election,  along  with  its  incidental  and  undesirable 
strife,  has  done  good  too.  It  has  demonstrated  that  a  people's 
government  can  sustain,  a  national  election  in  the  midst  of  a 
great  civil  war.  [Enthusiastic  cheers."]  Until  now,  it  has  not 
been  known  to  the  world  that  this  was  a  possibility.  It  shows, 
also,  how  sound  and  how  strong  we  still  are.  It  shows  that, 
even  among  candidates  of  the  same  party,  he  who  is  most 
devoted  to  the  Union,  and  most  opposed  to  treason,  can  receive 
most  of  the  people's  votes.  [Long-continued  applause.]  It 
shows,  also,  to  the  extent  yet  known,  that  we  have  more  men 
now  than  we  had  when  the  war  began.  Gold  is  good  in  its 
place,  but  living,  brave,  patriotic  men,  are  better  than  gold. 
[Applause.] 

But  the  rebellion  continues ;  and  now  that  the  election  is 
over,  may  not  all,  having  a  common  interest,  re-unite  in  a  com 
mon  effort  to  save  our  common  country  ?  [Cries  of  "  Yes," 
"  Good."]  For  my  own  part,  I  have  striven,  and  will  strive, 
to  avoid  placing  any  obstacle  in  the  way.  So  long  as  I  have 
been  here,  I  have  not  •willingly  planted  a  thorn  in  any  man'a 
bosom. 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  663 

While  I  am  deeply  sensible  to  the  high  compliment  of  a 
reelection,  and  duly  grateful,  as  I  trust,  to  Almighty  God,  for 
naving  directed  my  countrymen  to  a  right  conclusion,  as  I 
think,  for  their  own  good,  it  adds  nothing  to  my  satisfaction 
that  any  other  man  may  be  disappointed  or  pained  by  tho 
result.  [Applause.] 

May  I  ask  those  who  have  not  differed  with  me  to  join  with 
me  in  the  same  spirit  toward  those  who  have  ? 

And  now,  let  me  close  by  asking  three  hearty  cheers  for  our 
brave  soldiers  and  seamen,  and  their  gallant  and  skillful 
commanders. 

The  cheers  were  given  with  hearty  good-will  in  response  to 
the  President's  call.  A  venerable  Democrat  in  the  crowd 
remarked,  with  feeling :  "  God  is  good  to  us.  He  has  again 
given  us  as  a  ruler,  that  sublime  specimen  of  His  noblest  work, 
an  honest  man."  , 

The  result  of  the  election  becoming  known  to  the  army, 
Lieut. -Gen.  Grant  sent  the  following  congratulatory  dispatch 
to  the  Secretary  of  War : 

CITY  POINT,  Nov.  10,  1864—10.30  P.  M. 
Hon.  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War: 

Enough  now  seems  to  be  known  to  say  who  is  to  hold  tho 
reins  of  Government  for  the  next  four  years. 

Congratulate  the  President  for  me  for  this  double  victory. 

The  election  having  passed  off  quietly,  no  bloodshed  or  riot 
throughout  the  land,  is  a  victory  worth  more  to  the  country 
than  a  battle  won. 

Rebeldom  and  Europe  will  construe  it  so. 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant  General. 

The  election  had,  in  fact,  demonstrated  to  the  Rebels,  and 
to  the  world,  that  the  people  were  determined  to  sustain  our 
armies,  and  to  keep  their  ranks  filled  with  new  levies,  so  long 
as  needed,  until  the  last  vestige  of  armed  opposition  to  tho 
Government  should  disappear.  To  the  soldier,  and  to  the  cit 
izen  ready  to  become  a  soldier — should  he  be  wanted — tho 
result  was  alike  gratifying.  The  assertion  of  the  Chicago 
platform,  that  the  war  was  a  failure,  was  branded  as  false. 
The  impudent  demand  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  in  th« 
midst  of  the  full  tide  of  success,  was  emphatically  rebuked 


664  LIFE   OT   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

The  recreant  intrigues  with  a  cabal  of  traitors  in  Canada,  wero 
condemned  to  the  infamy  they  deserved.  The  malignant  cal 
umnies  against  the  noblest  and  truest  of  rulers  were  summa 
rily  repudiated.  Every  man  who  had  any  thing  at  stake,  of 
whatever  party,  breathed  freer  for  the  demonstrated  stability 
of  our  Government.  Better  days  already  dawned  on  the 
Republic. 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  665 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Second  Session  of  the  Thirty-Eighth  Congress. — President  Lincoln's 
last  Annual  Message. — Cabinet  Changes. — Mr.  Blair  withdraws, 
and  Gov.  Dennison  becomes  Postmaster-General. — Mr.  Speed  Suc 
ceeds  Judge  Bates,  as  Attorney-General. — Death  of  Chief  Justice 
Taney. — Mr.  Chase  his  Successor. — Our  Relations  with  Canada. — 
The  Reciprocity  Treaty  to  Terminate.—- Call  for  300,000  more  Sol 
diers. — Amendment  of  the  Constitution,  Prohibiting  Slavery,  Con 
curred  in  by  the  House. — Popular  Rejoicing. — The  Rebel  Treatment 
of  Union  Prisoners.  —  Retaliation  Discussed  in  the  Senate,  but  Re 
pugnant  to  Public  Sentiment. — The  Wharncliflfe  Correspondence. — 
Testimony  of  Goldwin  Smith. — Peace  Memorial  from  Great  Brit 
ain. — Correspondence  Thereon. — Congratulatory  Address  of  the 
Workingmen  of  Great  Britain. — Speech  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  Reply  to 
the  Swedish  Minister. — Speech  of  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  Death  of 
Edward  Everett. — Political  affairs  in  Tennessee,  Louisiana  and 
Arkansas. — Abortive  Peace  Negotiations. — Full  Details  of  the  Hamp 
ton  Roads  Conference. — Rebel  Accounts  of  the  Same. — Affairs  in 
Richmond.— Close  of  the  Thirty-Eighth  Congress. — Creation  of  tho 
Bureau  of  Freedmen,  and  other  Legislation.  ^ 

«k 

The  second  session  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  com 
menced  on  the  5th  of  December,  1864.  On  the  next  day,  Pre 
sident  Lincoln  transmitted  to  the  two  houses  his  annual  nies- 
Bage — exhibiting  with  brevity  and  force  the  general  progress 
of  events,  and  the  present  condition  of  national  affairs — as 
follows : 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRE 
SENTATIVES  : — Again  the  blessings  of  health  and  abundant 
harvests  claim  our  profoundest  gratitude  to  Almighty  God. 

The  condition  of  our  foreign  affairs  is  reasonably  satisfac 
tory. 

Mexico  continues  to  be  a  theater  of  civil  war.  While  our 
political  relations  with  that  country  have  undergone  no  change, 
we  have,  at  the  same  time,  strictly  maintained  neutrality 
between  the  belligerents. 


6CG  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

At  the  request  of  the  States  of  Costa  Rica  and  Nicaragua,  a 
competent  engineer  has  been  authorized  to  make  a  survey  of 
the  river  San  Juan  and  the  port  of  San  Juan.  It  is  a  source 
of  much  satisfaction  that  the  difficulties  which  for  a  moment 
excited  some  political  apprehensions,  and  caused  a  closing  of 
the  inter-oceanic  transit  route,  have  been  amicably  adjusted, 
and  that  there  is  a  good  prospect  that  the  route  will  soon  bo 
re-opened  with  an  increase  of  capacity  and  adaptation.  We 
could  not  exaggerate  cither  the  commercial  or  the  political 
importance  of  that  great  improvement. 

It  would  be  doing  injustice  to  an  important  South  American 
State  not  to  acknowledge  the  directness,  frankness,  and  cordial 
ity  with  which  the  United  States  of  Colombia  have  entered 
into  intimate  relations  with  this  Government,  A  claims  con 
vention  has  been  constituted  to  complete  the  unfinished  work 
of  the  one  which  closed  its  session  in  18G1. 

The  new  liberal  constitution  of  Venezuela  having  gone  into 
effect  with  the  universal  acquiescence  of  the  people,  the 
Government  under  it  has  been  recognized,  and  diplomatic  inter 
course  with  it  has  opened  in  a  cordial  and  friendly  spirit.  Tho 
long-deferred  Aves  Island  claim  has  been  satisfactorily  paid 
and  discharged. 

Mutual  payments  have  been  made  of  the  claims  awarded  by 
the  late  joint  commission  for  the  settlement  of  claims  between 
the  United  States  and  Peru.  An  earnest  and  cordial  friend 
ship  continues  to  exist  between  the  two  'countries,  and  such 
efforts  as  were  in  my  power  have  been  used  to  remove  misun 
derstanding  and  avert  a  threatened  war  between  Peru  and 
Spain.  * 

Our  relations  are  of  the  most  friendly  nature  with  Chili,  the 
Argentine  Republic,  Bolivia,  Costa  Rica,  Paraguay,  San  Sal 
vador,  and  Hayti. 

During  the  past  year  no  differences  of  any  kind  have  arisen 
•with  any  of  those  republics,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  their  sym 
pathies  with  the  United  States  are  constantly  expressed  with 
cordiality  and  earnestness. 

The  claim  arising  from  the  seizure  of  the  cargo  of  the  brig 
Macedonian  in  1821  has  been  paid  in  full  by  the  Government 
of  Chili. 

Civil  war  continues  in  the  Spanish  part  of  San  Domingo, 
apparently  without  prospect  of  an  early  close. 

Official  correspondence  has  been  freely  opened  with  Liberia, 
and  it  give*  us  a  pleasing  view  of  social  and  political  progresi 
in  that  republic.  It  may  be  expected  to  derive  new  vigor  from 
American  influence,  improved  by  the  rapid  disappearance  of 
slavery  in  the  United  States. 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  607 

I  solicit  your  authority  to  furnish  to  the  republic  a  gunboat 
at  moderate  cost,  to  be  reimbursed  to  the  United  States  by 
installments.  Such  a  vessel  is  needed  for  the  safety  of  that 
State  against  the  native  African  races;  and  in  Liberian  hands 
it  would  be  more  effective  in  arresting  the  African  slave  trade 
than  a  squadron  in  our  own  hands.  The  possession  of  the 
least  organized  naval  force  would  stimulate  a  generous  ambi 
tion  in  the  republic,  and  the  confidence  which  we  should  man 
ifest  by  furnishing  it  would  win  forbearance  and  favor  toward 
the  colony  from  all  civilized  nations. 

The  proposed  overland  telegraph  between  America  and 
Europe,  by  the  way  of  Behring's  Straits  and  Asiatic  Russia, 
which  was  sanctioned  by  Congress  at  the  last  session,  has  been 
undertaken,  under  very  favorable  circumstances,  by  an  associa 
tion  of  American  citizens,  with  the  cordial  good-will  and  sup 
port  as  well  of  this  Government  as  of  those  of  Great  Britain 
and  Russia.  Assurances  have  been  received  from  most  of  the 
South  American  States  of  their  high  appreciation  of  the  enter 
prise,  and  their  readiness  to  cooperate  in  constructing  lines 
tributary  to  that  world-encircling  communication.  I  learn 
with  much  satisfaction  that  the  noble  design  of  a  telegraphic 
communication  between  the  eastern  coast  of  America  and 
Great  Britain  has  been  renewed  with  full  expectation  of  its 
early  accomplishment. 

Thus  it  is  hoped  that  with  the  return  of  domestic  peace  the 
country  will  be  able  to  resume  with  energy  and  advantage  its 
former  high  career  of  commerce  and  civilization. 

Our  very  popular  and  estimable  representative  in  Egypt 
died  in  April  last.  An  unpleasant  altercation  which  arose 
between  the  temporary  incumbent  of  the  office  and  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  Pasha  resulted  in  a  suspension  of  intercourse. 
The  evil  was  promptly  corrected  on  the  arrival  of  the  successor 
to  the  consulate,  and  our  relations  with  Egypt,  as  well  as  our 
relations  with  the  Barbary  Powers,  are  entirely  satisfactory. 

The  rebellion  which  has  so  long  been  flagrant  in  China,  has 
at  last  been  suppressed,  with  the  cooperating  good  offices  of 
this  Government,  and  of  the  other  western  commercial  States. 
The  judicial  consular  establishment  there  has  become  very 
difficult  and  onorous,  and  it  will  need  legislative  revision  to 
adapt  it  to  the  extension  of  our  commerce,  and  to  the  more 
intimate  intercourse  which  has  been  instituted  with  the  Gov 
ernment  and  people  of  that  vast  empire.  China  seems  to  bo 
accepting  with  hearty  good-will  the  conventional  laws  which 
regulate  commercial  and  social  intercourse  among  the  western 
nations. 

Owing  to  the  peculiar  situation  of  Japan,  and  the  anomalous 


668  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

form  of  its  government,  the  action  of  that  empire  in  perform* 
ing  treaty  stipulations  is  inconstant  and  capricious.  Never 
theless,  good  progress  has  been  effected  by  the  western  Powers, 
moving  with  enlightened  concert.  Our  own  pecuniary  claims 
have  been  allowed,  or  put  in  course  of  settlement,  and  the 
inland  sea  has  been  re-opened  to  commerce.  There  is  reason 
also  to  believe  that  these  proceedings  have  increased  rather 
than  diminished  the  friendship  of  Japan  toward  the  United 
States. 

The  ports  of  Norfolk,  Fernandina,  and  Pensacola  have  been 
opened  by  proclamation.  It  is  hoped  that  foreign  merchants 
will  now  consider  whether  it  is  not  safer,  and  more  profitable 
to  themselves,  as  well  as  just  to  the  United  States,  to  resort  to 
these  and  other  open  ports,  than  it  is  to  pursue,  through  many 
hazards,  and  at  vast  cost,  a  contraband  trade  with  the  other 
ports  which  aro  closed,  if  not  by  actual  military  occupation,  at 
least  by  a  lawful  and  effective  blockade. 

For  myself,  I  have  no  doubt  of  the  power  and  duty  of  the 
Executive,  under  the  law  of  nations,  to  exclude  enemies  of  the 
human  race  from  an  asylum  in  the  United  States.  If  Con 
gress  should  think  that  proceedings  in  such  cases  lack  the 
authority  of  law,  or  ought  to  be  further  regulated  by  it,  I 
recommend  that  provision  be  made  for  effectully  preventing 
foreign  slave  traders  from  acquiring  domicile  and  facilities  for 
their  criminal  occupation  in  our  country. 

It  is  possible  that,  if  it  were  a  new  and  open  question,  the 
maritime  Powers,  with  the  lights  they  now  enjoy,  would  not 
concede  the  privileges  of  a  naval  belligerent  to  the  insurgents 
of  the  United  States,  destitute,  as  they  are,  and  always  have 
been,  equally  of  ships-of-war  and  of  port  and  harbors.  Dis 
loyal  cmmissaries  have  been  neither  less  assiduous  nor  more 
successful  during  the  last  year  than  they  were  before  that  time 
in  their  efforts,  under  favor  of  that  privilege,  to  embroil  our 
country  in  foreign  wars.  The  desire  and  determination  of  the 
governments  of  the  maritime  States  to  defeat  that  design  are 
believed  to  be  as  sincere  as,  and  can  not  be  more  earnest  than 
our  own.  Nevertheless,  unibrseen  political  difficulties  have 
arisen,  especially  in  Brazilian  and  British  ports,  and  on  the 
northern  boundary  of  the  United  States,  which  have  required, 
and  are  likely  to  continue  to  require,  the  practice  of  constant 
vigilance,  and  a  just  and  conciliatory  spirit  ou  the  part  of  the 
United  States,  as  well  as  of  the  nations  concerned  and  their 
governments. 

Commissioners  have  been  appointed  under  the  treaty  with 
Great  Britain  on  the  adjustment  of  the  claims  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  and  Puget  Sound  Agricultural  Companies,  in  Oregon,  and 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  669 

are  now  proceeding  to  the  execution  of  the  trust  assigned  to 
them. 

In  view  of  the  insecurity  of  life  and  property  in  the  region 
adjacent  to  the  Canadian  border,  by  reason  of  recent  assaults 
and  depredations,  committed  by  inimical  and  desperate  persons 
•who  are  harbored  there,  it  has  been  thought  proper  to  give 
notice  that  after  the  expiration  of  six  months,  the  period  con 
ditionally  stipulated  in  the  existing  arrangements  with  Great 
Britain,  the  United  States  must  hold  themselves  at  liberty  to 
increase  their  naval  armament  upon  the  lakes  if  they  shall  find 
that  proceeding  necessary.  The  condition  of  the  border  will 
necessarily  come  into  consideration  in  connection  with  the 
question  of  continuing  or  modifying  the  rights  of  transit  from 
Canada,  through  the  United  States,  as  well  as  the  regulation 
of  imposts,  which  were  temporarily  established  by  the  reci 
procity  treaty  of  the  5th  June,  1854. 

I  desire,  however,  to  be  understood,  while  making  this  state 
ment,  that  the  colonial  authorities  of  Canada  are  not  deemed 
to  be  intentionally  unjust  or  unfriendly  toward  the  United 
States ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  there  is  every  reason  to  expect 
that,  with  the  approval  of  the  imperial  Government,  they  will 
take  the  necessary  measures  to  prevent  new  incursions  across 
the  border. 

The  act  passed  at  the  last  session  for  the  encouragement  of 
emigration,  has,  so  far  as  was  possible  been  put  into  operation. 
It  seems  to  need  amendment  which  will  enable  the  officers  of 
the  Government  to  prevent  the  practice  of  frauds  against  the 
immigrants  while  on  their  way,  and  on  their  arrival  in  the  ports, 
BO  as  to  secure  them  here  a  free  choice  of  avocations  and  places 
of  settlement.  A  liberal  disposition  toward  this  great  national 
policy  is  manifested  by  most  of  the  European  States,  and  ought 
to  be  reciprocated  on  our  part  by  giving  the  immigrants  effec 
tive  national  protection.  I  regard  our  emigrants  as  one  of  the 
principle  replenishing  streams  which  are  appointed  by  Provi 
dence  to  repair  the  ravages  of  internal  war,  and  its  wastes  of 
national  strength  and  health.  All  that  is  necessary,  is  to  secure 
the  flow  of  that  stream  in  its  present  fullness,  and  to  that  end 
the  Government  must,  in  every  way,  make  it  manifest  that  it 
neither  needs  nor  designs  to  impose  involuntarily  military  ser- 
vice  upon  those  who  come  from  other  lands  to  cast  their  lot  in 
our  country. 

The  financial  affairs  of  the  Government  have  been  success 
fully  administered  during  the  last  year.  The  legislation  of  the 
last  session  of  Congress  has  beneficially  affected  the  revenues, 
although  sufficient  time  has  not  yet  elapsed  to  experience  the 


670  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

full  effect  of  several  of  the  provisions  of  the  acts  of  Congress 
imposing  increased  taxation. 

The  receipts  during  the  year,  from  all  sources,  upon  the 
basis  of  warrants  signed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
including  loans  and  the  balance  in  the  Treasury  on  the  1st  day 
of  July,  1863,  were  $1,394,796,007  62;  and  the  aggregate  dis 
bursements,  upon  the  same  basis,  were  $1,298,056,101  89, 
leaving  a  balance  in  the  Treasury,  as  shown  by  warrants,  of 
696,839,905  73. 

Deduct  from  these  amounts  the  amount  of  the  principal  of 
the  public  debt  redeemed,  and  the  amount  of  issues  in  substi 
tution  therefor,  and  the  actual  cash  operations  of  the  Treasury 
were:  receipts,  $884,076,646,  57;  disbursements,  $865,234,- 
087  86  ;  which  leaves  a  cash  balance  in  the  Treasury  of  $18,- 
842,558  71. 

Of  the  receipts,  there  were  derived  from  customs  $102,316,- 
152  99;  from  lands,  $588,333  29  ;  from  direct  taxes,  $475,648 
96;  from  internal  revenue,  $109,741,13410;  from  miscella 
neous  sources,  $47,511,448  10  ;  and  from  loans  applied  to 
actual  expenditures,  including  former  balance,  $623,443,- 
929  13. 

There  were  disbursed,  for  the  civil  service,  $27,505,599  46  ; 
for  pensions  and  Indians,  $7,517,930  97 ;  for  the  War  Depart 
ment,  $690,791,842  97 ;  for  the  Navy  Department,  $85,733,- 
292  77  ;  for  interest  of  the  public  debt,  $53,685,421  69— 
making  an  aggregate  of  $865,234,087  86,  and  leaving  a 
balance  in  the  Treasury  of  $18,842,558  71,  as  before  stated. 

For  the  actual  receipts  and  disbursements  for  the  first  quar 
ter,  and  the  estimated  receipts  and  disbursements  for  the  three 
remaining  quarters  of  the  current  fiscal  year,  and  the  general 
operations  of  the  Treasury  in  detail,  I  refer  you  to  the  report 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  I  concur  with  him  in  the 
opinion  that  the  proportion  of  moneys  required  to  meet  the 
expenses  consequent  upon  the  war  derived  from  taxation  should 
be  still  further  increased ;  and  I  earnestly  invite  your  atten 
tion  to  this  subject,  to  the  end  that  there  may  be  such  addi 
tional  legislation  as  shall  be  required  to  meet  the  just  expecta 
tions  of  the  Secretary. 

The  public  debt  on  the  1st  day  of  July  last,  as  appears  by 
the  books  of  the  Treasury,  amounted  to  $1,740,690,489  49. 
Probably,  should  the  war  continue  for  another  year,  that 
amount  may  be  increased  by  not  far  from  $500,000,000.  Held 
as  it  is,  for  the  most  part,  by  our  own  people,  it  has  become  a 
substantial  branch  of  national,  though  private,  property.  For 
obvious  reasons,  the  more  nearly  this  property  can  b*  dis 
tributed  among  all  the  people  the  better.  To  favor  such  gene- 


"LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  671 

ral  distribution,  greater  inducements  to  become  owners  might, 
perhaps,  with  good  effect  and  without  injury,  be  presented  to 
persons  of  limited  means.  With  this  view,  I  suggest  whether 
it  might  not  be  both  competent  and  expedient  for  Congress  to 
provide  that  a  limited  amount  of  some  future  issue  of  public 
securities  might  be  held  by  any  bona  fide  purchaser  exempt 
from  taxation  and  from  seizure  for  debt,  under  such  restrictions 
and  limitations  as  might  be  necessary  to  guard  against  abuse 
of  so  important  a  privilege.  This  would  enable  every  prudent 
person  to  set  aside  a  small  annuity  against  a  possible  day  of 
want. 

Privileges  like  these  would  render  the  possession  of  such 
securities,  to  the  amount  limited,  most  desirable  to  every  per 
son  of  small  means  who  might  be  able  to  save  enough  for  the 
purpose.  The  great  advantage  of  citizens  being  creditors  as 
well  as  debtors,  with  relation  to  the  public  debt,  is  obvious. 
Men  readily  perceive  that  they  can  not  be  much  oppressed  by 
a  debt  which  they  owe  to  themselves. 

The  public  debt  on  the  1st  day  of  July  last,  although  some 
what  exceeding  the  estimate  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
made  to  Congress  at  the  commencement  of  the  last  session, 
falls  short  of  the  estimate  of  that  officer  made  in  the  preceding 
December,  as  to  its  probable  amount  at  the  beginning  of  this 
year,  by  the  sum  of  83,905,097  31.  This  fact  exhibits  a 
satisfactory  condition  and  conduct  of  the  operations  of  the 
Treasury. 

The  national  banking  system  is  proving  to  be  acceptable  to 
capitalists  and  to  the  people.  On  the  25th  day  of  Novem 
ber,  five  hundred  and  eighty-four  national  banks  had  been 
organized,  a  considerable  number  of  which  were  conver 
sions  from  State  banks.  Changes  from  State  systems  to  the 
national  system  are  rapidly  taking  place,  and  it  is  hoped  that 
very  soon  there  will  be  in  the  United  States  no  banks  of  issue 
not  authorized  by  Congress,  and  no  bank-note  circulation  not 
secured  by  the  Government.  That  the  Government  and  the 
people  will  derive  great  benefit  from  this  change  in  the  bank 
ing  systems  of  the  country  can  hardly  be  questioned.  The 
national  system  will  create  a  reliable  and  permanent  influence 
in  support  of  the  national  credit,  and  protect  the  people  against 
losses  in  the  use  of  paper  money.  Whether  or  not  any  further 
legislation  is  advisable  for  the  suppression  of  State  bank  issues, 
it  will  be  for  Congress  to  determine.  It  seems  quite  clear  that 
the  Treasury  can  not  be  satisfactorily  conducted  unless  the 
Government  can  exercise  a  restraining  power  over  the  bank 
note  circulation  of  the  country. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  accompanying 


672  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

documents,  will  detail  the  campaigns  of  the  armies  in  the  field 
eince  the  date  of  the  last  annual  message,  and  also  the  opera 
tions  of  the  several  administrative  bureaus  of  the  "War  Depart 
ment  during  the  last  year.  It  will  also  specify  the  measures 
deemed  essential  for  the  national  defense,  and  to  keep  up  and 
supply  the  requisite  military  force. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  presents  a  compre 
hensive  and  satisfactory  exhibit  of  the  affairs  of  that  Depart 
ment  of  the  naval  service.  It  is  a  subject  of  congratulation 
and  laudable  pride  to  our  countrymen  that  a  navy  of  such  vast 
proportions  has  been  organized  in  so  brief  a  period,  and  con 
ducted  with  so  much  efficiency  and  success. 

The  general  exhibit  of  the  Navy,  including  vessels  under 
construction  on  the  1st  of  December,  1864,  shows  a  total  of 
671  vessels,  carrying  4,610  guns,  and  of  510,396  tons,  being 
an  actual  increase  during  the  year,  over  and  above  all  losses  by 
shipwreck  or  in  battle,  of  83  vessels,  167  guns,  and  42,427 
tons. 

The  total  number  of  men  at  this  time  in  the  naval  service, 
including  officers,  is  about  51,000. 

There  have  been  captured  by  the  Navy  during  the  year,  324 
vessels,  and  the  whole  number  of  naval  captures  since  hostili 
ties  commenced,  is  1,379,  of  which  267  are  steamers. 

The  gross  proceeds  arising  from  the  sale  of  condemned 
prize  property,  thus  far  reported,  amount  to  §14,396,250  51. 
A  large  amount  of  such  proceeds  is  still  under  adjudication, 
and  yet  to  be  reported. 

The  total  expenditures  of  the  Navy  Department  of  every 
description,  including  the  cost  of  the  immense  squadrons  that 
have  been  called  into  existence  from  the  4th  of  March,  1861, 
to  the  1st  of  November,  1864,  are  $238,647,262  35. 

Your  favorable  consideration  is  invited  to  the  various  recom 
mendations  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  especially  in  regard 
to  a  navy-yard  and  suitable  establishment  for  the  construction 
and  repair  of  iron  vessels,  and  the  machinery  and  armature  for 
our  ships,  to  which  reference  was  made  in  my  last  annnal 
message. 

Your  attention  is  also  invited  to  the  views  expressed  in  tho 
report  in  relation  to  the  legislation  of  Congress  at  its  last  ses 
sion  in  respect  to  prize  on  our  inland  waters. 

I  cordially  concur  in  the  recommendation  of  the  Secretary 
as  to  the  propriety  of  creating  the  new  rank  of  vice  admiral 
in  our  naval  service. 

Your  attention  is  invited  to  the  report  of  the  Postmaster 
General  for  a  detailed  account  of  the  operations  and  financial 
condition  of  the  Post  Office  Department. 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  673> 

The  postal  revenues  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1864, 
amounted  to  §12,438,353  78,  and  the  expenditures  to  $12r 
644,786  20 ;  the  excess  of  expenditures  over  receipts  being 
§206,652  42. 

The  views  presented  by  the  Postmaster  General  on  the  sub 
ject  of  special  grants  by  the  Government  iu  aid  of  the  estab 
lishment  of  new  lines  of  ocean  mail  steamships  and  the  policy 
he  recommends  for  the  development  of  increased  commercial 
intercourse  with  adjacent  and  neighboring  countries,  should 
receive  the  careful  consideration  of  Congress. 

It  is  of  noteworthy  interest  that  the  steady  expansion  of 
population,  improvement,  and  governmental  institutions  over 
the  new  and  unoccupied  portions  of  our  country  has  scarcely 
been  checked,  much  less  impeded  or  destroyed,  by  our  great 
civil  war,  which  at  first  glance  would  seem  to  Have  absorbed 
almost  the  entire  energies  of  the  nation. 

The  organization  and  admission  of  the  State  of  Nevada  has 
been  completed  in  conformity  with  law,  and  thus  our  excellent 
system  is  firmly  established  in  the  mountains  which  once 
seemed  a  barren  and  uninhabitable  waste  between  the  Atlantic 
States  and  those  which  have  grown  up'  on  the  coast  of  the 
Pacific  ocean. 

The  Territories  of  the  Uinon  are  generally  in  a  condition  of 
prosperity  and  rapid  growth.  Idaho  and  Montana,  by  reason  of 
their  great  distance  and  the  interruption  of  communication  with 
them  by  Indian  hostilities,  have  been  only  partially  organized; 
but  it  is  understood  that  these  difficulties  are  about  to  disap 
pear,  which  will  permit  their  governments,  like  those  of  the 
others,  to  go  into  speedy  and  full  operation. 

As  intimately  connected  with  and  promotive  of  this  material 
growth  of  the  nation,  I  ask  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the 
valuable  information  and  important  recommendations  relating 
to  the  public  lands,  Indian  affairs,  the  Pacific  railroad,  and 
mineral  discoveries  contained  in  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  which  is  herewith  transmitted,  and  which  report 
also  embraces  the  subjects  of  patents,  pensions,  and  other 
topics  of  public  interest  pertaining  to  this  Department. 

The  quantity  of  public  land  disposed  of  during  the  five 
quarters  ending  on  the  30th  of  September  last  was  4,221,342 
acres,  of  which  1,538,614  acres  were  entered  under  the  home 
stead  law.  The  remainder  was  located  with  military  land  war 
rants,  agricultural  scrip  certified  to  States  for  railroads,  and 
sold  for  cash.  The  cash  received  from  Bales  and  location  fees 
*as  £1,019,446. 

The  income  from  sales  during  the  fiscal  year  ending  the  30th 
of  June,  1864,  was  $678,007  21,  against  $136,077  95  received 
48 


674  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 

during  the  preceding  year.  The  aggregate  number  of  acres 
surveyed  during  the  year  has  been  equal  to  the  quantity  dis 
posed  of;  and  there  is  open  to  settlement  about  133,000,000 
acres  of  surveyed  land. 

The  great  enterprise  of  connecting  the  Atlantic  with  the 
Pacific  States  by  railways  and  telegraph  lines  has  been  entered 
upon  with  a  vigor  that  gives  assurance  of  success,  notwith 
standing  the  embarrassments  arising  from  the  prevailing  high 
prices  of  materials  and  labor.  The  route  of  the  main  line  of 
the  road  has  been  definitely  located  for  one  hundred  miles 
westward  from  the  initial  point  at  Omaha  City,  Nebraska,  and 
a  preliminary  location  of  the  Pacific  railroad  of  California  has 
been  made  from  Sacramento  eastward  to  the  great  bend  of  the 
Truckee  river  in  Nevada. 

Numerious  discoveries  of  gold,  silver,  and  cinnabar  mines 
have  been  added  to  the  many  heretofore  known,  and  the  coun 
try  occupied  by  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  Rocky  mountains,  and 
the  subordinate  ranges,  now  teems  with  enterprising  labor, 
which  is  richly  remunerative.  It  is  believed  that  the  product 
of  the  mines  of  precious  metals  in  that  region  has,  during  the 
year,  reached,  if  not  exceeded,  one  hundred  millions  in  value. 

It  was  recommended  in  my  last  annual  message  that  our 
Indian  system  be  remodeled.  Congress,  at  its  last  session,  act 
ing  upon  the  recommendation,  did  provide  for  re-organizing  tho 
eystem  in  California,  and  it  is  believed  that  under  the  present 
organization  the  management  of  the  Indians  there  will  be 
attended  with  reasonable  success.  Much  yet  remains  to  be 
done  to  provide  for  the  proper  government  of  the  Indians  in 
other  parts  of  the  country  to  render  it  secure  for  the  advanc 
ing  settler,  and  to  provide  for  the  welfare  of  the  Indian.  The 
Secretary  reiterates  his  recommendations,  and  to  them  the 
attention  of  Congress  is  invited. 

The  liberal  provisions  made  by  Congress  for  paying  pen 
sions  to  invalid  soldiers  and  sailors  of  the  Republic,  and  to 
the  widows,  orphans,  and  dependent  mothers  of  those  who 
have  fallen  in  battle,  or  died  of  disease  contracted,  or  of  wounds 
received  in  the  service  of  their  country,  have  been  diligently 
administered.  There  have  been  added  'to  the  pension  rolls, 
during  the  year  ending  the  30th  day  of  June  last,  the  names 
of  16,770  invalid  soldiers,  and  of  271  disabled  seamen,  making 
the  present  number  of  Army  invalid  pensioners  22,767,  and 
of  Navy  invalid  pensioners  712. 

Of  widows,  orphans,  and  mothers.  22,198  have  been  placed 
on  the  Army  pension  rolls,  and  248  on  the  Navy  rolls.  The 
present  number  of  Army  pensioners  of  this  class  is  25,433,  and 
of  Navy  pensioners  7.93.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year  the 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  675 

number  of  revolutionary  pensioners  was  1,430  ;  only  twelve  of 
them  were  soldiers,  of  whom  seven  have  since  died.  The 
remainder  are  those  who,  under  the  law,  receive  pensions 
because  of  relationship  to  revolutionary  soldiers.  During  the 
year  ending  the  80th  of  June,  1864,  $4,504,616  92  have  been 
paid  to  pensioners  of  all  classes. 

I  cheerfully  commend  to  your  continued  patronage  the  bene 
volent  institutions  of  the  District  of  Columbia  which  have 
hitherto  been  established  or  fostered  by  Congress,  and  respect 
fully  refer,  for  information  concerning  them,  and  in  relation  to 
the  Washington  acqueduct,  the  Capitol,  and  other  matters  of 
local  interest,  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary. 

The  Agricultural  Department,  under  the  supervision  of  its 
present  energetic  and  faithful  head,  is  rapidly  commending 
itself  to  the  great  and  vital  interest  it  was  created  to  advance. 
It  is  peculiarly  the  people's  Department,  in  which  they  feel 
more  directly  concerned  than  in  any  other.  I  commend  it  to 
the  continued  attention  and  fostering  care  of  Congress. 

The  war  continues.  Since  the  last  annual  message  all  the 
important  lines  and  positions  then  occupied  by  our  forces  have 
been  maintained,  and  our  arms  have  steadily  advanced ;  thus 
liberating  the  regions  left  in  the  rear,  so  that  Missouri,  Ken 
tucky,  Tennessee,  and  parts  of  other  States  have  again  pro 
duced  reasonably  fair  crops. 

The  most  remarkable  feature  in  the  military  operations  of 
the  year  is  General  Sherman's  attempted  march  of  three  hun 
dred  miles  directly  through  the  insurgent  region.  It  tends  to 
show  a  great  increase  of  our  relative  strength  that  our  Gen 
eral-in-Chief  should  feel  able  to  confront  and  hold  in  check 
every  active  force  of  the  enemy,  and  yet  to  detach  a  well 
appointed  large  army  to  move  on  such  an  expedition.  The 
result  not  yet  being  known,  conjecture  in  regard  to  it  is  not 
here  indulged. 

Important  movements  have  also  occurred  during  the  year  to 
the  effect  of  moulding  society  for  durability  in  the  Union. 
Athough  short  of  complete  success,  it  is  much  in  the  right 
direction,  that  twelve  thousand  citizens  in  each  of  the  States 
of  Arkansas  and  Louisiana  have  organized  loyal  State  govern 
ments,  with  free  constitutions,  and  are  earnestly  struggling 
to  maintain  and  administer  them.  The  movements  in  the 
same  direction,  more  extensive,  though  less  definite,  in  Mis* 
souri,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee,  should  not  be  overlooked. 
But  Maryland  presents  the  example  of  complete  success. 
Maryland  is  secure  to  Liberty  and  Union  for  all  the  future. 
The  genius  of  rebellion  will  no  mure  claim  Maryland.  Like 


676  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

another  foul  spirit,  being  driven  out,  it  may  seek  to  tear  her 
but  it  will  woo  her  no  more. 

At  the  last  session  of  Congress  a  proposed  amendment  of 
the  Constitution,  abolishing  slavery  throughout  the  United 
States,  passed  the  Senate,  but  failed  for  lack  of  the  requisite 
two-thirds  vote  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  Although 
the  present  is  the  same  Congress,  and  nearly  the  same  mem 
bers,  and  without  questioning  the  wisdom  or  patriotism  of 
those  who  stood  in  opposition,  I  venture  to  recommend  the 
reconsideration  and  passage  of  the  measure  at  the  present  ses 
sion.  Of  course  the  abstract  question  is  not  changed;  but  an 
intervening  election  shows,  almost  certainly,  that  the  next 
Congress  will  pass  the  measure  if  this  does  not.  Hence  there 
is  only  a  question  of  time  as  to  when  the  proposed  amendment 
will  go  to  the  States  for  their  action.  And  as  it  is  so  to  go, 
at  all  events,  may  we  not  agree  that  the  sooner  the  better?  It 
is  not  claimed  that  the  election  has  imposed  a  duty  on  mem 
bers  to  change  their  views  or  their  votes,  any  further  than,  as 
an  additional  element  to  be  considered,  their  judgment  may  be 
atiected  by  it.  It  is  the  voice  of  the  people  now,  for  the  first 
time,  heard  upon  the  question.  In  a  great  national  crisis  like 
ours,  unanimity  of  action  among  those  seeking  a  common  end 
is  very  desirable — almost  indispensable.  And  yet  no  approach 
to  such  unanimity  is  attainable  unless  some  deference  shall  be 
paid  to  the  will  of  the  majority  simply  because  it  is  the  will 
of  the  majority.  In  this  case  the  common  end  is  the  mainten 
ance  of  the  Union  :  and,  among  the  means  to  secure  that  end, 
such  will,  through  the  election,  is  most  clearly  declared  in 
favor  of  such  constitutional  amendment. 

The  most  reliable  indication  of  public  purpose  in  this 
country  is  derived  through  our  popular  elections.  Judging  by 
the  recent  canvass  and  its  result,  the  purpose  of  the  people, 
within  the  loyal  States,  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  the  Union, 
was  never  more  firm,  nor  more  nearly  unanimous  than  now. 
The  extraordinary  calmness  and  good  order  with  which  the 
millions  of  voters  met  and  mingled  at  the  polls,  give  strong 
assurance  of  this.  Not  only  all  those  who  supported  the 
Union  ticket,  so  called,  but  a  great  majority  of  the  opposing 
party  also,  may  be  fairly  claimed  to  entertain  and  to  be  actu 
ated  by  the  same  purpose.  It  is  an  unanswerable  argument  to 
this  effect,  that  no  candidate  for  any  office  whatever,  high  or 
low,  has  ventured  to  seek  votes  on  the  avowal  that  he  was  for 
giving  up  the  Union.  There  have  been  much  impugning  of 
motives,  and  much  heated  controversy  as  to  the  proper  means 
and  best  mode  of  advancing  the  Union  cause ;  but  on  the  dis 
tinct  issue  of  Union  or  no  Union  the  politicians  have  shown 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  677 

their  instinctive  knowledge  that  there  is  no  diversity  among 
the  people.  In  affording  the  people  the  fair  opportunity  of 
showing,  one  to  another,  and  to  the  world,  this  firmness  and 
unanimity  of  purpose,  the  election  has  been  of  vast  value  to 
the  national  cause. 

The  election  has  exhibited  another  fact  not  less  valuable  to 
be  known — the  fact  that  we  do  not  approach  exhaustion  in  th<3 
most  important  branch  of  national  resources — that  of  living 
men.  While  it  is  melancholy  to  reflect  that  the  war  has  filled  so 
many  graves  and  carried  mourning  to  so  many  hearts,  it  is  some 
relief  to  know  that,  compared  with  the  surviving,  the  fallen 
have  been  so  few.  While  corps,  and  divisions,  and  brigades, 
and  regiments  have  formed  and  fought  and  dwindled  and  gone 
out  of  existence,  a  great  majority  of  the  men  who  composed 
them  are  still  living.  The  same  is  true  of  the  naval  service. 
The  election  returns  prove  this.  So  many  voters  could  not 
else  be  found.  The  States  regularly  holding  elections,  both 
now  and  four  years  ago,  to  wit :  California,  Connecticut,  Del 
aware,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Kentucky,  Maine,  Maryland, 
Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Minnesota,  Missouri,  New  Hamp 
shire,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Ohio,  Oregon,  Pennsylvania, 
Rhode  Island,  Vermont,  West  Virginia,  and  Wisconsin,  cast 
3,982,011  votes  now  against  3,870,222  cast  then,  showing  an 
aggregate  now  of  3,982,011.  To  this  is  to  be  added  33,762 
cast  now  in  the  new  States  of  Kansas  and  Nevada,  which  Sfcites 
did  not  vote  in  1860,  thus  swelling  the  aggregate  to  4,015,773, 
and  the  net  increase  during  the  three  years  and  a  half  of  war 
to  145,551.  A  table  is  appended  showing  particulars.  To 
this  again  should  be  added  the  number  of  all  soldiers  in  the 
field  from  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  New  Jersey,  Delaware, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  and  California,  who  by  the  laws  of  those 
States  could  not  vote  away  from  their  homes,  and  which  num 
ber  can  not  be  less  than  90,000.  Nor  yet  is  this  all.  The  number 
in  organized  Territories  is  triple  now  what  it  was  four  years 
ago,  while  thousands,  white  and  black,  join  us  as  the  national 
arms  press  back  the  insurgent  lines.  So  much  is  shown  affirm 
atively  and  negatively  by  the  election.  It  is  not  material  to 
inquire  how  the  increase  has  been  produced,  or  to  show  that  it 
would  have  been  greater  but  for  the  war,  which  is  probably 
true.  The  important  fact  remains  demonstrated  that  we  have 
more  men  now  than  we  had  when  the  war  began  ;  that  we  are 
not  exhausted  nor  in  process  of  exhaustion  ;  that  we  are  gain 
ing  strength  and  may,  if  need  be,  maintain  the  contest  indefi 
nitely.  This  as  to  men.  Material  resources  are  now  more 
complete  and  abundant  than  ever. 

The  national  resources,  then,  are  unexhausted,  and,  as  we 


678  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

believe,  inexhaustible.  The  public  purpose  to  reestablish  and 
maintain  the  national  authority  is  unchanged,  and,  as  we  believe, 
unchangeable.  The*  manner  of  continuing  the  effort  remains 
to  choose.  On  careful  consideration  of  all  the  evidence  acces 
sible,  it  seems  to  me  that  no  attempt  at  negotiation  with  the 
insurgent  leader  could  result  in  any  good.  He  would  accept 
nothing  short  of  severance  of  the  Union — precisely  what  we 
will  not  and  can  not  give.  His  declarations  to  this  effect  are 
explicit  and  oft-repeated.  He  does  not  attempt  to  deceive  us. 
He  affords  us  no  excuse  to  deceive  ourselves.  He  can  not  vol 
untarily  re-accept  the  Union ;  we  can  not  voluntarily  yield  it. 
Between  him  and  us  the  issue  is  distinct,  simple,  and  inflexible. 
It  is  an  issue  which  can  only  be  tried  by  war,  and  decided  by 
victory.  If  we  yield,  we  are  beaten ;  if  the  Southern  people 
fail  him  he  is  beaten.  Either  way,  it  would  be  the  victory  and 
defeat  following  war.  What  is  true,  however,  of  him  who 
heads  the  insurgent  cause,  is  not  necessarily  true  of  those  who 
follow.  Although  he  can  not  re-accept  the  Union,  they  can. 
Some  of  them,  we  know,  already  desire  peace  and  re-union. 
The  number  of  such  may  increase.  They  can  at  any  moment 
have  peace  simply  by  laying  down  their  arms  and  submitting 
to  the  national  authority  under  the  Constitution.  After  so 
much,  the  Government  could  not,  if  it  would,  maintain  war 
against  them.  The  loyal  people  would  not  sustain  or  allow  it. 
If  questions  should  remain,  we  would  adjust  them  by  the  peace 
ful  means  of  legislation,  conference,  courts,  and  votes,  operating 
only  in  constitutional  and  lawful  channels.  Some  certain,  and 
other  possible,  questions  are,  and  would  be,  beyond  the  execu 
tive  power  to  adjust ;  as,  for  instance,  the  admission  of  mem 
bers  into  Congress,  and  whatever  might  require  the  appropria 
tion  of  money.  The  executive  power  itself  would  be  greatly 
diminished  by  the  cessation  of  actual  war.  Pardons  and 
remissions  of  forfeitures,  however,  would  still  be  within  exec 
utive  control.  In  what  spirit  and  temper  this  control  would 
be  exercised  can  be  fairly  judged  of  by  the  past. 

A  year  ago,  general  .pardon  and  amnesty,  upon  specified 
terms,  were  offered  to  all,  except  certain  designated  classes ; 
and  it  was,  at  the  same  time,  made  known  that  the  excepted 
classes  were  still  within  contemplation  of  special  clemency. 
During  the  year  many  availed  themselves  of  the  general 
provision,  and  many  more  would,  only  that  the  signs  of 
bad  faith  in  some,  led  to  such  precautionary  measures  as 
rendered  the  practical  process  less  easy  and  certain.  Dur 
ing  the  same  time,  also,  special  pardons  have  been  granted 
to  individuals  of  the  accepted  classes,  and  no  voluntary  appli 
cation  haa  been  denied.  Thus,  practically,  the  door  haa 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  679 

been,  for  a  full  year,  open  to  all,  except  such  as  were  not  in 
condition  to  make  free  choice — that  is,  such  as  were  in  cus 
tody  or  under  constraint.  It  is  still  so  open  to  all.  But 
the  time  may  come — probably  will  come — when  public  duty 
shall  demand  that  it  be  closed  ;  and  that,  in  lieu,  more  rigorous 
measures  than  heretofore  shall  be  adopted. 

In  presenting  the  abandonment  of  armed  resistance  to  tho 
national  authority  on  the  part  of  the  insurgents,  as  the  only 
indispensable  condition  of  ending  the  war  on  the  part  of  the 
Government,  I  retract  nothing  heretofore  said  as  to  slavery. 
I  repeat  the  declaration  made  a  year  ago,  that  "  while  I  remain 
in  my  present  position,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  retract  or  mod 
ify  the  emancipation  proclamation,  nor  shall  I  return  to  slavery 
any  person  who  is  free  by  the  terms  of  that  proclamation,  or 
by  any  of  the  acts  of  Congress."  If  the  people  should,  by 
whatever  mode  or  means,  make  it  an  executive  duty  to  reen- 
slave  such  persons,  another,  and  not  I,  must  be  their  instru 
ment  to  perform  it. 

In  stating  a  single  condition  of  peace,  I  mean  simply  to  say 
that  the  war  will  cease  on  the  part  of  the  Government  when 
ever  it  shall  have  ceased  on  the  part  of  those  who  began  it. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

December  6,  1864. 

Two  Cabinet  changes  had  occurred,  since  the  retirement  of 
Gov.  Chase  from  the  Secretaryship  of  the  Treasury.  At  the 
time  when  an  attempt  was  zealously  made  to  divide  the  friends 
of  the  Administration  on  the  basis  of  the  Missouri  classification 
of  parties,  it  became  the  fashion,  with  those  busiest  in  this  work, 
to  denounce  Attorney-General  Bates,  and  Postmaster-General 
Blair,  as  special  representatives  of  "  Conservatism  "  in  the 
Cabinet.  Mr.  Seward  had  previously  been  regarded  in  the 
same  light,  but  Messrs.  Bates  and  Blair  had  a  more  direct 
relation  to  Missouri  affairs,  and  they  came  to  be  more  fre 
quently  assailed,  during  the  summer  of  1864,  than  the  for 
mer,  by  the  "  Iladicals."  Mr.  Lincoln  had  good  reasons  for 
reluctance  to  part  with  either  of  those  gentlemen.  Mr.  Blair 
had  almost  alone,  in  the  cabinet,  stood  firm  against  the 
policy — never  favorably  regarded  for  a  moment  by  President 
Lincoln — of  surrendering  Fort  Sumter  to  Rebel  insolence, 
without  a  blow  struck  in  its  favor.  That  he  was  a  prompt, 
watchful,  and  energetic  officer,  doing  hi*  executive  work  well, 


680  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

nobody  ventured  to  question.  But  lie  had  made  some  speeches 
which  were  obnoxious  to  Republicans,  almost  universally 
This  was  particularly  true  of  a  speech  made  at  Rockville,  in 
Maryland,  which  was  circulated  in  that  State,  with  the  intima 
tion  that  it  was  an  exposition  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  policy.  The 
views  thus  given  out  were  construed  as  decidedly  reactionary  on 
the  slavery  question,  and  savored  too  strongly  of  old-fashioned 
denunciation  of  Abolitionism.  President  Lincoln  had  cer 
tainly  not  only  given  no  approval  to  the  singular  positions 
taken  by  Mr.  Blair,  in  apparent  backsliding  from  his  former 
faith,  but  was  even  ignorant  of  the  contents  of  this  speech,  at 
least  for  a  long  time  after  its  publication.  Mr.  Blair  was 
scarcely  less  unfortunate  in  speeches  made  elsewhere,  though 
less  universally  known.  Without  attempting  fully  to  account 
for  the  fact,  it  was  certainly  true  that  there  had  come  to  be  a 
very  general  dissatisfaction  with  Mr.  Blair  as  a  Cabinet  Minis 
ter.  The  latter  understood  this  feeling,  and  verbally  proposed 
to  relieve  the  President  from  any  embarrassment,  in  the  can 
vass,  on  his  account.  Mr.  Lincoln  at  first  regarded  this  as 
mere  clamor  without  just  ground,  and  was  disinclined  to  heed 
it.  Afterward,  he  became  satisfied  that  the  hostility  was  real 
and  wide-spread — not  to  be  appeased  by  a  firm  refusal,  as  pre 
viously  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Seward — and*  addressed  Mr.  Blair 
the  following  note : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,        >, 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  September  23,  1864.  ) 

MY  DEAR  SIR: 

You  have  generously  said  to  me,  more  than  once,  that 
whenever  your  resignation  could  be  a  relief  to  me,  it  was  at 
my  disposal.  The  time  has  come.  You  very  well  know  that 
this  proceeds  from  no  dissatisfaction  of  mine  with  you  person 
ally  or  officially.  Your  uniform  kindness  has  been  unsur 
passed  by  that  of  any  friend,  and  while  it  is  true  that  the  war 
does  not  so  greatly  add  to  difficulties  of  your  Department  as  it 
does  to  some  others,  it  is  yet,  much  to  say,  as  I  most  truly  can, 
that  in  three  years  and  a  half,  during  which  you  have  adminis 
tered  the  General  Post  Office,  I  remember  no  single  complaint 
against  you  in  connection  therewith^ 

Yours,  as  ever,  A.  LINCOLN. 

Hon.  MONTGOMERY  BLAIR. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  681 

To  this  letter,  Mr.  Blair  replied  as  follows : 

POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT,   ") 
WASHINGTON,  September  23,  18C4.  j 

MY  DEAR  SIR: 

I  have  received  your  note  of  this  date,  referring  to  ray 
offers  to  resign,  whenever  you  should  deein  it  advisable  for  tho 
public  interests  that  I  should  do  so,  and  stating  that,  in  your 
judgment,  the  time  has  now  come.  I  now,  therefore,  formally 
tender  my  resignation  of  the  office  of  Postmaster-General.  I 
can  not  take  leave  of  you  without  renewing  the  expressions  of 
my  gratitude  for  the  uniform  kindness  which  has  marked  your 
course  toward  Yours,  truly, 

M.  BLAIR. 
The  President. 

Hon.  William  Denuison,  Ex-Governor  of  Ohio,  who  had 
presided  over  the  National  Union  Convention  at  Baltimore, 
was  appointed  Postmaster-General  in  Mr.  Blair's  stead,  an 
nppointment  confirmed  by  the  Senate  at  the  beginning  of  the 
session. 

Attorney-General  Bates  tendered  his  resignation  soon  after 
the  Presidential  election,  to  take  effect  on  the  1st  of  December. 
Judge  Bates  had  been  the  first  member  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Cabi* 
net  definitely  decided  upon,  and  whose  appointment  was  mutu 
ally  understood.  He  had  many  years  before  been  offered  a 
Secretaryship  under  a  Whig  Administration,  but  declined  the 
honor.  He  was  well-known  throughout  the  country  as  an 
early  and  steadfast  advocate  of  emancipation  in  Missouri,  and 
had  long  ago  shown  the  sincerity  of  his  faith  by  freeing  his 
own  slaves.  While  in  his  official  capacity,  he  was  set  down  by 
some  as  a  Conservative,  he  was  on  many  questions  of  the  time, 
fully  up  to  the  advance  line  of  his  associates,  and  lagged 
behind  on  none.  His  views  were  not,  however,  a  mere  echo  of 
other  men's  opinions,  or  of  those  of  the  people  indiscrim 
inately.  He  was  unwilling  to  go  with  the  current  when  he 
believed  it  was  wrong,  but  chose  to  use  his  influence  toward 
directing  it  aright.  Least  of  all  could  he  brook  factious  dic 
tation.  Those  who  thoroughly  understood  him,  felt  little  occa 
sion  to  be  proud  of  any  difference  with  him.  He  was  ever, 


682  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

while  in  office,  a  cordial  friend  and  conscientious  adviser  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  having  no  under-current  of  hostile  discontent  when 
his  counsels  were  not  followed,  or  when  his  wishes  were  over 
ruled.  Judge  Bates  resigned,  for  personal  reasons,  an  office 
he  had  never  sought,  and  his  resignation  was  accepted  by  Mr. 
Lincoln,  as  a  favor  to  one  whose  presence  he  would  gladly  have 
retained.  The  Hon.  James  Speed,  of  Louisville,  Ky.  was 
appointed  Attorney-General,  and  entered  upon  the  duties  of 
that  office,  soon  after  it  was  vacated  by  his  predecessor,  having 
been  confirmed  by  the  Senate  on  the  12th  of  December. 

Chief  Justice  Taney  died  on  the  12th  of  October,  1864. 
One  of  the  most  zealous  upholders  of  slavery,  he  did  not  sur 
vive  the  day  on  which  the  people  of  Maryland,  his  native  State, 
decreed  the  freedom  of  their  slaves.  His  name  will  be  for 
ever  associated  with  one  of  the  last  bulwarks  of  the  doomed 
institution,  known  as  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  Perharps  the 
most  noted,  if  not  the  only  specially  memorable  utterance  of 
his  life,  was  the  strangely  inaccurate  assertion  that,  in  the  early 
days  of  the  Republic,  the  colored  race  were  regarded  as  having 
"  no  rights  which  the  white  man  was  bound  to  respect."  He 
was  a  jurist  of  ability,  though  too  strong  a  partisan  to  bo 
always  an  impartial  judge.  He  was  a  man.  of  upright  and 
irreproachable  private  character,  and  had  remained  true  to  the 
Government  in  whose  service  he  spent  so  large  a  portion  of  his 
long  life.  The  first  President  to  whom  he  administered  the 
oatn  of  office  was  Martin  Van  Buren ;  the  last,  Abraham  Lin 
coln.  For  all  those  intermediate,  he  had  officiated  in  like  man 
ner.  The  news  of  the  death  of  Judge  Taney  came  unexpect 
edly  at  last;  his  health  having  permitted  his  attcndence  cm 
the  courts,  with]  little  interruption,  to  the  end,  although  he 
attained  the  age  of  eighty-seven  years. 

During  the  vacation  of  the  Supreme  Court,  there  was  no 
occasion  for  filling  the  important  office  thus  made  vacant.  A 
decision  was  consequently  deferred  until  the  assembling  of 
Congress,  on  the  first  Monday  in  December.  During  the  inter 
mediate  time,  the  popular  expression  in  favor  of  the  Hon. 
Salmon  P.  Chase,  of  Ohio,  became  very  general.  This  appoint- 


LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  683 

ment,  too,  was  in  accordance  with  President  Lincoln's  original 
inclination.  By  the  very  fact  of  the  strong  contrast  between 
Governor  Chase  and  Judge  Taney,  on  the  great  questions  of  the 
time,  was  this  inclination  strengthened,  and  the  popular  wish 
intensified.  The  nomination  was  promptly  sent  in  on  the 
meeting  of  the  Senate,  and  at  once  confirmed  without  opposi 
tion.  Mr.  Chase  had  taken  ground  in  favor  of  emancipation, 
at  a  time  when  no  public  honors  were  to  be  gained  by  espous 
ing  a  cause  so  unpopular.  From  first  to  last,  he  has  been 
known  as  the  unswerving  advocate  of  universal  liberty  and 
impartial  equality  of  rights.  To  place  a  man  of  these  princi 
ples  in  the  position  just  now  held  by  the  author  of  the  Dred 
Scott  decision,  was  an  almost  incredible  step  in  advance.  This 
change  moved  the  people  to  less  enthusias'tic  demonstrations 
indeed,  but  not  less  profoundly,  than  the  greatest  victories  of 
our  armies.  Chief  Justice  Chase  took  the  oath  of  office,  and 
entered  on  his  high  duties  on  the  15th  day  of  December. 

The  action  of  the  Canadian  authorities  in  refusing  to  deliver 
up  the  St.  Albans  raiders  for  trial,  oh  proper  demand  under 
the  extradition  treaty,  produced  intense  feeling  on  the  part  of 
the  people  of  the  loyal  States.  Gen.  Dix,  in  command  of  the 
Military  Department  including  the  frontier  of  New  York  and 
Vermont,  promptly  issued  an  order  that  marauding  parties  of 
like  character,  hereafter  coming  into  the  States  from  Canada, 
should  be  vigorously  pursued,  across  the  border  if  necessary, 
and  captured  or  shot  down  wherever  found.  This  order  was 
undoubtedly  warranted  by  recognized  principles  of  interna 
tional  law.  It  met  with  a  hearty  response  throughout  the 
country,  as  did  the  arrest  of  Mason  and  Slidell  on  the  Trent, 
by  Commodore  Wilkes,  or  more  recently,  the  capture  of  the 
Rebel  pirate-ship  Florida,  in  Brazilian  waters,  by  Commander 
Collins.  But  the  policy  of  moderation,  from  high  motives  of 
expediency,  still  prevailed.  There  was  an  earnest  desire  on 
the  part  of  the  Rebels  to  embroil  our  nation  with  some  strong 
foreign  power,  and  the  accomplishment  of  this  object  was  pro 
bably  one  of  the  purposes  entertained  while  organizing,  in 
"  neutral  "  British  Territory,  expeditions  across  the  border. 
The  President  deemed  it  advisable  that  so  much  of  Gen.  Dix's 


684  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

order  ns  authorized  pursuit  across  the  frontier  should  be 
rescinded.  A  rigid  passport  system  was,  however,  adopted, 
which  the  hostile  conduct  of  Canadians,  and  their  encourage 
ment  to  robbery  and  murder,  openly  avowed  as  acts  of  war,  set 
on  foot  within  their  own  territory  by  emissaries  of  Davis,  ren 
dered  proper  for  protection.  The  regulation  was  extended  to 
all  travelers  from  a  foreign  country,  except  immigrant  passen 
gers  directly  entering  an  American  port  by  sea. 

On.  the  13th  of  December,  a  joint  resolution  was  passed  by 
the  House  of  Representatives,  authorizing  the  President  to 
give  the  requisite  notice  to  the  Government  of  Great  Britain 
for  the  termination  of  the  treaty  of  the  5th  of  June,  1854, 
known  as  the  Canadian  Reciprocity  treaty.  This  resolution, 
in  a  slightly  modified  form — subsequently  agreed  to  by  the 
House — passed  the  Senate  on  the  12th  of  January,  1865,  by 
a  vote  of  33  to  8.  The  resolution  as  finally  passed,  and  ap 
proved  by  President  Lincoln,  on  the  18th  of  January,  1865, 
is  in  the  following  terms: 

WHEREAS,  It  is  provided  in  the  reciprocity  treaty  concluded 
at  Washington  the  5th  of  June,  1854,  between  the  United 
States  of  the  one  part,  and  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Brit 
ain  and  Ireland  of  the  other  part,  that  this  treaty  "  shall 
remain  in  force  for  ten  years  from  the  date  at  which  it  may 
come  into  operation,  and  further  until  the  expiration  of  twelve 
months  after  either  of  the  high  contracting  parties  shall  give 
notice  to  the  other  of  its  wish  to  terminate  the  same;"  and 
whereas,  it  appears,  by  a  proclamation  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  bearing  date  16th  of  March,  1855,  that  the  treaty 
came  into  operation  on  that  clay  ;  and  whereas,  further,  it  is  no 
longer  for  the  interests  of  the  United  States  to  continue  the 
same  in  force,  therefore, 

Rcsohcd  ly  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  Slates  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That  notice 
be  given  of  the  termination  of  the  reciprocity  treaty,  according 
to  the  pro\7ision  therein  contained  for  the  termination  of  the 
same  ;  and  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  hereby  charged 
with  the  communication  of  such  notice  to  the  government  of 
the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

Another  joint  resolution,  approved  February  9th,  1865,  rati 
fies  the  notice  already  given  by  the  President  on  the  23d  of 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  685 

November,  1864,  for  the  termination  of  the  treaty  with  Great 
Britain,  for  the  reason,  assigned  in  the  preamble,  that  "  the 
peace  of  our  frontier  is  now  endangered  by  hostile  expeditions 
against  the  commerce  of  the  lakes,  and  by  other  acts  of  law 
less  persons,  which  the  naval  force  of  the  two  countries,  allowed 
by  the  existing  treaty,  may  be  insufficient  to  prevent." 

On  the  19th  day  of  December,  1864,  President  Lincoln,  in 
order  to  supply  a  deficiency  of  260,000  men,  on  the  previous 
call  of  July  18,  1864,  for  500,000,  issued  another  call  for 
300,000  volunteers,  to  serve  for  one,  two,  or  three  years — any 
portion  of  the  quota  for  any  locality  not  made  up  before  the 
15th  day  of  February,  to  be  filled  by  a  draft  commencing  on 
that  'day. 

The  proposed  constitutional  amendment  prohibiting  slavery 
throughout  the  United  States,  and  every  where  under  its  juris 
diction,  had  been  defeated  in  the  House  of  Eepresentatives  at 
the  previous  session,  as  already  seen.  Mr.  Ashley's  motion  to 
re-consider  the  vote  by  which  the  joint  resolution  was  lost, 
being  called  up,  on  the  6th  of  January,  1865,  the  question 
was  discussed  at  great  length  during  the  three  weeks  following. 
The  motion  to  re-consider  prevailed  on  the  31st  of  January,  by 
a  vote  of  112  yeas  to  57  nays — it  being  ruled  by  Speaker 
Colfax  that  only  a  majority  was  neede$  for  that  purpose.  On 
the  final  vote — two-thirds  being  required — the  joint  resolution 
was  concurred  in,  yeas  119,  nays  56,  as  follows: 

YEAS — Messrs.  Alley,  Allison,  Ames,  Anderson,  Arnold, 
Ashley,  Baily,  Augustus  0.  Baldwin,  John  D.  Baldwin,  Bax 
ter,  Beaman,  Blaine,  Blair,  Blow,  Boutwell,  Boyd,  Brandegee, 
Broomall,  William  G.  Brown,  Ambrose  W.  Clark,  Freeman 
Clarke,  Cobb,  Coffroth,  Cole,  Colfax,  Creswell,  Henry  Winter 
Davis,  Thomas  T.  Davis,  Dawes,  Deming,  L)ixon,  Donelly, 
Driggs,  Dumont,  Eckley,  Eliot,  English,  Farnsworth,  Frank, 
Ganson,  Garfield,  Gooch,  Grinnell,  Griswold,  Hale,  Herrick, 
Higby,  Hooper,  Hotchkiss,  Asahel  W.  Hubbard,  John  H. 
Hubbard,  Hulburd,  Hutchins,  Ingersoll,  Jenckes,  Julian, 
Kasson,  Kelley,  Francis  W.  Kellogg,  Orlando  Kellogg,  King, 
Knox,  Littlejohn,  Loan,  Longyear,  Marvin,  McAllister,  Mc- 
Bride,  McClurg,  Mclndoe,  Samuel  F.  Miller,  Moorhead,  Mor- 
rill,  Daniel  Morris,  Amos  Myers,  Leonard  Myers,  ISelson, 


686  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Norton,  Odell,  Charles  O'Neill,  Orth,  Patterson,  Perham,  Pike, 
Pomeroy,  Price,  Radford,  William  H.  Randall,  Alexander  H. 
Rice,  Edward  H.  Rollins,  James  S.  Rollins,  Schenck,  Scoficld, 
Shannon,  Sloan,  Smith,  Smithers,  Spalding,  Starr,  John  B. 
Steele,  Stevens,  Thayer,  Thomas,  Tracy,  Upson,  Van  Valken- 
burgh,  Elihu  B.  Washburne,  William  B.  Washburne,  Web 
ster,  Whaley,  Wheeler,  Williams, 'Wilder,  Wilson,  Windom, 
Woodbridge,  Worthington  and  Yeaman — 119. 

NAYS — Messrs.  James  C.  Allen,  William  J.  Allen,  Ancona, 
Bliss,  Brooks,  James  S.  Brown,  Chanler,  Clay,  Cox,  Cravens, 
Dawson,  Denison,  Eden,  Edgerton,  Eldridge,  Finck,  Grider, 
Hall,  Harding,  Harrington,  Benjamin  Gr.  Harris,  Charles  M. 
Harris,  Holman,  Philip  Johnson,  Wrilliam  Johnson,  Kalb- 
fleisch,  Kernan,  Knapp,  Law,  Long,  Mallory,  William  H.  Mil 
ler,  James  R  Morris,  Morrison,  Noble,  John  O'Neill,  Pendle- 
ton,  Perry,  Pruyn,  Samuel  J.  Randall,  Robinson,  Ross,  Scott, 
Wm.  G.  Steele,  Stiles,  Strous,  Stuart,  Sweat,  Townsend,  Wads- 
worth,  Ward,  Chilton  A.  White,  Winfield,  Benjamin  Wood 
and  Fernando  Wood— r56. 

NOT  VOTING — Messrs.  Lazear,  LeBlond,  Marcy,  McDowell, 
McKinney,  Middleton,  Rogers  and  Voorhees — 8. 

The  result,  up  to  the  last  moment,  had  been  doubtful,  and 
the  affirmative  decision  of  this  momentous  question  was  no 
sooner  announced,  than  the  members  on  the  floor,  and  the 
spectators  who  thronged  the  galleries,  spontaneously  joined  in 
enthusiastic  and  long-continued  demonstrations  of  joy.  Never 
was  such  a  scene  before  witnessed  in  any  legislative  hall.  The 
sensation  produced,  wherever  the  news  was  spread  by  telegraph, 
was  one  of  universal  satisfaction  and  gladness  that  the  great 
work  was  accomplished.  The  Republic  had  at  last  proclaimed 
itself  truly  FREE — needing  only  the  State  ratification  provided 
for  by  the  Constitution,  and  sure  to  be  obtained,  to  settle  the 
question  forever.  President  Lincoln  promptly  approved  the 
measure,  and  State  after  State  has  echoed  and  re-echoed  the 
popular  ratification. 

The  inhuman  conduct  of  the  Rebel  leaders  toward  our  pris 
oners  in  their  hands,  will  fill  the  darkest  pages  of  the  history  of 
the  great  insurrection.  Starvation,  freezing,  delirium,  prolonged 
agony  yielding  to  the  slow-coming  relief  of  death,  were  the  lot 
of  tens  of  thousands  of  true  and  valorous  men,  whom  the  for 
tunes  of  war  had  thrown  into  Rebel  hands.  The  names  of 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  687 

Libby,  and  Belle  Isle,  of  Salisbury,  Millen  and  Andersonville, 
will  be  words  of  infamy  forever — their  black  sbadow  resting  as 
a  pall  over  all  the  fancied  military  glories  of  Lee,  and  covering 
with  shame  all  the  imperial  pride  of  the  traitor  Davis.  Cruelty 
BO  brutal  was  inconsistent  with  no  crime.  Barbarism  so  astound 
ing  was  not  an  unnatural  fruit  of  the  tyrannous  system  wlych  tho 
rebellion  was  designed  to  perpetuate.  The  facts  stand  fullj 
proved,  as  in  the  clearest  sunlight.  The  crime  was  deliberate 
and  without  palliation.  The  agony  and  torture  endured  by  our 
imprisoned  soldiers  could  hardly  be  paralleled  by  any  outrage 
of  the  Inquisition,  or  by  any  torments  inflicted  by  the  savage. 
The  first  reports  of  these  inhumanities  seemed  incredible,  but 
the  half  was  not  told. 

There  were  those  who  urged  what  they  believed  the  only 
remedy,  retaliation.  This  policy  was  discussed  at  great  length 
in  the  Senate,  and  found  earnest  advocates,  whose  arguments, 
enforced  by  the  citation  in  detail  of  some  portion  of  these  hor 
rible  atrocities,  may  have  seemed  to  some  minds  almost  irresist 
ible.  While  the  discussion  continued,  relief  was  happily  found 
in  a  manner  less  revolting  to  humanity.  No  retaliation  was 
ever  practiced.  Under  no  circumstances  would  public  senti 
ment  have  tolerated  it.  No  Rebel  prisoner  ever  had  occasion 
to  complain.  But  on  the  heads  of  the  real  authors  of  these 
crimes,  retribution  could  not  but  be  fervently  invoked. 

It  was  after  these  facts  were  known,  that  certain  aiders, 
abettors  and  sympathizers  in  England,  enriched  by  block 
ade-running,  or  by  the  fitting  out  of  Rebel  cruisers,  or  allied 
in  character  to  these  wretched  despots,  raised  a  fund  for  the 
alleged  purpose  of  relieving  the  wants — not  of  these  Union 
prisoners,  subjected  to  slow  torture,  and  murdered  by  thousands, 
through  the  aid  of  hunger,  thirst  and  cold — but  of  the  Rebel 
prisoners  in  our  hands,  who  had  never  lacked- any  thing  consist 
ent  with  their  condition,  and  who  were  undisputedly  and  noto 
riously  well  fed,  sheltered  and  cared  for.  The  following  cor 
respondence  shows  the  origin,  purpose  and  result,  of  this  insolent 
attempt  to  shield  the  Rebels  from  the  infamy  of  their  prison 
murders,  and  of  their  prison  tortures,  worse  than  murder : 


688  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

MR.  ADAMS   TO    MR.  SEWARD. 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,     ) 
LONDON,  November  18,  1864.  J 
Son.  Wm.  II.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State,   Washington,  D.  C.  : 

SIR  :  I  have  received  from  Lord  Wharncliffe,  the  Chairman 
of  the,  British  Association,  organized  to  give  aid  and  comfort 
to  the  Rebel  cause,  a  note,  a  copy  of  which  is  transmitted 
herewith. 

I  append  a  copy  of  my  reply. 

1  have  the  honor  to  be,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS. 

LORD  WHARNCLIFFE  TO  MR.  ADAMS. 

WORTLEY  HALL,  SHEFFIELD,  )v 
November  12,  1864.      j 
His  Excellency,  lion.  C.  F.  Adams  : 

YOUR  EXCELLENCY  :  A  bazaar  has  been  held  in  St.  George's 
Hall,  to  provide  a  fund  for  the  relief  of  Southern  prisoners 
of  war.  It  has  produced  a  clear  sum  of  £17,000.  In  prefer 
ence  to  any  attempts  to  reach  the  intended  object  by  circuitous 
means,  a  committee  of  English  gentlemen  has  been  formed  to 
address  you  on  this  subject. 

As  chairman  of  this  committee,  I  venture  to  ask  your 
Excellency  to  request  permission  of  your  Goverment  that  an 
accredited  agent  may  be  sent  out  to  visit  the  military  prisons 
within  the  Northern  States,  and  minister  to  the  comfort  of  those 
for  whom  this  fund  is  intended,  under  such  supervision  as 
your  Government  may  direct. 

Permit  me  to  state  that  no  political  end  is  aimed  at  by  this 
movement.  It  has  received  support  from  many  who  were 
opposed  to  the  political  action  of  the  South.  Nor  is  it  intended 
to  impute  that  the  Confederate  prisoners  are  denied  such  atten 
tions  as  the  ordinary  rules  enjoin.  But  these  rules  are  narrow 
and  stern.  Winter  is  at  hand,  and  the  clothing  which  may 
satisfy  the  rules  of  war  will  not  protect  the  natives  of  a  warm 
climate  from  the  severe  cold  of  the  North. 

Sir,  the  issue  of  "this  great  contest  will  not  be  determined  by 
individual  suffering,  be  it  greater  or  less  ;  and  you,  whose  fam 
ily  name  is  interwoven  with  American  history,  can  not  view 
with  indifference  the  sufferings  of  American  citizens,  whatever 
their  State  or  opinions. 

On  more  than  one  occasion,  aid  has  been  proffered  by  the 
people  of  one  country  to  special  classes,  under  great  affliction, 
in  another.  May  it  not  be  permitted  to  us  to  follow  these 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  689 

examples,  especially  when  those  we  desire  to  solace  are  beyond 
the  reach  of  their  immediate  kinsmen?  I  trust  these  prece 
dents  and  the  voice  of  humanity  may  plead  with  your  Excel 
lency,  and  induce  you  to  prefer  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  the  request  which  I  have  the  honor  to  submit. 
I  am  Sir,  your  obedient,  humble  servant, 

WlIARNCLIFFE. 

MR.  ADAMS  TO  LORD  WHARNCLIFFE. 

LEGATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,! 
LONDON,  November  18,  1864.      j 

LORD  WHARNCLIFFE  :  My  Lord — I  have  the  honor  to 
acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  12th  inst.,  ask 
ing  me  to  submit  to  the  consideration  of  my  Government  a 
request  of  certain  English  gentlemen,  made  through  your 
lordship,  to  send  out  an  accredited  agent  to  visit  the  military 
prisoners  held  by  the  United  States,  and  afford  them  such  aid, 
additional  to  that  extended  by  the  ordinary  rules  of  war,  as 
may  be  provided  by  the  fund  which  has  been  raised  here  for 
the  purpose. 

I  am  sure  that  it  has  never  been  the  desire  of  my  Govern 
ment  to  treat  with  unnecessary  or  vindictive  severity  any  of 
the  misguided  individuals,  parties  in  this  deplorable  rebellion, 
who  have  fallen  into  their  hands  in  the  regular  course  of  war. 
I  should  greatly  rejoice  were  the  effects  of  your  sympathy 
extended  to  the  ministering  to  the  mental  ailment,  not  less 
than  the  bodily  sufferings  of  these  unfortunate  persons,  thus 
contributing  to  put  an  end  to  a  struggle  which  otherwise  is 
likely  to  be  only  procrastinated  by  your  labors. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  I  shall  be  happy  to  promote  any  human 
endeavor  to  alleviate  the  horrors  of  this  strife,  and  in  that 
sense  shall  very  cheerfully  comply  with  your  lordship's  desire, 
so  far  as  to  transmit,  by  the  earliest  opportunity,  to  my  Gov 
ernment,  a  copy  of  the  application  which  has  been  addressed 
to  me. 

I  beg  your  lordship  to  receive  tho  assurance  of  my  distin 
guished  consideration. 

CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS. 

MR.  SEWARD  TO  MR.  ADAMS. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,         j 
WASHINGTON,  December  5,  1864.  j 

SIR  :  I  have  received  your  dispatch  of  the  18th  of  Novem 
ber,  No.  807,   together  with  the  papers  therein  mentioned,, 
namely,  a  copy  of  a  letter  which  wa3  addressed  to  you  on  the 
44 


690  LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

12th  of  November  last,  by  Lord  Wharncliffe,  and  a  copy  of 
your  answer  to  that  letter. 

Your  proceeding  in  that  matter  is  approved.  You  will  now 
inform  Lord  Wharncliffe  that  permission  for  an  agent  of  tho 
committee  described  by  him  to  visit  the  insurgents  detained 
in  military  prisons  of  the  United  States,  and  to  distribute 
among  them  seventeen  thousand  pounds  of  British  gold,  is  dis 
allowed.  Here  it  is  expected  that  your  correspondence  with 
Lord  Wharncliffe  will  end. 

That  correspondence  will  necessarily  become  public.  On 
reading  it,  the  American  people  will  be  well  aware  that  while 
the  United  States  have  ample  means  for  the  support  of  prison 
ers,  as  well  as  for  every  other  exigency  of  the  war  in  which 
they  are  engaged,  the  insurgents,  who  have  blindly  rushed 
into  that  condition,  are  suffering  no  privations  that  appeal  for 
relief  to  charity  either  at  home  or  abroad. 

The  American  people  will  be  likely  to  reflect  that  the  sum 
thus  insidiously  tendered  in  the  name  of  humanity  constitutes 
no  large  portion  of  the  profits  which  its  contributors  may  bo 
justly  supposed  to  have  derived  from  the  insurgents,  by 
exchanging  with  them  arms  and  munitions  of  war  for  the  coveted 
productions  of  immoral  and  enervating  slave  labor.  Nor  will 
any  portion  of  the  American  people  be  "disposed  to  regard  the 
sum  thus  ostentatiously  offered  for  the  relief  of  captured  insur 
gents  as  a  too  generous  equivalent  for  the  devastation  and  dis 
solution  which  a  civil  war,  promoted  and  protracted  by  British 
subjects,  has  spread  throughout  States  which  before  were  emi 
nently  prosperous  and  happy. 

Finally,  in  view  of  this  last  officious  intervention  in  our 
domestic  affairs,  the  American  people  can  hardly  fail  to  recall 
the  warning  of  the  Father  of  our  Country,  directed  against  two 
great  and  intimately  connected  public  dangers,  namely :  sec 
tional  faction  and  foreign  intrigue.  I  do  not  think  the  insur 
gents  have  become  debased,  although  they  have  sadly  wan 
dered  from  the  ways  of  loyalty  and  patriotism.  I  think  that, 
in  common  with  all  our  countrymen,  they  will  rejoice  in  being 
saved  by  their  considerate  and  loyal  Government  from  the 
grave  insults  which  Lord  Wharncliffe  and  his  associates,  in 
their  zeal  for  the  overthrow  of  the  United  States,  have  pre 
pared  for  the  victims  of  their  unnatural  and  hopeless  rebellion. 
I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

An  attempt  of  Lord  Warncliffe,  through  the  London  Timest 
to  give  a  color  of  propriety  to  the  action  thus  summarily 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  C91 

brought  to  an  end,  by  referring  to  statements  of  some  menda 
cious  correspondent  in  this  country — as  utterly  destitute  of 
truth,  as  much  of  the  correspondence  of  the  London  Time* 
and  other  English  journals  concerning  American  affairs — Pro 
fessor  Goldwin  Smith,  of  Oxford  University,  who  had  can 
didly  observed  and  judged  our  people  in  this  conflict  from  the 
first,  and  who  had  lately  visited  America,  promptly  met  these 
allegations  with  the  following  reply : 

To  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  DAILY  NEWS  :  Sir  .-—Lord  Wharn- 
cliffe,  in  his  letter  published  in  the  Times  of  yesterday,  inti 
mates  on  the  faith  of  an  American  correspondent,  whose  letter 
he  does  not  produce  in  full,  and  whose  name  he  does  not  give, 
that  the  Confederate  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the  Federal 
Government  are  suffering  unusual  privations,  and  that  a  pile 
of  them  has  been  seen  lying  dead  from  want  of  nourishing  food, 
and  he  accuses  Mr.  Seward,  in  effect,  of  excluding  the  agent 
of  the  Liverpool  Southern  Bazaar  Fund  from  the  prisons,  lest 
by  his  testimony  these  cruelties  should  be  brought  to  light. 

In  the  course  of  the  tour  in  the  United  States,  from  which  I 
have  just  returned,  I  visited  the  prison  at  camp  Douglas,  near 
Chicago,  and  the  Prisoner's  Hospital  at  Baltimore.  And  I  beg 
leave  again  to  express  the  conviction,  stated  in  my  former 
letters,  that  the  inmates  of  the  prison  were  not  suffering  for 
want  of  nourishing  food,  or  from  any  unusual  privation  ;  and 
that  the  inmates  of  the  hospital  were  treated  with  the  utmost 
liberality  and  kindness.  I  have  among  my  papers,  and  hope 
to  send  you  in  the  course  of  a  day  or  two,  the  dietary  of  the 
hospital,  from  which  it  will  appear  that  there  is  no  disposition, 
in  that  case  at  least,  to  withhold  a  sufficiency  of  nourishing 
food. 

I  beg  reave,  at  the  same  time,  to  express  my  firm  belief  that 
the  sentiment  of  the  people  at  the  North  is  strongly  as  possi 
ble  in  favor  of  a  humane  and  generous  treatment  of  the  prison 
ers,  both  as  a  matter  of  duty  and  as  an  instrument  of  ultimate 
reconciliation,  and  this,  notwithstanding  that  they  are  con 
vinced,  and  in  fact  have  the  proof  before  their  eyes,  that  their 
own  soldiers  arc  treated  with  the  greatest  barbarity  in  Southern 
prisons.  I  am,  etc., 

Manchester,  Dec.  27.  GOLDWIN  SMITH. 

In  a  spirit  not  unlike  that  exhibited  by  Lord  Wharncliffe, 
certain  officious  intermcddlers  in  England,  under  the  leadership 
of  a  titled  Briton,  named  De  Houghton,  had  prepared  an 


692  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

address  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  expressing  an 
earnest  desivo  for  peace.  This  paper,  alleged  to  have  received 
the  signatures  of  thrco  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  persons 
("  mostly  fools,"  as  Carlyle  would  say),  in  Great  Britain,  was 
first  transmitted  to  Governor  Seymour,  of  New  York,  who 
prudently  declined  the  part  assigned  him  of  presenting  it  to 
President  Lincoln.  Finally,  an  English  messenger  named 
Parker,  undertook  the  task  of  delivering  this  precious  parcel 
at  the  White  House,  and  arrived  in  Washington  for  the  pur 
pose.  The  Senate  having,  on  the  6th  of  December,  requested 
the  President  to  furnish  "  any  information  in  the  Department" 
of  State,  concerning  any  proposition  or  overture  recently  made 
by  British  subjects  in  aid  of  the  rebellion,"  Mr.  Seward  next 
day  transmitted  to  that  body  the  following  correspondence  on 
the  subject  of  the  peace  memorial  in  question.  It  presents  a 
rare  example  of  diplomatic  directness  and  brevity : 

MR.    PARKER    TO   MR.    SEWARD. 

WASHINGTON,  November  26,  1864. 
Hon.  W.  E.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State,  etc.: 

HON.  SIR  :  I  beg  to  inform  you  that  I  have  been  deputed  to 
convey  to  this  country  an  address  from  the  people  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  The  address  was  presented  to  Governor  Seymour, 
for  him  to  present  through  the  proper  channel. 

I  was  requested  by  him  to  convey  it  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  as  the  authorized  channel  of  communication 
between  the  people  of  other  nations  and  the  people  of  the 
United  States  of  America. 

May  I,  therefore,  ask  the  honor  of  an  opportunity  for  so 
doing. 

I  am,  Hon.  Sir,  yours  most  obediently, 

JOSEPH  PARKER. 

MR.   PARKER  TO  MR.   SEWARD. 

METROPOLITAN  HOTEL,         1 
WASHINGTON,  November  26,  1864.  j 
Hon.  W.  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State,  etc.: 

HON.  SIR  :  In  reply  of  your  letter  of  to-day,  permit  me  to 
state  that  the  address  which  I  have  had  the  honor  of  being 
deputed  by  the  parties  signing  it  to  bring  to  this  country,  and 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

containing  the  signatures  of  some  three  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  of  my  countrymen,  from  the  peer  to  the  artisan,  is 
not  from  the  Government  of  Great  Britain,  nor  from  any 
political  party.  It  is  simply  an  expression  of  the  earnest  desire 
of  the  masses  of  the  people  of  Great  Britain  to  see  peace  again 
restored  to  this  continent. 

Waiting  your  favors,  I  am,  Hon.  Sir,  yours,  most  obediently, 

JOSEPH  PARKER. 

MR.  SEWARD  TO  MR.  PARKER. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,         ") 
WASHINGTON,  November  26,  1864.  } 
To  Joseph  Parker,    Washington,  D.  C.: 

SIR  :   Your  letter  of  this  date,   stating  that  you   are    tho 

bearer  of  an  address  from  the  people  of  Great  Britain  and 

Ireland  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  has  been  received. 

Before  answering  the  question  which  your  letter  contains,  it 

is  desirable  to  be  further  informed  whether  you  have  authority 

from  the   Government  of  Great   Britain  and   Ireland  for  the 

purpose    referred    to,   and    whether    your    mission  has   been 

made    known    to  the   diplomatic  agent  of   that   Government 

accredited  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  ? 

I  am,  sir,  your  very  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 


MR.  SEWARD  TO  MR.  PARKER. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 
WASHINGTON,  November  26,  1864. 
To  Joseph  Parker,  Esq.,  Metropolitan  Hotel: 

SIR  :  The  Government  of  the  United  States  can  not  receive 
the  address  which  was  mentioned  in  your  notes  of  this  morn 
ing.  Your  request  for  an  interview  with  the  President,  to 
present  the  address,  is,  therefore,  declined. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Iu  marked  contrast  with  these  demonstrations  of  Wharncliffe 
and  De  Houghton — and  perhaps  called  out  by  their  acts — was 
the  address  of  the  English  Workingmcn  to  President  Lincoln, 
congratulating  him  on  his  re-election.  This  paper  first  ap 
peared  in  the  London  News  of  December  23d,  "18C4,  and  was 
transmitted  to  the  President  through  Mr.  Adams.  It  affords 
a  fitting  conclusion  to  the  foregoing  papers  : 


694  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

To  Abraham  .Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States  : 

SIR:  We  congratulate  the  American  people  on  your  re -elec 
tion  by  a  large  majority.  If.  resistance  to  the  slave  power  were 
the  reserved  watchword  upon  your  first  election,  the  triumphant 
war-cry  of  your  re-election  is  "  death  to  slavery."  From  the 
commencement  of  the  Titanic  American  strife  the  workingmen 
of  Europe  felt  instinctively  that  the  star-spangled  banner  car 
ried  the  destiny  of  their  class. 

The  contest  for  the  territories  which  opened  the  dire  epopee, 
was  it  not  to  decide  whether  the  virgin  soil  of  immense  tracts 
should  be  wedded  to  the  labor  of  the  emigrant,  or  prostituted 
by  the  tramp  of  the  slave-driver  ?  When  an  oligarchy  of 
three  hundred  thousand  slaveholders  dared  to  inscribe,  for  the 
first  time  in  the  annals  of  the  world,  slavery  on  the  banner  of 
armed  revolt ;  when  on  the  very  spots  where  hardly  a  century 
ago  the  idea  of  one  great  democratic  republic  had  first  sprung 
up  whence  the  first  declaration  of  the  rights  of  man  was  issued, 
and  the  first  impulse  given  to  the  European  revolution  of  the 
eighteenth  century  ;  when  on  those  very  spots  counter  revolu 
tion,  with  systematic  thoroughness,  gloried  in  rescinding  "  the 
ideas  entertained  at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  Old  Con 
stitution,"  and  maintained  slavery  to  be  a  beneficent  institu 
tion,  indeed  the  only  solution  of  the  great  problem  of  the  rela 
tion  of  capital  to  labor,  "  and  cynically  proclaimed  property  in 
man  "  the  corner  stone  of  the  new  edifice  ;  then  the  working 
classes  of  Europe  understood  at  once,  even  before  the  frantic 
partisanship  of  the  upper  classes  for  the  Confederate  gentry 
had  given  its  dismal  warning,  that  the  slaveholders'  rebellion 
•was  to  sound  the  tocsin  for  a  general  holy  crusade  of  property 
against  labor,  and  that  for  the  men  of  labor,  with  their  hopes 
for  the  future,  even  their  past  conquests  were  at  stake  in  that 
tremendous  conflict  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

Everywhere  they  bore,  therefore,  patiently,  the  hardships 
imposed  upon  them  by  the  cotton  crisis,  opposed  enthusiasti 
cally  the  pro-slavery  intervention  importunities  of  their  "  bet 
ters,"  and  from  most  parts  of  Europe  contributed  their  quota 
of  blood  to  the  good  cause.  While  the  workingmen,  the  true 
political  power  of  the  North,  allowed  slavery  to  defile  their 
own  republic,  while  before  the  negro,  mastered  and  sold  with 
out  his  concurrence,  they  boasted  in  the  highest  prerogative 
of  the  white-skinned  laborer  to  sell  himself  and  choose  his  own 
master,  they  were  unable  to  attain  the  true  freedom  of  labor, 
or  to  support  their  European  brethren  in  their  struggle  for 
emancipation ;  but  this  barrier  to  progress  has  been  swept  off 
by  the  red  sea  of  civil  war. 

The  workingmen  of  Europe  feel  sure  that  as  the  American 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  695 

war  of  independence  initiated  a  new  era  of  ascendancy  for  the 
middle  class,  so  the  American  anti-slavery  war  will  do  for  the 
working  classes.  They  consider  it  an  earnest  of  the  epoch  to 
come,  that  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  single- 
minded  son  of  the  working-class,  to  lead  his  country  through  the 
matchless  struggle  for  the  rescue  of  an  enchained  race  and  the 
re-construction  of  a  social  work. 

Signed  on  behalf  of  the  International  "Workingmen's  Asso 
ciation,  the  members  of  the  Central  Council. 

A  cordial  speech  of  Baron  de  Wetterstedt,  the  minister 
representing  the  kingdom  of  Sweden  and  Norway,  on  the  occa 
sion  of  the  elevation  of  his  mission  to  a  higher  grade  by  hia 
Sovereign,  and  his  official  presentation  on  the  20th  of  January, 
to  the  President,  drew  from  Mr,  Lincoln  the  following  deserv 
edly  friendly  response : 

BARON  DE  WETTERSTEDT  :  My  memory  does  not  recall  an 
instance  of  disagreement  between  Sweden  and  the  United 
States.  Your  predecessor  was  most  agreeable  in  his  inter 
course  with  this  Government,  and  I  greet  you  with  the  same 
good  'Ceeling  which  was  entertained  for  him  while  he  resided 
with  as.  The  consideration  which  your  Government  has  mani 
fested  by  raising  the  rank  of  its  mission  here,  is  acknowledged 
with  sincere  satisfaction.  You  may  be  assured  that  on  my  part 
every  occasion  will  be  improve^  to  exhibit  the  sincere  desire 
which  this  Government  entertains  for  the  prosperity  and  wel 
fare  of  the  Government  and  Kingdom  of  Sweden  and  Norway. 

On  the  25th  of  January,  a  delegation  of  ladies  and  gentle 
men  from  Philadelphia,  headed  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Suddards, 
waited  on  the  President,  to  present  him  with  a  vase  of  leaves, 
gathered  by  the  lady  donors,  on  the  battle-field  of  Gettysburg, 
and  placed  on  exhibition  at  the  great  Sanitary  Fair,  held 
during  the  previous  summer  at  the  former  place.  Mr.  Lincoln 
replied  to  the  presentation  speech  as  follows  : 

REVEREND  SIR,  AND  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  I  accept, 
with  emotions  of  profoundest  gratitude,  the  beautiful  gift  you 
have  been  pleased  to  present  to  me.  You  will,  of  course, 
expect  that  I  acknowledge  it.  So  much  has  been  said  about 
Gettysburg,  and  so  well  said,  that  for  me  to  attempt  to  say 
more  may,  perhaps,  only  serve  to  weaken  the  force  of  that 


696 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


•which  has  already  been  said.  A  most  graceful  and  eloquent 
tribute  was  paid  to  the  patriotism  and  self-denying  labors  of 
the  American  ladies,  on  the  occasion  of  the  consecration  of  the 
National  Cemetery  at  Gettysburg,  by  our  illustrious  friend, 
Edward  Everett,  now,  alas !  departed  from  earth.  His  life 
was  a  truly  great  one,  and  I  think,  the  greatest  part  of  it  was 
that  which  crowned  its  closing  years.  I  wish  you  to  read,  if 
you  have  not  already  done  so,  the  glowing,  and  eloquent,  and 
truthful  words  which  he  then  spoke  of  the  women  of  America. 
Truly,  the  services  they  have  rendered  to  the  defenders  of  our 
country  in  this  perilous  time,  and  are  yet  rendering,  can  never 
be  estimated  as  they  ought  to  be.  For  your  kind  wishes  to  me, 
personally,  I  beg  leave  to  render  you,  likewise,  iny  sincerest 
thanks.  I  assure  you  they  are  reciprocated.  And  now,  gen 
tlemen  and  ladies,  may  God  bless  you  all. 

The  State  of  Tennessee,  under  the  Military  Governorship 
of  Andrew  Johnson,  had  been  steadily  advancing  toward  a 
better  condition,  though  stiil  disturbed  by  a  large  Secession 
clement  of  its  population,  bitterly  hostile  to  the  Government. 
The  loyal  portion  of  the  inhabitants  had  readily  fallen  in  with 
the  out-spoken  anti-slavery  policy  of  Gov.  Johnson,  as  the 
only  basis  for  re-organizing  the  State  Government.  The  final 
defeat  of  the  Rebel  Hood,  and  his  expulsion  from  the  State — 
many  of  the  worst  enemies  of  the  Union  following  him,  as  the 
game  class  had  followed  Price  out  of  Missouri — left  the  party 
of  malcontents  and  disunionists  comparatively  subdued  and 
peaceful. 

A  State  Convention,  in  calling  which  East  Tennessee  had 
taken  the  lead,  inviting  and  receiving  the  co-operation  of 
Middle  and  "West  Tennessee,  assembled  at  Nashville  on  the 
llth  of  January,  1865.  Its  object  was  the  re-organization  of 
a  civil  government  for  the  State.  No  one  who  had  borne  arms 
in  the  Rebel  service,  or  who  had  given  aid  and  comfort  to  the 
rebellion,  was  permitted  to  take  a  seat  in  the  convention.  The 
number  of  votes  to  be  cast  for  each  county  was  at  first  deter 
mined  on  the  basis  of  the  vote  against  secession  in  1861. 
This  gave  a  decided  preponderance  to  East  Tennessee — ever 
the  home  of  loyalty  and  freedom.  As  this  created  dissatisfac 
tion  among  the  delegates  from  other  parts  of  the  State,  they 
were  conciliated  by  a  change,  giving  a  more  equal  local  repre- 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  697 

Dentation.  The  Convention  unanimously  declared  in  favor  of 
abolishing,  and  forever  prohibiting  slavery  throughout  the 
State.  A  further  constitutional  amendment  was  also  agreed 
to,  forbidding  the  Legislature  from  recognizing  the  right 
of  property  in  slaves,  or  from  giving  compensation  for  those 
freed.  The  declaration  of  State  independence,  and  the  mil 
itary  league  with  the  "Davis  Confederacy,"  made  in  18G1, 
and  all  laws  and  ordinances  made  in  pursuance  of  those  meas 
ures,  were  declared  abrogated.  All  official  appointments  made 
by  Gov.  Johnson,  during  the  time  of  his  service  as  Military 
Governor,  were  confirmed. 

The  action  of  the  Convention  was  submitted  to  the  people 
for  ratification  or  rejection,  the  vots  to  be  taken  on  the  22d  of 
February — State  officers  and  a  Legislature  to  be  chosen  on  the 
4th  of  March,  in  case  of  a  popular  approval.  Nearly  three 
hundred  delegates  took  part  in  the  proceedings.  The  people 
approved  the  work  of  the  Convention,  ratifying  these  import 
ant  changes  in  the  organic  law  of  the  State.  On  the  4th  of 
March,  William  G.  Brownlow  was  elected  Governor,  and  was 
duly  installed  in  office.  A  Legislature  was  also  chosen,  and 
Tennessee  has  now  a  fully  organized  government  as  a  Free 
State. 

The  policy  pursued  in  Tennessee  was  entirely  consonant  in 
principle,  though  necessarily  varied  in  some  details,  with  that 
which  the  President  had  adopted  in  regard  to  Louisiana.  la 
the  former  case,  however,  partly  through  the  firm  and  energetic 
management  of  a  Military  Governor  in  the  midst  of  people 
from  whom  he  had  received  the  highest  honors  in  the  gift  of 
the  State,  the  result  was  more  complete.  Gov.  Johnson  knew 
the  men  with  whom  he  had  to  deal.  They  knew  him  as  a 
statesman  who  had  before  been  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  State 
by  a  popular  election,  and  who  had  long  represented  them  in 
the  Senate.  He  had,  too,  a  basis  of  immense  strength  in  the 
indomitable  spirit  of  freedom  which  pervaded  East  Tennessee, 
his  own  home,  and  which  hailed  the  advent  of  universal  lib 
erty  as  the  sole  enduring  foundation  for  the  re-organization  of 
civil  order  in  the  revolted  States. 

We  have  already  seen  something  of  the  difficulties  which 


698  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

attended  the  like  efforts  in  Louisiana.  Only  some  of  the  more 
important  localities,  as  New  Orleans,  and  points  on  the  Missis 
sippi  River  chiefly,  had  been  reclaimed  by  absolute  military 
possession.  The  earlier  Military  Governors  had  not  been  citi 
zens  of  Louisiana.  Personal  divisions  and  partisan  factions 
had  sprung  up  within  the  State,  and  had  been  fostered  by 
ambitious  men  elsewhere.  An  energetic  opposition  to  tho 
President  on  this  subject  was  organized  in  Congress.  A  firm 
and  fair  trial  of  his  policy  was  thus  interfered  with,  where  cor 
dial  support  was  most  of  all  needed.  Unfortunately,  too,  the 
influence  of  Gen.  Banks,  to  whom  so  important  a  part  in  this 
matter  had  been  assigned,  and  who  had  so  successfully  con 
ducted  affairs  in  the  earlier  stages,  had  lost  prestige  somewhat, 
by  the  unexpected  issue  of  the  Red  River  expedition,  which 
failed  to  sustain  the  reputation  he  had  gained  in  the  Port 
Hudson  campaign. 

The  prominence  given  to  this  subject,  and  the  factious  oppo 
sition  by  which  a  small  minority  in  the  'Senate  succeeded,  at 
the  close  of  the  session  of  1864-5,  in  defeating,  for  a  time,  the 
final  consummation  by  Congressional  recognition  of  the  long- 
continued  efforts  for  the  re-organization  of  a  permanent  local 
Government,  gives  importance  to  the  following  letter  of  the 
President,  recently  made  public  : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,     ) 
WASHINGTON,  August  5,  1863.} 

MY  DEAR  GEN.  BANKS:  While  I  very  well  know  what  I 
would  be  glad  for  Louisiana  to  do,  it  is  quite  a  different  thing 
for  me  to  assume  direction  of  the  matter.  I  would  be  glad  for 
her  to  make  a  new  Constitution,  recognizing  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  and  adopting  emancipation  in  those  parts  of  the 
State  to  which  the  proclamation  does  not  apply.  And  while 
she  is  at  it,  I  think  it  would  not  be  objectionable  for  her  to 
adopt  some  practical  system  by  which  the  two  races  could  grad 
ually  live  themselves  out  of  their  old  relations  to  each  other, 
and  both  come  out  better  prepared  for  the  new.  Education  for 
young  blacks  should  be  included  in  the  plan.  After  all,  tho 
power  or  clement  of  "contract"  may  be  sufficient  for  this  pro 
bationary  period,  and  by  its  simplicity  and  flexibility  may  bo 
the  better. 

As  an  anti-slavery  man,  I  have  a  motive  to  desire  emancipa- 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

tion  which  pro-slavery  men  do  not  have ;  but  even  they  havo 
strong  enough  reason  to  thus  place  themselves  again  under  the 
shield  of  the  Union,  and  thus  perpetually  hedge  against  the 
recurrence  of  the  scenes  through  which  we  are  now  passing. 

Gov.  Shepley  has  informed  me  that  Mr.  Durant  is  now 
taking  a  registry  with  a  view  to  the  election  of  a  Constitutional 
Convention  in  Louisiana.  This,  to  me,  appears  proper.  If 
such  convention  were  to  ask  my  views,  I  coufd  present  little 
else  than  what  I  now  say  to  you.  I  think  the  thing  should  bo 
pushed  forward,  so  that,  if  possible,  its  mature  work  may  reach 
here  by  the  meeting  of  Congress. 

For  my  own  part,  I  think  I  shall  not,  in  any  event,  retract 
the  Emancipation  Proclamation  ;  nor,  as  Executive,  ever  return 
to  slavery  any  person  who  is  free  by  the  terms  of  that  procla 
mation,  or  by  any  of  the  acts  of  Congress. 

If  Louisiana  shall  send  members  to  Congress,  their  admis 
sion  to  seats  will  depend,  as  you  know,  upon  the  respective 
Houses,  and  not  upon  the  President.  *  *  * 

Yours,  very  truly, 

(Signed.)  A.  LINCOLN. 

It  is  difficult  to  see  how  a  State  government,  organized  in  a 
regular  manner  from  this  beginning,  with  a  constitution  pro 
hibiting  slavery,  could  be  intrinsically  obnoxious,  except  on  the 
theory — having  as  yet  few  supporters — that  all  the  disloyal 
States  should  be  reduced  to  the  "  territorial  "  condition.  And 
it  was  in  fact  the  author  of  this  theory  in  the  Senate,  who, 
backed  by  a  small  minority,  and  resorting  to  parliamentary 
tactics  little  at  home  in  that  body,  succeeded,  near  the  close  of 
the  session,  in  defeating  the  will  of  a  decided  majority  of  both 
Houses,  as  clearly  manifested  in  favor  of  the  recognition  of  the 
Louisiana  State  government.  It  was  of  no  such  act  that  his 
leading  (but  unsuccessful)  coadjutor  in  the  House,  and  one  of 
his  associates  in  this  transaction  in  the  Senate,  had  said, 
arraigning  the  President  in  the  midst  of  the  canvass  of  the 
previous  summer,  that  "  a  more  studied  outrage  on  the  legisla 
tive  authority  of  the  people  has  never  been  perpetrated." 

Arkansas  followed  the  fortunes  of  Louisiana,  in  this  failure 
of  recognition,  despite  the  will  of  a  majority  of  both  Houses, 
in  which  the  President  also  cordially  concurred.  That  State, 
too,  had  been  re-organized  on  the  basis  of  a  free  State  constitu 
tion,  ratified  by  a  large  loyal  vote.  The  rejection  of  its  Con- 


700  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

gressional  delegation,  which,  like  that  of  Louisiana,  was  pre 
sent,  asking  admission,  turned  upon  the  autocratic  determina 
tion  which  refused  recognition  of  Louisiana. 

In  determining  what  States  should  be  allowed  a  representa 
tion  in  the  electoral  college,  Tennessee,  Louisiana  and  Arkansas 
had  been  excluded— a  respectable  minority  of  the  Union  mem 
bers  voting  in  their  favor.   When  that  vote  was  taken,  however, 
it  was  expressly  understood  that  this  action  was  not  to  bo 
regarded  as  prejudicing  the  question  of  recognizing  the  State 
governments  and  chosen  Congressional  representatives  in  the 
two  last-named  States,  which  alone  had  reached  that  stage  of 
re-organization.     It  is  not  difficult  to  appreciate  the  distinction 
between    counting  the  electoral   votes  of   States,  which  had 
undertaken  to  participate  in  the  Presidential  election,  before 
any  determination  as  to  their  condition,  and  the  recognition  of 
loyal  governments  in  such  States,  with  representation  in  Con 
gress.   But  it  is  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  see  by  what 
method  these  States,  as  such,  should  become  entitled  to  recogni 
tion  at  all,  except  on  such  a  basis  as  the  organizations  already 
perfected.     The  President  had,  in  fact,  the  satisfaction  of  know 
ing  that  a  decided  majority  of  both  Houses  coincided  with  him- 
eelf  on  this  subject,  though    not  of  seeing  their  views  prevail. 
Soon  after  the  Presidential  election,  there  was  a  considerable 
clamor — at  first  raised  by  Democratic  leaders,  and  afterward 
joined  by  the  same  persons  who  had  taken  an  interest  in  the 
Niagara  Falls  correspondence  with  the  Canada  conspirators— 
for  opening  some  kind  of  communication  with  the  spurious 
government  at  Richmond,  with  a  view  to  agreeing  on  terms  for 
a  general  pacification.     To  the  Rebels,  in  their  still  unbroken 
pride  and  presumption,  such  a  proposition  was  more  likely  to 
appear  as  an  indication  of  weakness  than  of  magnanimity.     To 
most  loyal  people,  unquestionably,  it  was  evident  that  Grant 
and  Farragut,  Sherman,  Thomas  and  Sheridan,  were  intrusted 
with  the  only  practicable  powers  for  securing  peace  guarantees 
from  "  an  authority  that  can  control  the  armies  now  at  war 
with  the  United  States.       This  was  the  more  especially  be 
lieved,  after  the  repeated  exhibitions  of  indomitable  insolence 
and  inveterate  malice  on  the  part  of  those  presuming  to  exer- 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  701 

cise  civil  functions  as  the  chief  rulers  of  a  "  Confederacy  " 
based  on  the  {C  corner-stone  of  slavery."  President  Lincoln 
himself,  at  least,  was  not  deceived  into  any  other  supposition. 
While  there  were  prominent  individuals  in  Richmond  who  ven 
tured  to  speak  openly  of  making  peace,  on  terms  definitely 
involving  a  recognition  of  Secession,  even  these,  as  in  the  case 
of  McMullen,  were  unable  to  secure  a  party  of  any  strength 
to  follow  them.  Foote,  rather  in  bitter  hatred  of  Davis,  than 
from  any  real  inclination  to  submit  to  rightful  authority,  had 
at  the  same  time — just  before  Christmas — made  a  gloomy 
epeech  on  the  financial  condition  and  military  prospects  of  the 
rebellion,  and  sought  to  shield  himself  from  the  consequences 
of  his  rashness  by  flight.  Re-captured,  he  was  censured  in 
such  terms  as  to  amount,  in  his  estimation,  to  definite  proscrip 
tion.  The  Rebel  Congress  was  discussing,  in  secret  session, 
what  Davis  had  vaguely  hinted  at  as  a  necessity,  and  what  his 
Secretary,  Benjamin,  as  well  as  Lee  and  other  generals,  now 
openly  urged  as  a  last  resort — the  arming  of  slaves,  with  the 
promise  of  freedom. 

A  fiendish  desperation  had  become  more  and  more  manifest, 
after  the  8th  of  November.  Schemes  of  an  infernal  character 
were  devised,  or  sanctioned  in  Richmond,  as  already  partly 
known  to  the  Government,  to  be  afterward  more  fully  dis 
covered,  while  their  execution  was  mainly  intrusted  to  the 
men  "  in  the  confidential  employment  "  of  Jefferson  Davis,  who 
were  provided  with  ample  funds,  over  the  Canada  border. 
Emissaries  were  set  at  work  on  Lake  Erie,  to  seize  vessels  and 
to  enact  piracy — as  in  the  case  of  Beall,  afterward  convicted 
and  hung  in  New  York.  On  the  25th  of  November,  Howcll 
Cobb  Kennedy  and  others,  tools  of  the  same  Thompson-Clay 
cabal,  attempted  to  execute  a  plan  of  wholesale  arson  and  mur 
der  in  the  city  of  New  York,  by  setting  fire  to  many  hotels 
and  to  shipping  in  the  harbor.  A  party  of  men,  afterward 
zealously  defended  by  the  same  Canada  conspirators,  and  bear 
ing  commissions  from  the  pretended  government  at  Richmond, 
stole,  in  disguise,  across  the  British  border  into  the  village  of 
St.  Albans,  in  Northern  Vermont,  on  the  19th  of  October, 
and,  by  a  surprise,  robbed  the  banks  in  that  place,  committing 


702  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

assaults  and  murder,  and  rode  back  again  into  the  same  "  neu 
tral  "  territory.  Their  surrender  to  the  proper  authorities  for 
trial,  after  some  show  of  an  inclination  to  act  fairly  under  the 
extradition  treaty,  had  been  ultimately  denied,  after  the  assump 
tion  of  the  responsibility  for  these  crimes,  by  the  "  belligerent 
power"  having  its  seat  at  Richmond.  All  these  facts  were 
transpiring  and  were  publicly  understood,  as  these,  appeals  to 
send  peace  commissioners  to  Richmond  were  continually  reite 
rated. 

Unwilling  to  be  misconstrued  on  either  hand,  as  deter 
mined  unncessarily  to  prolong  the  war,  and  heartily  desiring 
peace,  if  by  any  possibility  it  could  honorably  and  justly  be 
had,  President  Lincoln  at  length  consented  that  F.  P.  Blair, 
Senior,  who  was  personally  well  known  to  the  leading  men  at 
Richmond,  should,  purely  on  his  own  responsibility,  make  a 
visit  to  the  Rebel  capital.  This  journey  of  Mr.  Blair,  for  the 
time  enveloped  in  mystery,  resulted  in  a  second  visit,  and  in 
the  appointment  of  "  commissioners  "  to  present  to  the  Gov 
ernment  the  Rebel  ultimatum,  before  repeatedly  proclaimed. 
A  conference  was  had  with  these  parties  on  board  a  steamer  ia 
Hampton  Roads,  by  Mr.  Seward  at  the  outset,  who  was  after 
ward  joined  by  President  Lincoln.  A  concise  version  of  this 
"  negotiation  "  and  its  results  was  communicated  by  the  Sec 
retary  of  State  in  the  following  official  dispatch  to  Mr.  Adams, 
our  Minister  at  the  British  Court : 

DEPARTMENT  OP  STATE,         ") 
WASHINGTON  CITY,  February  7,  1865.  } 

SIR  :  It  is  a  truism  that  in  times  of  peace  there  are  always 
instigators  of  war.  So  soon  as  war  begins,  there  are  citizens 
who  impatiently  demand  negotiations  for  peace.  The  advo 
cates  of  war,  after  an  agitation,  longer  or  shorter,  generally 
gain  their  fearful  end,  though  the  war  declared  is  not  unfre- 
quently  unnecessary  and  unwise.  So  peace  agitators  in  time 
of  war  ultimately  bring  about  an  abandonment  of  the  conflict, 
sometimes  without  securing  the  advantages  which  were  origin 
ally  expected  from  the  conflict. 

The  agitators  for  war  in  time  of  peace,  and  for  peace  in  time" 
of  war,  are  not  necessarily,  or  perhaps  ordinarily,  unpatriotic 
in  their  purposes  or  motives.  Results  alone  determine  whether 
they  are  wise  or  unwise.  The  treaty  of  peace  concluded  at 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  703 

Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  was  secured  by  an  irregular  negotiator 
under  the  ban  of  the  Government.  Some  of  the  efforts  which 
have  been  made  to  bring  about  negotiations,  with  a  view  to 
end  our  civil  war,  are  known  to  the  whole  world,  because  they 
have  employed  foreign  as  well  as  domestic  agents.  Others, 
with  whom  you  have  had  to  deal  confidentially,  are  known  to 
yourself,  although  they  have  not  publicly  transpired.  Other 
efforts  have  occurred  here  which  are  known  only  to  the  persona 
actually  moving  in  them  and  to  this  Government.  I  am  now 
to  give,  for  your  information,  an  account  of  an  affair  of  the  same 
general  character,  which  recently  received  much  attention  here, 
and  which,  doubtless,  will  excite  inquiry  abroad. 

A  few  days  ago,  Francis  P.  Blair,  Esq.,  of  Maryland,  obtained 
from  the  President  a  simple  leave  to  pass  through  our  military 
lines,  without  definite  views  known  to  the  Government.  Mr. 
Blair  visited  Richmond,  and  on  his  return  he  showed  to  the 
President  a  letter  which  Jefferson  Davis  had  written  to  Mr. 
Blair,  in  which  Davis  wrote  that  Mr.  Blair  was  at  liberty 
to  say  to  President  Lincoln  that  Davis  was  now,  as  he  always 
had  been,  willing  to  send  commissioners  if  assured  they  would 
be  received,  or  to  receive  any  that  should  be  sent ;  that  he  was 
not  disposed  to  find  obstacles  in  forms.  He  would  send  com 
missioners  to  confer  with  the  President  with  a  view  to  a  resto 
ration  of  peace  between  the  two  countries  if  he  could  be 
assured  they  would  be  received.  The  President  thereupon,  on 
the  18th  of  January,  addressed  a  note  to  Mr.  Blair,  in  which 
the  President,  after  acknowledging  that  he  had  read  the  note 
of  Mr.  Davis,  said  that  he  was,  is,  and  always  should  be,  will 
ing  to  receive  any  agents  that  Mr.  Davis  or  any  other  influen 
tial  person,  now  actually  resisting  the  authority  of  the  Gov 
ernment,  might  send  to  confer  informally  with  the  President, 
with  a  view  to  the  restoration  of  peace  to  the  people  of  our 
one  common  country.  Mr.  Blair  visited  Richmond  with  this 
letter,  and  then  again  came  back  to  Washington. 

On  the  29th  ultimo  we  were  advised  from  the  camp  of  Lieu- 
tenant-General  Grant  that  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  R.  M.  T, 
Hunter,  and  John  A.  Campbell  were  applying  for  leave  to 
pass  through  the  lines  to  Washington,  as  peace  commissioners, 
to  confer  with  the  President.  They  were  permitted  by  the 
Lieutenant-General  to  come  to  his  headquarters  to  await  there 
the  decision  of  the  President.  Major  Eckert  was  sent  down 
to  meet  the  party  from  Richmond  at  General  Grant's  head 
quarters.  The  Major  was  directed  to  deliver  to  them  a  copy 
of  the  President's  letter  to  Mr.  Blair,  with  a  note  to  be 
addressed  to  them  and  signed  by  the  Major,,  in  which  they 
were  directly  informed,  that  if  they  should  be.  allowed  to  pass 


704  LIFE  OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

our  lines  they  would  be  understood  as  coming  for  an  informal 
conference  upon  the  the  basis  of  the  aforenamed  letter  of  the 
18th  of  January  to  Mr.  Blair.  If  they  should  express  their 
assent  to  this  condition  in  writing,  then  Major  Eckert  was 
directed  to  give  them  safe  conduct  to  Fortress  Monroe,  where 
a  person  coming  from  the  President  would  meet  them.  It 
being  thought  probable,  from  a  report  of  their  conversation 
with  Lieutenant-General  Grant,  that  the  Richmond  party  would, 
in  the  manner  prescribed,  accept  the  condition  mentioned,  the 
Secretary  of  State  was  charged  by  the  President  with  the  duty 
of  representing  this  Government  in  the  expected  informal  con 
ference.  The  Secretary  arrived  at  Fortress  Monroe  in  the 
night  of  the  1st  day  of  February.  Major  Eckert  met  him  in 
the  morning  of  the  2d  of  February,  with  the  information  that 
the  persons  who  had  come  from  Richmond  had  not  accepted 
in  writing  the  condition  upon  which  he  was  allowed  to 
give  them  conduct  to  Fortress  Monroe.  The  Major  had  given 
the  same  information  by  telegraph  to  the  President  at  Wash- 
ington.  On  receiving  this  information,  the  President  prepared 
a  telegram  directing  the  Secretary  to  return  to  Washington. 
The  Secretary  was  preparing  at  the  same  moment  to  so  return, 
without  waiting  for  instructions  from  the  President.  But  at 
this  juncture  Lieutenant-General  Grant  telegraphed  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  as  well  as  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  that 
the  party  from  Richmond  had  reconsidered  and  accepted  the 
conditions  tendered  them  through  Major  Eckert ;  and  General 
Grant  urgently  advised  the  President  to  confer  in  person  with 
the  Richmoud  party.  Under  these  circumstances,  the  Secre 
tary,  by  the  President's  direction,  remained  at  Fortress  Mon 
roe,  and  the  President  joined  him  there  on  the  night  of  the 
2d  of  February.  The  Richmond  party  was  brought  down  the 
James  river  in  a  United  States  steam  transport  during  the  day, 
and  the  transport  was  anchored  in  Hampton  Roads. 

On  the  morning  of  the  3d,  the  President,  attended  by  the 
Secretary,  received  Messrs.  Stephens,  Hunter  and  Campbell  on 
board  the  United  States  steam  transport  River  Queen,  in 
Hampton  Roads.  The  conference  was  altogether  informal. 
There  was  no  attendance  of  secretaries,  clerks,  or  other  wit 
nesses.  Nothing  was  written  or  read.  The  conversation, 
although  earnest  and  free,  was  calm  and  courteous  and  kind  on 
both  sides.  The  Richmond  party  approached  the  discussion 
rather  indirectly,  and  at  no  time  did  they  either  make  categor 
ical  demands,  or  tender  formal  stipulations  or  absolute  refusals. 
Nevertheless,  during  the  conference,  which  lasted  four  hours, 
the  several  points  at  issue  between  the  Government  and 
the  insurgents  were  distinctly  raised,  and  discussed  fully, 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN  705 

intelligently,  and  in  an  amicable  spirit.  What  the  insurgent 
party  seemed  chiefly  to  favor  was  a  postponement  of  the  ques 
tion  of  separation,  upon  which  the  war  is  waged,  and  a  mutual 
direction  of  efforts  of  the  Government,  as  well  as  those  of  the 
insurgents,  to  some  extrinsic  policy  or  scheme  for  a  season, 
during  which  passions  might  be  expected  to  subside,  and  tho 
armies  be  reduced,  aud  trade  and  intercourse  between  the  peo 
ple  of  both  sections  resumed.  It  was  suggested  by  them  that 
through  such  postponement  we  might  now  have  immediate 
peace,  with  some  not  very  certain  prospect  of  an  ultimate  sat 
isfactory  adjustment  of  political  relations  between  this  Govern 
ment  and  the  States,  section,  and  people  now  engaged  in 
conflict  with  it. 

The  suggestion,  though  deliberately  considered,  was  never 
theless  regarded  by  the  President  as  one  of  armistice  or  truce, 
and  he  announced  that  we  can  agree  to  no  cessation  or  suspen 
sion  of  hostilities  except  on  the  basis  of  the  disbandment  of 
the  insurgent  forces  and  the  restoration  of  the  national 
authority  throughout  all  the  States  in  the  Union.  Collate 
rally,  and  in  subordination  to  the  proposition  which  was  thus 
announced,  the  anti-slavery  policy  of  the  United  States  was 
reviewed  in  all  its  bearings,  and  the  President  announced  that 
he  must  not  be  expected  to  depart  from  the  positions  he  had 
heretofore  assumed  in  his  proclamation  of  emancipation  and 
other  documents,  as  these  positions  were  reiterated  in  his  last 
annual  message.  It  was  further  declared  by  the  President 
that  the  complete  restoration  of  the  national  authority  every 
where  was  an  indispensable  condition  of  any  assent  on  our  part 
to  whatever  form  of  peace  might  be  proposed.  The  President, 
assured  the  other  party  that  while  he  must  adhere  to  these 
positions,  he  would  be  prepared,  so  far  as  power  is  lodged  with 
the  Executive,  to  exercise  liberality.  Its  power,  however,  is 
limited  by  the  Constitution ;  and  wjien  peace  shall  be  made, 
Congress  must  necessarily  act  in  regard  to  appropriations  of 
money  and  to  the  admission  of  representatives  from  the  insur 
rectionary  States.  The  Richmond  party  were  then  informed 
that  Congress  had,  on  the  31st  ultimo,  adopted,  by  a  constitu 
tional  majority  a  joint  resoluion  submitting  to  the  several 
States  the  proposition  to  abolish  slavery  throughout  the  Union  ; 
and  that  there  is  every  reason  to  expect  that  it  will  be  soon 
accepted  by  three-fourths  of  the  States,  so  as  to  become  a  part 
of  the  national  organic  law. 

The  conference  came  to  an  end,  by  mutual  acquiescence, 
without  producing  any  agreement  of  views  upon  the  several 
matters  discussed,  or  any  of  them.  Nevertheless,  it  is  per 
haps  of  some  importance  that  WQ  have  been  able  to  submit 
45 


706  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LlNCOLff. 

our  opinions  and  views  directly  to  prominent  insurgents,  and 
to  hear  them  in  answer,  in  a  courteous  and  not  unfriendly 
manner. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

On  the  8th  of  February,  the  House  of  Representative* 
adopted  a  resolution  calling  upon  the  President  for  information 
on  the  subject  of  this  conference.  On  the  10th,  ho  transmitted 
to  that  body  the  following  response  : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         > 
WASHINGTON,  February  10,  18G3.    ) 
To  the  Honorable  the  House  of  Representatives: 

In  response  to  your  resolution  of  the  8th  inst.,  requesting 
information  in  relation  to  a  conference  recently  held  in  Hamp 
ton  Roads,  I  have  the  honor  to  state  that  on  the  day  of  that 
date,  I  gave  Francis  P.  Blair,  Sr.,  a  card  written  on  as  follows, 
to-wit : 

"Allow  the  bearer,  F.  P.  Blair,  Sr.,  to  pass  our  lines,  go 
south  and  return. 

"  December  28,  1864.  A.  LINCOLN." 

That  at  the  time  I  was  informed  that  Mr.  Blair  sought  the 
card  as  a  means  of  getting  to  Richmond,  Virginia,  but  he  was 
given  no  authority  to  speak  or  act  for  the  Government,  nor 
was  I  informed  of  anything  he  would  say  or  do  on  his  own 
account  or  otherwise.  Afterward  Mr.  Blair  told  me  that  he 
had  been  to  Richmond  and  had  seen  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis,  and 
he,  Mr.  B.,  at  the  same  time  left  with  me  a  manuscript  letter  as 
follows,  to-wit: 

MR.  DAVIS  TO  MR.  BLAIR. 

"  RICHMOND,  VIRGINIA,  January  12,  1865. 
"  F.  P.  Blair,  Esq.: 

SIR  :  I  have  deemed  it  proper,  and  probably  desirable  to 
you,  to  give  you  in  this  form  the  substance  of  remarks  made 
by  me,  to  be  repeated  by  you  to  President  Lincoln,  etc. 

I  have  no  disposition  to  find  obstacles  in  forms,  and  am  will 
ing  now,  as  heretofore,  to  enter  into  negotiations  for  the  restora 
tion  of  peace ;  am  ready  to  send  a  commission  whenever  I  have 
reason  to  suppose  it  will  be  received,  or  to  receive  a  commission, 
if  the  United  States  Government  shall  choose  to  send  one> 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  707 

That,  notwithstanding  the  rejection  of  our  former  offers,  I 
would,  if  you  could  promise  that  a  commissioner,  minister,  or 
agent  would  be  received,  appoint  one  immediately,  and  renew 
tho  effort  to  enter  into  conference  with  a  view  to  secure  peace 
to  the  two  countries. 

"  Yours,  etc.,  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

Afterward,  and  with  the  view  that  it  should  be  shown  to  Mr 
Davis,  I  wrote  and  delivered  to  Mr.  Blair  a  letter,  as  follows : 

".WASHINGTON,  January  18,  1865. 
"  F.  P.  Blair,  Esq. : 

"  SIR  :  You  having  shown  me  Mr.  Davis'  letter  to  you  of 
the  12th  inst.,  you  may  say  to  him  that  I  have  constantly  been, 
am  now,  and  shall  continue  ready  to  receive  any  agent  whom 
he,  or  any  other  influential  person  now  resisting  the  national 
authority,  may  informally  send  to  me  with  a  view  of  securing 
peace  to  the  people  of  our  one  common  country. 

"Yours,  &c.,  "A.  LINCOLN." 

Afterward  Mr.  Blair  dictated  for,  and  authorized,  me  to  make 
an  entry  on  the  back  of  my  retained  copy  of  the  letter  last 
above  received,  which  entry  is  as  follows : 

[INDORSEMENT.] 

"JANUARY  28,  1865. 

"To-day  Mr.  Blair  tells  me  that  on  the  21st  inst.,  he  delivered 
to  Mr.  Davis  the  original  of  which  the  within  is  a  copy,  and 
left  it  with  him;  that  at  the  time  of  delivering  it  Mr.  Davis 
read  it  over  twice,  in  Mr.  Blair's  presence,  at  the  close  of  which 
he  (Mr.  Blair)  remarked  that  the  part  about  '  our  one  common 
country '  related  to  the  part  of  Mr.  D.'s  letter  about  '  the  two 
countries,'  to  which  Mr.  D.  replied  that  he  so  understood  it. 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

Afterward  the  Secretary  of  War  placed  in  my  hands  the 
following  telegram,  indorsed  by  him,  as  appears  : 

[Cipher.] 

"  OFFICE  U.  S.  MILITARY  TELEGRAPH,  ) 
"  WAR  DEPARTMENT.     } 

"  The  following  telegram  was  received  at  Washington,  Jan 
uary  29, 1865,  M. : 


708  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 

" '  FROM  HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  JAMES,  ) 
"  <  January  29,  1865,  6.30  P.  M.     j 
**ffon.  E.  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War  .- 

"  '  The  following  dispatch,  just  received  from  Maj.-Gen. 
Parke,  who  refers  it  to  me  for  my  action.  I  refer  it  to  you  in 
Lieut-Gen.  Grant's  absence.  "t{  E.  0.  C.  ORD, 

"*  Major-General  Commanding,1" 

" '  HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  POTOMAC,  | 
4  P.  M.,  January  29, 1865.      j 

"*  Maj.-Gen.  E.  0.  C.  Ord,  Headquarters  Army  of  the  James: 
" '  The  following  dispatch  is  forwarded  to  you  for  your  action. 
Since  I  have  no  knowledge  of  Gen.  Grant's  having  had  any 
understanding  of  this  kind,  I  refer  the  matter  to  you  as  the 
ranking  officer  present  in  the  two  armies. 

(Signed,)  "  <  JOHN  G.  PARKE, 

"  'Major- General  Commanding."1 

"  {  FROM  HEADQUARTERS  NINTH  ARMY  CORPS,  ) 
"  <  January  29,  1865.      J 

{C<  Major-General   John     G.  Par 7te,  Headquarters   Army   of 
Potomac  : 

"  '  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  R.  M.  T.  Hunter  and  J.  A. 
Campbell  desire  to  cross  my  lines,  in  accordance  with  an  under 
standing  claimed  to  exist  with  Lieut.-Gen.  Grant,  on  their 
way  to  Washington  as  peace  commissioners.  Shall  they  be 
admitted?  They  desire  an  early  answer  to  come  through 
immediately.  Would  like  to  reach  City  Point  to-night,  if  they 
can.  If  they  can  not  do  this,  they  would  like  to  come  through 
at  10  A.  M.  to-morrow  morning. 

(Signed,)  "  '  O.  B.  WILCOX, 

"  '  Major-General  Commanding  Ninth  Corps.'  " 

It  appears  that  about  the  time  of  placing  the  foregoing  tele 
gram  in  my  hands,  the  Secretary  of  War  dispatched  Gen.  Ord 
as  follows,  to-wit : 


[Copy.] 

ARTMEN* 

"  January  29,  1865,  10  P.  M. 


"  WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON  CITY,  ) 


"  Major-  General  Ord  : 

"  This  Department  has  no  knowledge  of  any  understanding 
bj  Gen.  Grant  to  allow  any  person  to  come  within  his  lines  as 
commissioners  of  any  sort.  You  will,  therefore,  allow  no  one 
to  come  into  your  Jine3  under  such,  character  or  profession 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  70*9 

until  yon  receive  the  Presidents  instructions,  to  whom  your 
telegram  will  be  submitted  for  his  directions. 

(Signed,)  "  EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

"Secretary  of  War." 
Bent  in  cipher  at  2  A.  M.,  30th. 

Afterward,  by  my  direction,  the  Secretary  of  War  tele* 
graphed  Gen,  Ord  as  follows,  to-wit : 

"  WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C., ) 
10.30  A.  M.,  January  30,  1865.      j 

"  Maj.-Gen.  E.  0.  C.  Ord,  Headquarters  Army  of  the  James: 
"  By  direction  of  the  President,  you  are  instructed  to  inform 
the  three  gentlemen,  Messrs.  Stephens,  Hunter  and  Campbell, 
that  a  messenger  will  be  dispatched  to  them  at  or  near  where 
they  now  are,  without  unnecessary  delay. 

(Signed,)  "  EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

"Secretary  of  War." 


Afterward,  I   prepared  and  put  into  the  hands  of   Major 
Thomas  T.  Eckert  the  following  instructions  and  message : 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         \ 
WASHINGTON,  January  30,  1865.  j 


"  Major  T.  T.  Eckert : 

"SiR:  You  will  proceed  with  the  documents  placed  in  your 
hands,  and  on  reaching  Gen.  Ord  will  deliver  him  the  letter 
addressed  to  him  by  the  Secretary  of  War ;  then,  by  Gen. 
Ord's  assistance,  procure  an  interview  with  Messrs.  Stephens, 
Hunter  and  Campbell,  or  any  of  them,  deliver  to  him  or  them 
the  paper  on  which  your  own  letter  is  written,  note  on  the 
copy  which  you  retain  the  time  of  delivery  and  to  whom  deliv 
ered,  receive  their  answer  in  writing,  waiting  a  reasonable  time 
for  it,  and  which,  if  it  contain  their  decision  to  come  through, 
without  further  condition,  will  be  your  warrant  to  ask  Gen.  Ord 
to  pass  them  through,  as  directed  in  the  letter  of  the  Secretary 
of  War  to  him.  If  by  their  answer  they  decline  to  come,  or 
propose  other  terms,  do  not  have  them  passed  through.  And 
this  being  your  whole  duty,  return  and  report  to  me. 

"  Yours,  truly,  A.  LINCOLN." 

T  .  t.t?    vt, 
"  Messrs.   Alex.  H.  Stephens,  J.  A.  Campbell  and  R.  M.    T. 

Hunter  : 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  I  am  instructed  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  place  this  paper  in  your  hands,  with  the  infor- 


710  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

mation  that  if  you  pass  through  the  United  States  military 
lines  it  will  be  understood  that  you  do  so  for  the  purpose  of 
an  informal  conference,  on  the  basis  of  the  letter,  a  copy  of 
which  is  on  the  reverse  side  of  this  sheet ;  and  that  if  you  pass 
on  such  an  understanding,  and  so  notify  me  in  writing,  I  will 
procure  the  Commanding  General  to  pass  you  through  tho 
lines,  and  to  Fortress  Monroe,  under  such  military  precautions 
as  he  may  deem  prudent ;  and  at  which  place  you  will  be  met 
in  due  time  by  some  person,  or  persons,  for  the  purpose  of  such 
informal  conference.  And  further,  that  you  shall  have  protec 
tion,  safe  conduct  and  safe  return,  in  all  events. 

"  TIIOS.  T.  ECKERT, 

"  Major  and  A.  D.  0. 
"CiTY  POINT,  VIRGINIA,  February  1,  1865." 

[Copy.] 

"  WASHINGTON,  January  18,  1865. 
«  F.  P.  Blair,  Esq.  : 

"  SIR  :  You  having  shown  me  Mr.  Davis'  letter  to  you  of 
the  12th  inst.,  you  may  say  to  him  that  I  have  constantly 
been,  am  now,  and  shall  continue  ready  to  receive  any  agent 
whom  he,  or  any  other  influential  person  now  resisting  the 
national  authority,  may  informally  send  to  me  with  the  view 
of  securing  peace  to  the  people  of  our  one  common  country. 
"  Yours,  &c.,  A.  LINCOLN." 

Afterward,  but  before  Major  Eckert  had  departed,  the  follow 
ing  dispatch  was  received  from  Gen.  Grant : 

[Cipher.] 

" OFFICE  U.  S.  MILITARY  TELEGRAPH,") 
"  WAR  DEPARTMENT,     j 

"  The  following  telegram  received  at  Washington,  M.,  Jan 
uary  31,  1865: 

" '  FROM  CITY  POINT,  VIRGINIA,  10.30  A.  M.,1 
"January  31,  1865.     } 

"  *  His  Excellency,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United 
States: 

" '  The   following   communication   was   received    here  last 
evening : 

"  *  PETERSBURG,  VIRGINIA,  January  30,  1865. 
Lieut.-Gen.  Grant,  Commanding  Armies  U.  S.  A.: 
" '  SIR  :  We  desire  to  pass  your  lines  under  safe-conduct,  and 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  711 

to  proceed  to  Washington  to  hold  a  conference  with  President 
Lincoln  upon  the  subject  of  the  existing  war,  and  with  a  view 
of  ascertaining  upon  what  terms  it  may  be  terminated,  in  pur 
suance  of  the  course  indicated  by  him  in  his  letter  to  Mr. 
Blair,  of  January  18,  1865,  of  which  we  presume  you  have  a 
copy,  and  if  not  we  wish  to  see  you  in  person,  if  convenient, 
and  to  confer  with  you  upon  the  subject. 
"  4  Very  respectfully,  yours, 

(Signed,)  "  '  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS, 

"  *  J.  A.  CAMPBELL, 
"  <  K.  M.  T.  HUNTER.'  " 

"  I  have  sent  directions  to  receive  these  gentlemen,  and 
expect  to  have  them  at  my  quarters  this  evening,  awaiting  your 
instructions.  "  U.  S.  GRANT, 

"  Lieutenant-General  Commanding  Armies  U.  S." 

This,  it  will  be  perceived,  transferred  Gen.  Ord's  agency  in 
the  matter  to  Gen.  Grant.  I  resolved,  however,  to  send  Maj. 
JSckert  forward  with  his  message,  and  accordingly  telegraphed 
Gen.  Grant  as  follows,  to-wit : 

[Telegram — Copy.] 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         } 
"  WASHINGTON,  January  31,  1865.  j 
"  Lieut. -Gen.  Grant,  City  Point,   Virginia: 

11 A  messenger  is  coming  to  you  on  the  business  contained 
in  your  dispatch.  Detain  the  gentlemen  in  comfortable  quar 
ters  until  he  arrives,  and  then  act  upon  the  message  he  brings 
as  far  as  applicable,  it  having  been  made  up  to  pass  through 
Gen.  Ord's  hands,  and  when  the  gentlemen  were  supposed  to 
be  beyond  our  lines. 

(Signed,)  "  A.  LINCOLN." 

Sent  in  cipher,  at  1.30  P.  M. 

When  Major  Eckert  departed,  he  bore  with  him  a  letter  of 
the  Secretary  to  Gen.  Grant,  as  follows,  to-wit : 

[Letter — Copy.] 

"  WAR  DEPARTMENT,         1 
"  WASHINGTON,  January  30,  1865.  j 
u  Lieut. -Gen.  Grant,  Commanding,  etc.  : 

"  GENERAL  :  The  President  desires  that  you  will  please  pro 
cure  for  the  bearer,  Major  Thomas  T.  Eckert,  an  interview  with 


712  LIEB  OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

.Messrs.  Stephens,  Hunter  and  Campbell ;  and  if,  on  his  return 
to  you,  he  requests  it,  pass  them  through  the  lines  to  Fortress 
Monroe  by  such  route,  and  under  such  military  precautions  as 
you  may  deem  prudent,  giving  them  protection  and  comfortable 
quarters  while  there  ;  and  that  you  let  none  of  this  have  any 
effect  upon  your  movements  or  plans. 
"  By  order  of  the  President. 

(Signed)  "  EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

"  Secretary  of  War." 

Supposing  the  proper  point  to  be  then  reached,  I  dispatched 
the  Secretary  of  State  with  the  following  instructions,  Major 
Eckert,  however,  going  ahead  of  him : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
"  WASHINGTON,  January  31,  1865. 
"  Hon.   Wtn.  H.  Scward,  Secretary  of  State  : 

"You  will  proceed  to  Fortress  Monroe,  Virginia,  there  to  meet 
and  informally  confer  with  Messrs.  Stephens,  Hunter  and 
Campbell,  on  the  basis  of  my  letter  to  F.  P.  Blair,  Esq.,  of 
January  18,  1865,  a  copy  of  which  you  have. 

"  You  will  make  known  to  them  that  three  things  are  indis 
pensable,  to  wit : 

"  1.  The  restoration  of  the  national  authority  throughout  all 
the  States. 

"  2.  No  receding  by  the  Executive  of  the  United  States,  on 
the  slavery  question,  from  the  position  assumed  thereon  in  the 
late  annual  message  to  Congress,  and  in  preceding  documents. 

"  3.  No  cessation  of  Hostilities  short  of  an  end  of  the  war, 
and  the  disbanding  of  all  forces  hostile  to  the  Government. 

"  You  will  inform  them  that  all  propositions  of  theirs  not 
inconsistent  with  the  above,  will  be  considered  and  passed  upon 
in  a  spirit  of  sincere  liberality.  You  will  hear  all  they  have 
to  say,  and  report  it  to  me. 

"  You  will  not  assume  to  definitely  consummate  anything." 
"  Yours,  etc.,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 

On  the  day  of  its  date  the  following  telegram  was  sent  to 
Gen.  Grant: 

[Copy.] 

"  WAR  DEPARTMENT,    ") 
"  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Feb.  1,  1865.    J 
"Lieut.- Gen.  Grant,  City  Point,  Va. : 

"  Let  nothing  which  is  transpiring  change,  hinder,  or  delay 
your  military  movements  or  plans. 

(Signed)  "A.  LINCOLN." 

Sent  in  cipher  at  1.30  A.  M. 


LIFE   OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  713 

Afterward  the  following  dispatch  was  received  from  Gen. 
Grant  : 

[In  cipher.] 

The  following  telegram  received  at  Washington,  2.30  P,  M^ 
F  eb.  1,  1865  : 

"  FROM  CITY  POINT,  VA.,   ") 
"  Feb.  1—2.30  P.  M.    } 
"  His  Excellency  A.  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States: 

"  Your  dispatch  received  ;  there  will  be  no  armistice  in  conso 
quence  of  the  presence  of  Mr.  Stephens  and  others  within  our 
lines.     The  troops  are  kept  in  readiness  to  move  at  the  shortest 
notice,  if  occasion  should  justify  it. 

"  U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieut.-Gcn.'' 

To  notify  Major  Eckert  that  the  Secretary  of  State  would  bo 
at  Fortress  Monroe,  and  to  put  them  in  communication,  the 
following  dispatch  was  sent  : 

[Telegram  —  Copy.] 


DEPARTMENT,    ) 
"WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Feb.  1,  1865.    J 
"  Major  T.  T  EcJcert,  care  Gen.  Grant,  City  Point  Va.  : 

"  Call  at  Fortress  Monroe,  and  put  yourself  under  direction 
of  Mr.  S.,  whom  you  will  find  there. 

(Signed,)  "  A.  LINCOLN." 

Sent  in  cipher  at  5.30  P.  M. 

X)n  the  morning  of  the  2d  inst.,  the  following  telcgrarn.3 
were  received  by  me  respectively  from  the  Secretary  of  State 
and  Major  Eckert  : 

"  FORT  MONROE,  VA.,    ) 
"  11.30  P.  M.,  February,  1,  1865.    j 

"  The  President  of  the  United  States  : 

11  Arrived  at  ten  (10)  this  evening.  Richmond  party  not 
here.  I  remain  here.  "  WM.  II.  SEWARD." 

Received  4.30  A.  M.,  Feb.  2,  in  cipher. 

"CiTY  POINT,  VA.,  10  P.  M.,  Feb.  1,  lSo.». 
"  His  Excellency  A.  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States: 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  report  the  delivery  of  your  communica 
tion,  and  my  letter,  at  four  fifteen  (4.15)  this  afternoon,  to 
which  I  received  a  reply  at  six  (6)  P.  M.,  but  not  satisfactory. 

"  At  eight  (8)  P.  M.  the  following  note  addressed  to  Gen. 
Grant,  was  received  ; 


714:  LIFE   OP   ABRAIIAM    LINCOLN. 

"  «  CITY  POINT,  VA.,  Feb.  1,  1865. 
ut  To  Lieutenant  General  Grant: 

"  l  SIR  :  We  desire  to  go  to  Washington  to  confer  informally 
with  the  President  personally  in  reference  to  the  matters  men 
tioned  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Blair,  of  the  eighteenth  (18th)  Jan 
uary  ultimo,  without  any  personal  compromise  on  any  question 
in  the  letter. 

"  '  We  have  the  permission  to  do  so  from  the  authorities  in 
Richmond. 

"  '  Yery  respectfully  yours, 

(Signed,)  "  '  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS, 

"<Il.  M.  T.  HUNTER, 
"{J.  A.  CAMPBELL.' 

"  At  nine-thirty  (9.30)  P.  M.  I  notified  them  that  they  could 
hot  proceed  further  unless  they  complied  with  the  terms 
expressed  in  my  letter.  The  point  of  meeting  designated  in 
above  note,  would  not,  in  my  opinion,  be  insisted  upon ;  think 
Fortress  Monroe  would  be  acceptable.  Having  complied  with 
my  instructions,  I  will  return  to  Washington  to-morrow,  unless 
otherwise  ordered. 

"  THOS.  T.  ECKERT, 
"  Major  and  A.  D.  C." 

Received  in  cipher,  Feb.  2d. 

On  reading  this  dispatch  of  Major  Eckert  I  was  about  to 
recall  him  and  the  Secretary  of  State,  when  the  following  tele 
gram  of  Gen.  Grant  to  the  Secretary  of  War  was  shown  me : 

[In  cipher.] 

The  following  telegram  received  at  Washington  4.35  A.  M., 
Feb.  2,  1865 : 

"  FROM  CITY  POINT,  VA.,  Feb.  1,  10.30  P.  M. 
11  Hon.  E.  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War 

"  Now  that  the  interview  between  Major  Eckert.  under  his 
written  instructions,  and  Mr.  Stephens  and  party  has  ended,  I 
will  state  confidentially,  but  not  officially,  to  become  a  matter 
of  record,  that  I  am  convinced,  upon  conversation  with  Messrs. 
Stephens  and  Hunter,  that  their  intentions  are  good  and  their 
desire  sincere  to  restore  peace  and  Union.  I  have  not  felt 
myself  at  liberty  to  express  even  views  of  my  own  or  to  account 
for  my  reticency.  This  has  placed  me  in  an  awkward  position, 
which  I  could  have  avoided  by  not  seeing  them  in  the  first 
instance.  I  fear  now  their  going  back  without  any  expression 
from  any  one  in  authority  will  have  a  bad  influence.  At  tho 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  715 

same  time,  I  recognize  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  receiving 
these  informal  commissioners  at  this  time  and  do  not  know 
what  to  recommend.  I  am  sorry,  however,  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
can  not  have  an  interview  with  the  two  named  in  this  dispatch, 
if  not  with  all  three,  now  within  our  lines.  Their  letter  to  me 
was  all  that  the  President's  instructions  contemplated  to  secure 
their  safe-conduct,  if  they  had  used  the  same  language  to 
Major  Eckert. 

(Signed,)  «  U.  S.  GRANT, 

"  Lieutenant-General." 

This  dispatch  of  Gen.  Grant  changed  my  purpose;  and, 
accordingly,  I  telegraphed  him  and  the  Secretary  of  State 
respectively  as  follows : 

"  WAR  DEPARTMENT,    ") 
"  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Feb  2,  1865.  j 
"  Lieut- Gen.  Grant,  City  Point,  Va.: 

11  Say  to  the  gentlemen  I  will  meet  them  at  Fortress  Monroo 
as  soon  as  I  can  get  there, 

(Signed,)  "  A.  LINCOLN.'"' 

Sent  in  cipher  at  9  A.  M. 

Before  starting  the  following  dispatches  were  shown  me.  I 
proceeded,  nevertheless : 

"  OFFICE  U.  S.  MILITARY  TELEGRAPH, 
u  WAR  DEPARTMENT. 

"  The  following  cipher  telegram  received  at  Washington,  Feb. 
2,  Io65  : 


"  FROM  CITY  POINT,  VA.,   ) 
«  9  A.  M.,  Feb.  2,  1865.    J 


"Hon.  William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State,  Fortress  Monroe: 
[Copy  to  Hon.  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War,  Wash 
ington.] 

"  The  gentlemen  have  accepted  the  proposed  terms,  and  will 
leave  for  Fort  Monroe  at  9.30  A.M. 

"  U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieut.-Gen." 

On  the  night  of  the  2d,  I  reached  Hampton  Roads,  found 
the  Secretary  of  State  and  Major  Eckert  on  a  steamer  anchored 
off  shore,  and  learned  of  them  that  the  Richmond  gentlemen 
were  on  another  steamer,  also  anchored  off  shore  in  the  Roads, 
and  that  the  Secretary  of  State  bad  not  yet  seen  or  coinmuni- 


716  LIFE    OF  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

cated  with  them.  Here  I  ascertained  that  Major  Eckert  had 
literally  complied  with  his  instructions,  and  I  saw  for  the  firs'! 
time  the  answer  of  the  Richmond  gentlemen  to  him,  which  in 
his  dispatch  to  me  of  the  1st  he  characterizes  as  "  not  satisfac 
tory."  That  answer  is  as  follows : 

[Copy.] 

"  CITY  POINT,  VA.,  Feb.  1,  1865. 
'•  Thomas  T.  Eckert,  Major  and  A.  D.  C.: 

"  MAJOR  :  Your  note  delivered  by  yourself  this  day  has  been 
considered.  In  reply,  we  have  to  say  that  we  were  furnished 
with  a  copy  of  a  letter  of  President  Lincoln  to  Francis  P. 
Blair,  Esq.,  of  the  18th  of  January,  ult.,  another  copy  of 
which  is  appended  to  your  note.  Our  instructions  are  contained 
in  a  letter  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy  : 

'"RICHMOND,  Jan.  28,  1865. 

"  '  In  conformity  with  the  letter  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  of  which 
the  foregoing  is  a  copy,  you  are  to  proceed  to  Washington  City 
for  informal  conference  with  him  upon  the  issues  involved  in 
the  existing  war,  and  for  the  purpose  of  securing  peace  to  the 
two  countries. 

"  *  With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed,)  "  '  JEFFERSON  DAVIS.' 

"  The  substantial  object  to  be  obtained  by  the  informal  con 
ference  is  to  ascertain  upon  what  terms  the  existing  war  can 
be  terminated  honorably. 

"Our  instructions  contemplate  a  personal  interview  between 
President  Lincoln  and  ourselves  at  Washington  City,  but,  with 
explanation,  we  are  ready  to  meet  any  person  or  persons  that 
President  Lincoln  may  appoint,  at  such  place  as  he  may  des 
ignate.  Our  earnest  desire  is  that  a  just  and  honorable  peace 
may  be  agreed  upon,  and  we  are  prepared  to  receive  or  submit 
propositions  which  may,  possibly,  lead  to  the  attainment  of 
that  end. 

"  Very  respectfully,  yours, 

(Signed,)  "  ALEX.  H.  STEPHENS, 

«  R.  M.  T.  HUNTER, 
"  JOHN  A.  CAMPBELL." 

A'note  of  these  gentlemen,  subsequently  addressed  to  Gen. 
Grant,  has  already  been  given  in  Major  fickert's  dispatch  of 
the  Istinst. 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  717 

I  also  here  saw,  for  the  first  time,  the  following  note 
addressed  by  the  Richmond  gentlemen  to  Major  Eckert : 

[COPY.] 

"  CITY  POINT,  VA.,  Feb.  2,  18G5. 
"•Thomas  T.  Eckert,  Major  and  A.  D.  C.: 

"  MAJOR  :  In  reply  to  your  verbal  statement  that  your 
instructions  did  not  allow  you  to  alter  the  conditions  upou 
which  a  passport  could  be  given  to  us,  we  say  that  we  are 
willing  to  proceed  to  Fortress  Monroe  and  there  to  have  an 
informal  conference  with  any  person  or  persons  that  President 
Lincoln  may  appoint  on  the  basis  of  his  letter  to  Francis  P. 
Blair,  of  the  18th  of  January  ultimo,  or  upon  any  other  terms 
or  conditions  that  he  may  hereafter  propose,  not  inconsistent 
with  the  principles  of  self-government  and  popular  rights,  on 
which  our  institutions  are  founded. 

"  It  is  our  earnest  wish  to  ascertain,  after  a  free  interchange 
of  ideas  and  information,  upon  what  principles  and  terms,  if 
any,  a  just  and  honorable  peace  can  be  established  without 
the  further  effusion  of  blood,  and  to  contribute  our  utmost 
efforts  to  accomplish  such  a  result. 

"  We  think  it  better  to  add  that  in  acccepting  your  passport 
We  are  not  to  be  understood  as  committing  ourselves  to  any 
thing,  but  to  carry  to  this  informal  conference  the  views  and 
feelings  above  expressed. 

Very  respectfully  yours,  etc., 

(Signed,)  "  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS, 

"  J.  A.  CAMPBELL, 
"  R.  M.  T.  HUNTER." 

"  NOTE. — The  above  communication  was  delivered  to  me  at 
Fortress  Monroe  at  4:30  P.  M.  February  2d,  by  Lieut.-Col, 
Babcock,  of  General  Grant's  staff. 

(Signed,)  "Tnos.  T.  ECKERT, 

"  Major  and  A.  D,  C." 

On  the  morning  of  the  3d,  the  gentlemen,  Messrs.  Stephens, 
Hunter  and  Campbell,  came  aboard  of  our  steamer  and  had 
an  interview  with  the  Secretary  of  State  and  myself  of  several 
hours  duration  No  question  of  preliminaries  to  the  meeting 
was  then  and  there  made  or  mentioned.  No  other  person  was 
present ;  no  papers  were  exchanged  or  produced  ;  and  it  was, 
in  advance,  agreed  that  the  conversation  was  to  be  informal, 
and  verbal  merely. 

On  our  part  tho  whole  substance  of  the  instruction  to  tho 


718  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Secretary  of  State,  hereinbefore  recited,  was  stated  and  insisted 
upon,  and  nothing  was  said  inconsistent  therewith  ;  while  by 
the  other  party  it  was  not  said  that,  in  any  event,  or  on  any 
condition,  they  ever  would  consent  to  re-union,  and  yet  they 
equally  omitted  to  declare  that  they  never  would  consent. 
They  seemed  to  desire  a  postponement  of  that  question,  and 
the  adoption  of  some  other  course  first,  which,  as  some  of  them 
seemed  to  argue,  might  or  might  not  lead  to  re-union,  but 
which  course,  we  thought,  Would  amount  to  an  indefinite  post 
ponement.  The  conference  ended  without  result.  The  fore 
going,  containing,  as  is  believed,  all  the  information  sought,  ia 
respectfully  submitted. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

This  detailed  report  of  the  processes  and  result  of  a  some 
time  mysterious  "  negotiation,"  was  quite  satisfactory  to  the 
country.  It  demonstrated  the  futility  of  the  "  resources  of 
statesmanship,"  in  an  attempt  to  settle  issues  that  the  Rebels 
had  determined  to  leave  to  the  arbitrament  of  arms.  It  gave 
a  new  impulse,  throughout  the  loyal  States,  to  united  efforts  for 
a  decisive  settlement  at  the  tribunal  to  which  the  Secession 
party  had  been  so  prompt  to  appeal.  The  use  made  of  this 
conference  at  the  South,  and  the  view  publicly  given  to  the 
affair  by  the  Rebel  leaders  will  appear  from  their  version,  which 
is  subjoined,  as  published  in  the  Richmond  Whig  of  February  7. 

To   the  Senate  and  Souse  of  Representatives  of  the   Confede 
rate  States : 

Having  received  a  written  notification,  which  satisfied  me 
that  the  President  of  the  United  States  was  disposed  to  confer 
informally  with  unofficial  agents  that  might  be  sent  by  me, 
with  a  view  to  the  restoration  of  peace,  I  requested  the  Hon. 
Alex.  H.  Stephens,  the  Hon.  R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  and  the  Hon. 
John  A.  Campbell  to  proceed  through  our  lines,  and  to  hold 
conference  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  or  such  persons  as  he  might 
depute  to  represent  him. 

I  herewith  submit,  for  the  information  of  Congress,  the 
report  of  the  eminent  citizens  above  named,  showing  that  the 
enemy  refused  to  enter  into  negotiations  with  the  Confederate 
States,  or  any  of  them  separately,  or  to  give  to  our  people  any 
other  terms  or  guarantees  than  those  which  the  conqueror  may 
grant,  or  permit  us  to  have  peace  upon  any  other  basis  than  an 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  719 

unconditional  submission  to  their  rule,  coupled  with  the  accept 
ance  of  their  recent  legislation,  including  an  amendment  to 
the  Constitution  for  the  emancipation  of  all  negro  slaves,  and 
with  the  right  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  Congress  to  legislate 
on  the  subject  of  the  relations  between  the  white  and  black 
population  of  each  State.  Such  is,  as  I  understand,  the  effect 
of  the  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  which  has  been  adopted 
by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 
EXECUTIVE  OFFICE,  RICHMOND,  Feb.  6. 

RICHMOND,  February  5,  1865. 
To  the  President  of  the,  Confederate  States : 

SIR  :  Under  your  letter  of  appointment  of  the  28th  ultimo, 
we  proceeded  to  seek  an  "  informal  conference  "  with  Abraham 
Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  upon  the  subject  men 
tioned  in  the  letter. 

The  conference  was  granted,  and  took  place  on  the  30th 
ult.,  on  board  of  a  steamer  anchored  in  Hampton  Roads,  where 
we  met  President  Lincoln  and  the  Hon.  Mr.  Seward,  Secretary 
of  State  of  the  United  States.  It  continued  for  several  hours, 
and  was  both  full  and  explicit. 

We  learn  from  them  that  the  message  of  President  Lincoln 
to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  in  December  last,  ex 
plains  ctearly  and  distinctly  his  sentiments  as  to  the  terms, 
conditions,  and  method  of  proceeding  by  which  peace  can  be 
secured  to  the  people,  and  we  were  not  informed  that  they 
would  be  modified  or  altered  to  obtain  that  end. 

We  understood  from  him  that  no  terms  or  proposals  of 
any  treaty  or  agreement  looking  to  an  ultimate  settlement 
would  be  entertained  or  made  by  him  with  the  authorities  of 
the  Confederate  States,  because  that  would  be  a  recognition  of 
their  existence  as  a  separate  power,  which  under  no  circum 
stances  would  be  done ;  and,  for  like  reasons,  that  no  such 
terms  would  be  entertained  by  him  from  the  States  separately ; 
that  no  extended  truce  or  armistice  (as  at  present  advised) 
could  be  granted  or  allowed,  without  a  satisfactory  assurance, 
in  advance,  of  a  complete  restoration  of  the  authority  of  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  over  all  places 
within  the  States  of  the  Confederacy ;  that  whatever  conse 
quence  may  follow  from  the  re-establishment  of  that  authority 
must  be  accepted.  But  that  individuals  subject  to  pains  and 
penalties  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States  might  rely  upon 
a  very  liberal  use  of  the  power  confided  to  him  to  remit  thoso 
pains  and  penalties,  if  peace  be  restored. 


720  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

During  the  conference  the  proposed  amendment  to  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  adopted  on  the  31st  ult.,  was 
brought  to  our  notice. 

The  amendment  provides  that  neither  slavery  nor  involun 
tary  servitude,  except  for  crime,  should  exist  within  the  United 
States,  or  any  place  within  their  jurisdiction;  and  that  Con 
gress  should  have  power  to  enforce  this  amendment  by  appro 
priate  legislation. 

Of  all  the  correspondence  that  preceded  the  conference 
herein  mentioned,  and  leading  to  the  same,  you  have  hereto-1 
fore  been  informed. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servants, 

ALEX.  H.  STEPHENS. 
R.  M.  T.  HUNTER. 
J.  A.  CAMPBELL. 

The  account  to  which  the  abortive  negotiation  was  turned  by 
the  Rebel  leaders,  will  also  further  appear  from  the  following 
comment  of  the  special  organ  of  Jefferson  Davis — the  Rich 
mond  Sentinel: 

Our  advance,  though  invited,  has  been  met  with  the  most 
intolerable  of  insults.  We  have  been  fairly  forced  to  the  wall, 
and  it  is  plain  that  there  is  no  escape  from  utter  ruin  save  such 
as  we  shall  hew  out  with  manful  swords.  There  is  literally  no 
retreat  but  in  chains  and  slavery.  There  are  no  peace  men 
among  us  now.  There  is  no  room  for  one — not  an  inch  of 
ground  for  one  to  stand  upon.  We  are  all  war  men. 

As  a  consequence  of  sundry  propositions  and  alleged  secret 
movements  at  Richmond,  earlier  in  the  season,  looking  toward 
peace  by  an  abandonment  of  Secession,  the  Rebel  Congress 
unanimously  adopted,  in  the  latter  part  of  January,  a  concur 
rent  resolution  for  the  appointment  of  a  joint  committee  to 
prepare-  an  address  to  the  people  of  the  "  Confederate  States," 
informing  them  of  "  the  unalterable  determination  of  Congress 
to  continue,  with  all  its  energy,  the  struggle  for  independence, 
in  which,"  they  say,  "  we  are  engaged,  and  assuring  them  of 
the  final  triumph  which,  in  our  solemn  judgment,  must  crowa 
our  efforts  if  we  stand  firm  and  united  together,  and  wield  our 
resources  with  strength  and  wisdom." 

About  the  same  time,  Mr.  So.ddon,  the  Rebel  Secretary  of 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  721 

War,  resigned,  in  consequence  of  an  expression  of  their  want 
of  confidence  in  him  by  the  members  of  the  Legislature  of  his 
own  State,  Virginia.  He  was  succeeded  by  John  C.  Breckin- 
ridge,  who,  as  an  officer  in  the  field,  had  hardly  attained  a 
standing  commensurate  with  his  former  position  in  civil  life. 
The  Rebel  Congress,  about  the  25th  of  January,  finally  passed 
a  bill  providing  for  a  General-in-Chief  to  command  all  the 
"  Confederate  "  armies.  For  this  post  Robert  E.  Lee  was  soon 
after  selected.  A  resolution  was  also  passed  by  the  same  body, 
recommending  the  restoration  of  Johnston  to  the  command  of 
the  army  from  which  he  had  been  displaced  by  Davis,  and 
which  was  now,  so  far  as  still  in  existence,  under  the  command 
of  Hood.  In  these,  and  various  other  ways — especially  in 
the  outspoken  criticism  of  the  press — dissatisfaction  with  the 
management  of  Davis  was  manifested.  He -was,  in  fact,  rapidly 
losing  his  hold  upon  the  people,  if  he  had  not  already  become 
actually  odious.  It  was  all  the  more  necessary,  therefore,  to 
make  an  effort  to  improve  the  occasion  of  this  conference  as  a 
means  of  uniting  the  South  in  his  support.  A  large  meeting 
of  the  people  was  held  at  Richmond,  by  which  resolutions 
were  adopted,  indignantly  spurning  the  terms  of  peace  prof 
fered  by  Mr.  Lincoln ;  characterising  the  proffer  as  a  premedi 
tated  insult;  and  renewing  their  pledges  of  devotion  to  the 
Rebel  cause.  Davis  violently  declaimed  against  "  reconstruc 
tion  j"  predicted  the  triumph  of  his  cause,  and  assured  his 
hearers,  very  solemnjy,  that  "  with  the  Confederacy  he  would 
live  or  die."  No  condition  but  the  independence  of  "  the  Con 
federacy,"  he  affirmed,  could  ever  receive  his  sanction.  "  Sooner 
than  submit  to  re-union,  he  would  willingly  yield  up  every 
thing  he  had  on  earth,  and  if  it  were  possible,  he  would  yield 
up  his  life  a  thousand  times,  rather  than  succumb."  A  Rich 
mond  journal  proclaimed  :  "  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Stephens  will 
return  to  Georgia  and  canvass  the  State  for  a  vigorous  prose 
cution  of  the  war.  He  stated  to  a  friend  that  the  only  hope 
now  left  for  the  people  of  the  South  was  in  strong  arms  and 
stout  hearts." 

In  this  manner,  everywhere  within  the  narrow  "  Confede- 
46 


722  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

rate  "  jurisdiction  remaining,  was  the  work  of  firing  the  slave- 
holding,  breast  revived. 

Davis  himself,  as  his  fortunes  grew  more  desperate,  became 
more  tyrannical.  He  meditated  reckless  schemes,  and  dele 
gated  agents  who,  in  various  places,  busied  themselves  with 
diabolical  enterprises.  A  legion  of  demons^  of  whom  Black 
burn  was  but  the  type,  was  sent  forth  on  "  confidential  employ 
ment  " — whose  doings  were  ere  long  to  astonish  the  world  by 
the  depth  of  their  depravity.  The  arch-traitor  conscripted 
men  and  boys  heretofore  exempt,  "  robbing  the  cradle  and  the 
grave."  He  forced  the  negro  into  his  service.  He  appropriated 
in  a  way  of  his  own,  means  and  materials  for  carrying  on  his 
nefarious  work.  When  Lee  clearly  foresaw  and  foretold  the 
fatal  result  of  further  resistance,  Davis  only  grew  more  sullenly 
unyielding.  In  vain  did  the  more  sagacious  leaders  about  him 
strive  to  awaken  a  saner  reflection  that  would  avert  the  mad 
ness  bent  on  ruining  all.  His  commissioners  at  Hampton. 
Roads  had  evidently  other  wishes  than  he  permitted  them  t<\ 
avow.  He  artfully  perverted  their  mission  to  strengthen  him 
self  in  his  infatuated  policy.  Defiantly  and  persistently,  he 
hastened  on  to  the  ignoble  end  of  his  self-willed  career. 

The  movements  of  our  armies  were  attended  with  a  scries 
of  brilliant  successes,  prior  to  the  4th  of  March,  that  left  the 
event  no  longer  doubtful.  The  Congress  which  terminated 
with  Mr.  Lincoln's  first  Presidential  term  had  well  sustained 
him  in  his  leading  measures  for  suppressing  the  great  insurrec 
tion,  and  had  the  gratification  of  knowing,  ere  its  final  adjourn 
ment,  that  the  good  work  was  substantially  accomplished.  The 
more  prominent  acts  of  this  Congress  have  been  chiefly  indi 
cated,  while  there  remain  some  others  which  should  not  bo 
passed  unnoticed. 

By  an  act  approved  on  the  21st  of  December,  1864,  tin 
office  of  Vice-Admiral  in  the  Navy  nras  created,  "  whose  relative 
rank  with  officers  of  the  army  shall  be  that  of  Lieutenant* 
General  in  the  army."  To  this  office,  the  President  appointed 
Admiral  D.  Gr.  Farragut.  An  act  to  prevent  military  interfer 
ence  in  elections  in  the  States,  was  approved  February  25th, 
1865.  A  voluminous  act  in  amendment  of  the  Internal  Rev« 


LIFE   OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  723 

laws,  designed  to  give  greater  efficiency  to  tho  system, 
and  to  produce  a  larger  income,  was  approved  on  the  3d  of 
March,  1865.  An  act  of  the  same  date  also  modifies  the  tariff 
laws,  with  the  like  object. 

Another  important  measure,  resulting  from  the  bill  of  Mr. 
Eliot,  of  Massachusetts,  which  passed  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  at  the  previous  session,  was  the  act  to  establish,  in 
the  War  Department,  a  Bureau  for  the  relief  of  freedmen  and 
refugees,  approved  March  3d,  1865.  This  measure,  as  origin 
ally  proposed,  for  the  the  benefit  of  freedmen  alone,  had 
received  the  earnest  support  of  President  Lincoln,  who  called 
the  attention  of  Congress  thereto,  at  the  previous  session,  in 
the  following  special  message  : 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States: 
Herewith  I  lay  before  you  a  letter  addressed  to  myself  by  a 
committee  of  gentlemen  representing  the  Freedmen's  Aid 
Societies  in  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Cincinnati. 
The  subject  of  the  letter,  as  indicated  above,  is  one  of  great 
importance,  and  one  which  these  gentlemen,  of  known  ability 
and  high  character,  seem  to  have  considered  with  great  atten 
tion  and  care.  Not  having  time  to  form  a  mature  judgment 
of  my  own  as  to  whether  the  plan  they  suggest  is  the  best,  I 
submit  the  whole  subject  to  Congress,  deeming  that  their  atten 
tion  thereto  is  almost  imperatively  demanded. 

December  17,  1863.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

One  important  appropriation  bill  was  lost  by  the  dictatorial 
action  of  Mr.  Davis,  of  Maryland,  who  wished  to  compel 
Congress  to  enact  into  a  law  the  views  in  regard  to  "  military 
arrests,"  to  which  he  had  become  an  ardent  convert.  While 
he  thus  signalized  the  close  of  his  career  in  Congress,  by 
factiously  insisting  that  irrelevant  legislation  (already  rejected) 
should  be  linked  with  the  appropriation,  or  the  latter  defeated — 
which  he  was  able  to  accomplish  under  the  rules — none  of  the 
more  essential  operations  of  the  Government  were  thereby 
materially  hindered. 

Just  preceding  the  time  of  counting  the  electoral  votes, 
Congress  adopted  a  joint  resolution,  the  preamble  of  which  sets 
forth  that  "  the  inhabitants  and  local  authorities  of  the  States 
of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida, 


724  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas,  Arkansas,  and  Ten 
nessee,  rebelled  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
and  -were  in  such  condition  on  the  8th  day  of  November, 
1864 — that  no  valid  election  for  electors  of  President  and  Vice- 
Presidcnt  of  the  United  States,  according  to  the  Constitution 
and  laws  thereof,  was  held  therein  on  said  day ;"  and  which 
enacts,  therefore,  that  the  aforesaid  States  shall  be  excluded 
from  representation  at  this  time  in  the  Electoral  College  for 
the  choice  of  President  and  Vice-President.  This  resolution 
was  sent  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  gave  it  his  signature  on  the  8th 
of  February,  and  returned  it  with  the  following  special 
message : 

To  the  honorable  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives : 

The  joint  resolution,  entitled  "Joint  resolution,  declaring 
certain  States  not  entitled  to  representation  in  the  Electoral 
College,"  has  been  signed  by  the  Executive  in  deference  to 
the  view  of  Congress  implied  in  its  passage  and  presentation 
to  him.  In  his  own  view,  however,  the  two  Houses  of  Con 
gress,  convened  under  the  twelfth  article  of  the  Constitution, 
have  complete  power  to  exclude  from  counting  all  electoral  votes 
deemed  by  them  to  be  illegal ;  and  it  is  not  competent  for  the 
Executive  to  defeat  or  obstruct  that  power  by  a  veto,  as  would 
be  the  case  if  his  action  were  at  all  essential  in  the  matter. 
He  disclaims  all  right  of  the  Executive  to  interfere  in  any  way 
in  the  matter  of  canvassing  or  counting  electoral  votes  ;  and 
he  also  disclaims  that,  by  signing  said  resolution,  he  has 
expressed  any  opinion  on  the  recitals  of  the  preamble,  or  any 
judgment  of  his  own  upon  the  subject  of  the  resolution. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 
EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  February  8,  1865. 

The  close  of  the  session,  at  noon  on  the  4th  of  March,  1865, 
found  the  state  of  the  country  in  marked  contrast  to  that  at 
the  beginning  of  this  Presidential  term.  Then,  unknown 
storms  were  pending  in  the  darkened  clouds  of  the  future. 
Now,  the  storm  had  mainly  expended  its  fury,  and  the  sun 
shine  of  peace — for  four  years  hidden — began  once  more  to 
appear.  During  the  last  three  months,  the  triumphs  of  our 
arms — to  be  noticed  in  the  ensuing  chapter — had  secured  an 
effective  pacification,  and  the  second  term  of  Mr,  Lincoln  was 
about  to  open  with  JOYOUS  omens. 


LIFE   07   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  725 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Winter  Campaigns  of  1864-5. — Movement  of  Sherman  from  Atlanta 
to  Savannah. — Fort  McAllister  Carried  by  Assault. — Communication 
Opened  with  Admiral  Dahlgren's  Fleet. — Savannah  Occupied  by 
Sherman. — Movements  of  Hood  and  Beauregard. — Campaign  in 
Tennessee. — Battle  of  Franklin. — The  Armies  Before  Nashville. — 
Raid  of  Stoneman  and  Burbridge. — Battle  of  Nashville. — Defeat 
and  Rout  of  Hood's  Army. — Movements  Against  Wilmington.— 
Failure  of  the  First  Attack  on  Fort  Fisher. — Success  of  the  Second 
Expedition. — Fort  Fisher  Captured  by  Terry  and  Porter. — Move 
ments  of  the  Army  Before  Petersburg. — Sherman's  Campaign  in  the 
Carolinas. — Capture  of  Charleston  and  Wilmington. — Advance  of 
Schofield  and  Terry  on  Goldsboro — Battles  of  Averysboro  and  Ben- 
tonville. — Occupation  of  Goldsboro  and  Union  of  the  Three  Armies 
in  North  Carolina. — Movements  in  Virginia. — Conference  at  City 
Point. 

HAVING  swept  the  army  of  Hood  from  the  Atlanta  and 
Chattanooga  road  into  the  wilds  of  North-eastern  Alabama, 
Gen.  Sherman  made  energetic  preparations  for  a  new  campaign. 
The  climate  of  Georgia  permitted  winter  operations  with  little 
interruption,  and  no  time  was  to  be  lost  in  following  up  the 
decided  advantage  everywhere  gained.  Gen.  Thomas  was  left 
with  an  ample  force  in  Tennessee  to  look  after  Hood,  while  the 
remainder  of  the  army  set  forward  on  its  "  march  to  the  sea." 
On  the  12th  of  November,  Gen.  Sherman  left  Kingston,  where 
his  headquarters  had  been  since  his  return  from  the  pursuit  of 
the  enemy  northward,  and  advanced  to  Atlanta.  He  had 
already  caused  the  inhabitants  of  this  place  to  remove — an  act 
of  some  severity,  which  he  justified  as  necessary  to  the  execu 
tion  of  his  military  purposes.  The  depots  and  public  property 
in  the  city  were  now  destroyed,  as  well  as  the  railroad  between 
Atlanta  and  Kingston,  and  trains  of  supplies  were  in  readiness 
for  a  long  march — abandoning  his  base,  to  seek  a  new  one  on 
the  Atlantic  coast.  This  launching  of  a  "  movable  column ' 


726  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

into  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  country,  for  a  march  of  three 
hundred  and  fifty  miles,  might  well  seem  a  rash  undertaking. 
Hood  was  manifestly  incredulous,  otherwise  he  would  hardly 
have  been  now  on  a  wild  chase,  far  away  from  the  State  he  had 
just  been  endeavoring  to  protect,  and  which  his  present  move 
ment  was  intended  to  relieve  from  the  presence  of  the 
"  invader."  Even  Gen.  Sherman  himself  is  believed  to  have 
doubted  the  practicability  of  this  undertaking,  when  first  indi 
cated  to  him  by  Lieut.-Gen.  Grant.  The  latter,  nevertheless, 
had  determined  on  thus  testing  his  conviction  that  "  the  South 
was  but  a  shell,"  and  his  order  was  given.  As  yet,  the  desti 
nation  of  the  army  was  a  secret  to  all  but  the  leaders — friend 
and  foe  alike  being  left  in  mystery. 

The  forces  taken  on  this  expedition  were  the  Fourteenth, 
Fifteenth,  Seventeenth  and  Twentieth  Corps,  together  with 
Gen.  Kilpatrick's  Division  of  cavalry — in  all,  about  70,000 
men.  The  march  from  Atlanta  commenced  on  the  14th  of 
November. 

The  right,  consisting  of  the  Fifteenth  and  Seventeenth 
Corps,  under  command  of  Maj.-Gen.  Howard,  advanced  in  tho 
direction  of  Macon,  while  the  Fourteenth  and  Twentieth  Corps, 
on  the  left,  commanded  by  Maj.-Gen.  Slocum,  moved  toward 
Augusta,  both  wings  destroying  the  railroads  in  their  march. 
On  the  16th,  Iverson  was  driven  from  Rough-and-Rcady  by 
Gen.  Howard,  who  occupied  Jonesboro  and  McDonough  on 
the  17th,  his  advance  skirmishing  with  Rebel  cavalry  and 
infantry.  Gen.  Slocum  reached  Covington  and  Social  Circle 
on  the  day  last  named — destroying  the  depots  and  other  prop 
erty.  On  the  18th,  the  Macon  railroad  was  cut  at  Forsyth, 
and  the  Georgia  Legislature,  then  in  session  at  Milledgeville, 
together  with  the  State  authorities,  fled  with  precipitancy,  in 
alarm  at  the  close  proximity  of  Gen.  Sherman.  On  the  19th, 
Howard  threw  a  bridge  across  the  Ocmulgee  River,  advancing 
on  the  State  Capital,  while  on  the  extreme  left,  the  same  day, 
a  force  entered  Madison,  on  the  Augusta  railroad,  destroying 
public  property 'at  that  place.  On  the  20th,  Griswoldville,  east 
of  Macon,  on  the  Georgia  Central  railroad,  was  taken,  and  tho 
railroad  track  and  property  destroyed.  Instead  of  attacking 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  727 

Macon,  which  was  well  fortified,  and  defended  by  State  militia, 
our  forces  passed  wide  of  the  town,  steadily  advancing.  Howard 
entered  Milledgeville  on  the  20th,  and  Sherman's  extreme  left, 
on  the  same  day,  crossed  the  Oconee,  and  entered  Greensboro, 
half-way  from  Atlanta  to  Augusta.  On  the  21st,  after  a  slight 
cavalry  engagement,  Gordon,  an  important  railroad  junction, 
was  reached  by  the  right,  and  the  chief  remaining  communica 
tion  with  Richmond  by  rail  was  severed.  The  following  day 
was  occupied  in  destroying  the  railroad,  and  some  fighting 
occurred  near  Griswoldville,  on  the  23d ;  Wolcott's  brigade,  of 
the  Fifteenth  Corps,  having  made  a  reconnoissance  toward 
Macon,  and  defeated  a  party  of  the  enemy  advancing  for  a 
similar  purpose.  The  portion  of  the  army  proceeding  along 
the  Georgia  Central  railroad,  crossed  the  Oconee  River  on  tho 
26th,  Kilpatrick  encountering  and  defeating  a  Rebel  forco 
under  Wayne,  which  contested  the  passage  of  the  stream. 
This  was  the  principal  fighting  done  in  the  interior  of  the 
State  during  the  campaign,  and  a  victory  over  Kilpatrick  was 
proclaimed  by  the  Rebel  press,  after  Sherman's  entire  force 
was  beyond  the  Oconee,  having  destroyed  the  bridges  in  their 
rear.  The  Fourteenth  and  Twentieth  Corps  had  crossed  some 
what  earlier  at  Milledgeville,  forty  miles  above. 

On  the  28th,  the  Seventeenth  Corps  was  at  Sandersville, 
advancing  toward  the  Ogeechee  river,  while  to  Slocum's  com 
mand  was  left  the  work  of  destroying  the  Georgia  Central 
railroad,  between  the  Oconee  and  the  Ogeechee.  The  Seven 
teenth  Corps  crossed  the  latter  river  on  the  30th  of  November, 
following  the  railroad,  while  the  Fifteenth  Corps  moved  down 
the  south  bank  of  the  same  stream.  During  the  next  eight 
days,  the  army  moved  steadily  on,  in  parallel  columns,  its 
flanks  well  guarded,  and  scarcely  even  annoyed  by  the  ene 
my's  cavalry.  During  all  the  march  there  had  been  liberal 
foraging ;  the  men  were  well  supplied,  and  the  animals  were  in 
excellent  condition,  accessions  being  made  also  to  their  num 
bers.  The  incidents  of  this  memorable  procession,  sweeping 
over  a  wide  belt  across  the  territory  of  the  Southern  Empire 
State,  attracting  the  wondering  eyes  and  elating  the  simple 
hearts  of  tens  of  thousands  of  the  faithful  race  that  hailed 


728  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

their  deliverers  from  long-accumulating  wrongs ;  flashing  the 
light  of  divine  ideas  from  columns  of  gleaming  bayonets  by 
day,  and  from  cities  of  camp-fires  by  night,  will  live  in  the 
pages  of  history  and  romance  while  our  country  shall  endure. 
For  weeks  enveloped  in  a  cloud  to  the  world  around — even  to 
the  Rebels,  mainly,  who  were  often  only  ignorant  when  affect 
ing  to  be  reticent — tidings  of  the  great  expedition  began 
to  be  anxiously  awaited.  A  fleet,  under  Admiral  Dahlgren, 
was,  meanwhile,  arriving  off  the  coast,  near  Savannah,  pre 
pared  to  rejoin  the  long-broken  line  of  communication  with 
Washington. 

The  enemy  had  thrown  up  some  rude  earth-works  at  tho 
railroad  bridge  across  the  little  Ogeechee,  but  retired  before 
the  First  Division  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  deployed  for  the 
purpose,  had  come  within  attacking  distance.  The  whole  forco 
of  the  enemy  was  found  to  be  concentrated,  on  the  9th  of 
December,  behind  intrenchments,  in  an  apparently  strong  natu 
ral  position,  thirteen  miles  from  Savannah.  A  gallant  charge  of 
the  single  division  just  named,  through  a  swamp  in  front  of  the 
enemy's  position — the  men  sometimes  marching  waist  deep — 
drove  him  from  his  works,  in  spite  of  a  heavy  artillery  fire, 
and  they  were  firmly  held  by  our  forces.  The  Rebels  retired 
within  another  line  of  works,  three  or  four  miles  from  the  city, 
which  were  found,  by  recormoissance  on  the  10th,  to  be  covered 
by  a  more  formidable  swamp,  artificially  deepened  by  a  canal 
cut  from  the  Savannah  to  the  Ogeechee  river,  and  really 
impassable.  Destroying  the  Charleston  railroad  to  the  Savan 
nah  River,  and  the  bridge  across  that  stream,  the  Fourteenth 
and  Twentieth  Corps  took  position  before  the  city.  The  Fif 
teenth  Corps  having  crossed  the  Ogeechee  at  King's  Bridge, 
had  previously  struck  the  Gulf  Railroad,  at  a  point  seven 
miles  from  Savannah,  and  the  Seventeenth  Corps  moved  to  the 
right  to  relieve  the  Fifteenth,  which  was  advanced  toward 
the  sea. 

On  the  evening  of  the  13th  of  December,  the  Second 
Division  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  commanded  by  Gen.  Hazen, 
assaulted  and  carried  Fort  McAllister,  at  the  point  of  the  bay 
onet — a  brilliant  feat  of  arm;*,  quickly  executed,  which  opened 


LIFE   OF   ABRA1IAM   LINCOLN.  729 

«communications  with  the  fleet  of  Admiral  Dahlgrcn,  connecting 
the  hitherto  floating  army  with  a  secure  base,  and  apprising 
the  country  of  the  success  of  "  Sherman's  march  to  the  sea." 
Fort  McAllister  is  four  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ogcecheo 
river,  where  Dahlgren's  fleet  now  lay. 

During  the  next  few  days,  there  was  some  further  destruction 
of  railroads,  and  more  or  less  shelling  and  skirmishing.  The 
city  of  Savannah  was  taken  possession  of  on  the  21st  of  Decem 
ber,  with  some  prisoners,  and  a  large  amount  of  cotton  and 
other  property.  The  enemy,  under  Hardee,  mostly  escaped 
across  the  Savannah  river,  toward  Charleston.  The  grand 
culmination  of  this  remarkable  campaign  gave  joy  to  the 
nation,  as  the  Christmas  bells  were  sounding,  giving  new 
assurance  of  "  peace,"  if  not  of  "  good-will,"  soon  to  be  restored 
throughout  the  land. 

Hood,  who,  aided  by  Beauregard,  menacingly  advanced  into 
Tennessee,  causing  a  temporary  anxiety,  had  already  ceased  to 
be  a  subject  of  concern.  The  sanguine  hopes  of  Davis  in 
that  direction  had  been  terribly  crushed.  The  movement  of 
Hood  westward,  brought  the  scene  of  operations  comparatively 
near  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  rivers,  and  their  tributaries,  so 
that  re-enforcements  and  supplies  were  within  easy  reach  of  Gen. 
Thomas,  while  the  cavalry  of  Grierson,  and  other  forces,  made 
destructive  raids  through  the  States  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama, 
in  the  enemy's  rear.  On  the  other  hand,  Thomas  had  a  long 
line  to  defend,  on  portions  of  which  annoying  attacks  were 
occasionally  made  by  raiding  parties.  At  Johnsonville,  on 
the  Tennessee,  where  he  had  a  depot  of  supplies,  Forrest  mado 
his  appearance,  planting  batteries  above  and  below  the  town, 
and  capturing  it  on  the  4th  of  November.  Three  "  tin-clad  " 
gunboats,  a  number  of  transports  and  barges,  and  a  large 
amount  of  stores  were  destroyed.  Near  Bull's  Gap,  in  East 
Tennessee,  on  the  extreme  left  of  Thomas'  line,  also,  Gen. 
Gilleni  was  attacked  by  a  superior  force  and  beaten,  losing  his 
trains  and  artillery,  and  falling  back  toward  Knoxville. 

The  movement  of  Hood,  after  leaving  Gaylesville,  in  North 
eastern  Alabama,  to  which  pjace  he  was  pursued  by  most  of 
Sherman's  force,  had  been  southward  to  Jacksonville,  from 


730 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


whence,  ho  took  a  north-west  course  toward  the  Tennessee 
river,  marching  on  the  22d  of  October.  He  remained  for  some 
time  in  the  vicinity  of  Tuscumhia;  while  a  corps  of  observa 
tion,  sent  out  by  Thomas,  was  watching  the  enemy's  move 
ments,  at  Florence,  nearly  opposite.  The  advance  of  the 
Piebels  northward  began  about  the  20th  of  November.  Gen. 
Schofield  withdrew  to  Pulaski,  seventy-three  miles  from  Nash 
ville,  on  the  21st,  concentrating  there  his  command,  consisting 
of  the  Fourth  aud  Twenty-third  Corps,  with  some  other  forces. 
The  First  and  Third  Divisions  cf  the  Sixteenth  Corps,  under 
the  command  of  Major-Gen.  A.  J.  Smith,  which  had  been 
watching  for  any  signs  of  the  the  enemy's  advance  upon  Mem 
phis,  or  other  points  on  the  Mississippi  river,  hastened  eastward 
to  join  Schofield,  on  learning  the  direction  of  Hood's  move 
ment. 

On  the  22d,  Hood  was  reported  to  be  approaching,  within 
twenty  miles  of  Pulaski,  which  place  he  had  flanked  on 
the  west,  by  moving  directly  on  Gaynesboro  from  Florence 
Thereupon  Gen.  Schofield  fell  back  to  Columbia,  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Duck  river.  Hood  rapidly  pursued,  moving  across 
to  Mount  Pleasant  and  Spring  Hill,  on  the  opposite  flank, 
while  Schofield  continued  his  retreat,  carefully  covering  his 
long  trains,  to  Franklin.  The  enemy's  advance  was  beginning 
to  press  closely  on  the  rear  of  our  forces,  and  more  or  less 
skirmishing  took  place  between  Columbia  and  Franklin.  At 
Spring  Hill,  on  the  29th,  an  attack  was  made  upon  the  Union 
cavalry,  which  was  driven  in  upon  its  infantry  support,  and  the 
army  was  really  in  a  critical  condition,  had  Hood  now  been 
able  to  bring  his  main  body  of  infantry  into  action.  But  this 
opportunity  passed.  Schofield's  less  in  the  encounter  was  less 
than  300  men.  He  was  not  overtaken  by  the  Rebel  infantry 
south  of  Franklin,  which  place  he  reached  about  noon  on  the 
30th.  He  had  now  fallen  back  for  a  distance  of  fifty-five 
miles,  and  was  within  eighteen  miles  of  Nashville.  He  would 
have  preferred  to  avoid  a  general  engagement  so  far  from  the 
latter  place,  but  it  was  now  impossible.  He  accordingly  formed 
his  lines  in  a  strong  position,  with  Gen.  Stanley  on  the  right 
and  Gen.  Cox  on  the  left,  and  prepared  to  give  battle. 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  731 

At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  (the  30th 
of  November)  Schofield  was  vigorously  attacked  by  two  corps 
of  the  enemy  (Cheatham's  and  Lee's.)  The  action  continued 
until  after  dark,  the  Second  Division  of  the  Fourth  Corps 
being  the  most  hotly  engaged.  Hood  was  repulsed  at  all 
points,  with  very  severe  losses,  those  on  the  Union  side  being 
comparatively  slight.  The  Rebel  dead  densely  covered  tho 
ground  for  fifty  yards  in  front  of  portions  of  our  lines.  About 
one  thousand  Rebel  prisoners  were  taken,  among  whom  was 
Gen.  Gordon.  The  enemy's  killed  and  wounded  exceeded 
5,000,  including  Maj.-Gen.  Cleburne  and  five  Brigadier-Generals 
killed,  and  five  general  officers  wounded,  while  the  Union 
loss  was  about  2,000.  The  great  disparity  of  these  losses  will 
not  seem  remarkable  when  it  is  known  that  the  Rebels,  in 
dense  masses — four  lines  deep — charged  upon  Schofield's  line 
of  batteries  several  times,  being  fearfully  mowed  down  at  each 
desperate  and  persistent  advance,  by  well-directed  artillery  and 
musketry  firing,  often  at  close  range.  The  re-enforcements 
under  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  arrived  most  opportunely,  about  seven 
o'clock  in  the  evening. 

During  the  night  of  the  30th,  the  Government- lorces  were 
withdrawn  toward  Nashville,  and  took  up  a  new  position  about 
three  miles  south  of  that  city.  The  Rebels,  further  embold 
ened  by  this  retrograde  movement,  confidently  advanced  on 
the  next  day  (December  1st),  and  skirmishing  again  com 
menced  in  the  evening.  The  Rebel  cavalry  had  already  made 
an  attempt  to  cut  the  Chattanooga  road,  but  without  occasioning 
any  serious  interruption.  Gen.  Thomas  had  a  force  on  his 
left  at  Murfreesboro,  which  was  well  fortified  and  garrisoned, 
Generals  Milroy  and  Rousseau  being  in  command,  and  con 
siderable  re-enforcements  were  moved  up  from  Chattanooga. 
Gen.  Cooper's  brigade,  and  a  brigade  of  colored  troops,  which 
garrisoned  Johnsonville  before  its  evacuation,  and  had  been 
cut  off  from  the  main  army,  when  it  retired  from  Franklin, 
arrived  safely  at  Clarksville.  This  retrograde  movement  was 
conducted  with  great  skill,  throughout,  and  was  completed 
without  any  loss  to  Schofield's  trains  or  artillery. 

Hood  established  his  headquarters  about  six  miles  south  of 


732  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Nashville,  on  the  Franklin  pike,  while  his  front  occupied  tlie 
residence  of  Mrs.  A.  V.  Brown,  near  the  lines  of  Thomas. 
They  also  planted  a  battery  on  a  hill  near  the  Hyde  Ferry 
road,  and  extended  their  line  of  counter  fortifications  beforo 
Nashville,  plainly  visible  from  the  State  House,  and  from  high 
points  in  the  suburbs.  Hood's  forces  were  so  disposed  as  also 
to  threaten  Murfreesboro  and  Chattanooga,  and  to  prepare  the 
way  for  securing  the  co-operation  of  the  forces  in  East  Ten 
nessee,  under  Breckinridge.  A  timely  movement  of  Gen. 
Burbridge,  however,  on  the  flank  of  Breckinridge,  by  Bean's 
Station,  compelled  the  latter  commander  to  retreat  through 
Bull's  Gap,  early  in  December.  Generals  Stoneman  and  Bur- 
bridge  pressed  on  by  way  of  Bristol  into  Virginia,  reaching 
Glade's  Spring,  on  the  railroad,  thirteen  miles  east  of  Abing- 
don,  on  the  15th  of  December,  destroying  the  track,  and  after 
ward  ruining  the  principal  salt  works  in  that  region  of  South 
western  Virginia.  This  raid  was  one  of  the  most  successful 
ones  of  the  war,  severing  communication  between  Richmond 
and  East  Tennessee,  and  depriving  the  enemy  of  important 
public  property. 

For  several  days,  there  was  some  skirmishiag  going  on  around 
Nashville,  with  occasional  Rebel  attacks  on  points  along  the 
railroad  toward  Chattanooga.  On  the  4th,  and  several  succeed 
ing  days,  there  was  some  fighting  at  Murfreesboro,  and  in  the 
vicinity,  in  which  the  Rebels  were  beaten  by  Rousseau  and 
Milroy.  By  means  of  careful  reconnoissances,  the  movements 
of  the  enemy  were  closely  watched,  it  being  for  some  time 
uncertain  whether  his  appearance  before  Nashville  was  not  a 
mere  demonstration  to  cover  some  other  design.  No  purpose 
of  crossing  above  Nashville  could  be  discovered ;  but  a  force, 
estimated  at  4,000  men,  under  the  Rebel  Lyon,  passed  the 
Cumberland,  twenty  miles  above  Fort  Donelson,  about  the  8th 
of  December,  going  into  Kentucky.  It  became  manifest,  before 
many  days,  however,  that  Hood's  forces  were  concentrating  in 
earnest  before  Nashville.  This  plan  of  operations  was  the  one 
which,  of  all  others,  Gen.  Thomas  was  best  prepared  to  meet. 
He  had  looked  well  to  the  defenses  of  the  city,  heretofore,  and 
had  now  a  strong  force  within  his  defensive  lines.  His  left 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  733 

rested  on  the  Cumberland  river,  eastward,  while  to  the  south- 
westward,  on  his  right,  he  had  constructed  formidable  works. 
Below,  gunboats  supported  the  lines  on  the  right.  The  forti 
fications  thus  extended  to  the  river  on  each  side  of  the  city, 
which  was  quite  encircled  with  either  natural  or  artificial 
defenses. 

It  was  now  determined  to  assume  the  aggressive — for  Hood, 
who  had  overrun  and  still  had  at  his  mercy,  the  greater  por 
tion  of  Middle  Tennessee,  being  able  to  support  his  army,  for 
an  indefinite  period,  off  the  country,  evinced  no  haste  to  bring 
on  an  engagement.  Gen.  Thomas  had  disposed  his  forces  in 
the  following  order :  On  the  left,  resting  on  the  Cumberland, 
•was  the  corps  commanded  by  Gen.  Steedman  ;  next  on  the  left 
center,  the  Fourth  Corps,  commanded  by  Gen.  T.  J.  Wood  (in 
the  absence  of  Gen.  Stanley,  who  was  severely  wounded  in  the 
battle  of  Franklin)  ;  on  the  right  center,  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith's 
corps  (two  divisions),  with  Schofield's  corps  (the  Twenty- 
Third)  in  reserve  ;  and  on  the  extreme  right,  was  Gen.  Wil- 
eon's  cavalry,  fighting  dismounted,  aided  from  the  river  by  a 
division  of  the  Mississippi  Naval  Squadron,  under  command 
of  Rear-Admiral  S.  P.  Lee. 

At  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  loth  .of  December, 
Gen.  Wilson  opened  the  battle  on  the  right,  his  troops  assault 
ing  and  carrying  the  enemy's  breastworks  in  gallant  style.  The 
advantage  was  followed  up,  the  other  corps,  except  Stcedman's, 
coming  into  action,  until  the  enemy's  left  was  driven  from  the 
river  almost  to  the  Franklin  pike,  a  distance  of  more  than  fivo 
miles,  and  doubled  upon  his  center  and  right — the  center  being 
also  forced  back  from  one  to  three  miles.  One  of  the  most 
brilliant  charges  of  the  day  was  that  made  by  six  colored  regi 
ments  on  Rains'  Hill,  utterly  routing  the  Rebel  force  which 
held  that  position.  The  enemy  lost  all  his  intrenchments — 
except  for  a  mile  or  so  on  his  extreme  right,  where  no  attack 
was  made — sixteen  pieces  of  artillery,  the  headquarters  and 
trains  of  Chalmers,  about  1,000  prisoners,  and  about  GOO  killed 
and  wounded.  The  Union  losses,  this  day,  were  not  heavy, 
the  killed  and  wounded  numbering  about  500. 

Hood  withdrew  the   right  wing  of  his  army  from  the  rivei 


734  LIFE   OF    AfcllAtlAM    LINCOLN. 

on  the  night  of  tlie  15th,  and  took  up  a  new  position  along  thd 
"  Granny  White  Hills,"  contracting  his  lines.  On  the  16th 
the  attack  was  renewed  by  our  forces — occupying,  substantially^ 
the  same  relative  position  as  on  the  previous  day.  As  soon  as 
the  clearing  up  of  a  dense  fog  disclosed  the  position  of  tho 
enemy,  Schofield  skillfully  flanked  the  Rebel  left,  while  Steed- 
man  advanced  in  front,  Kimball's  division  impetuously  sweep- 
ing  the  enemy  from  his  advance  works.  Thomas  now  ordered 
a  charge  along  the  whole  line,  and  the  Rebel  left  and  center 
were  completely  broken.  Wood  and  Steedman  now  conceii^ 
trated  their  forces  on  Hood's  right,  which,  as  yet,  stood  firrcu 
A  sharp  and  severe  contest  followed,  resulting  in  a  decisive 
rout  of  the  enemy.  Hood  was  in  full  retreat  soon  after  noon, 
having  suffered  heavy  losses  in  men  and  cannon,  as  well  as  in 
the  fallen  left  on  the  field  in  the  hands  of  Thomas.  His  killed 
and  wounded  before  Nashville  were  about  3,000.  The  victory 
gained  by  these  two  days'  fighting  was  one  of  the  most  import 
ant  of  the  war.  The  retreating  foe  was  vigorously  pressed  by 
the  victor,  who  followed  Hood  beyond  Franklin,  on  the  17th, 
on  which  day,  Gen.  Hatch,  in  a  series  of  brilliant  cavalry 
charges,  six  miles  beyond  that  place,  dispersed  the  Rebel  rear 
guard  consisting  of  Stevenson's  division  of  infantry  and  a 
brigade  of  cavalry,  and  captured  three  guns  and  many  pris 
oners. 

Pursuit  and  attack  were  kept  up  for  several  days,  by  infantry 
and  cavalry,  with  disastrous  effect  upon  the  flying  army,  the 
advance  of  which  appears  to  have  reached  Florence  and  crossed 
the  Tennessee  on  the  21st,  while  another  column  moved  fur 
ther  up  stream,  crossing  at  Bainbridge,  or  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Elk  river.  Gen.  Wood,  with  the  Fourth  Corps,  supported 
Gen.  Wilson's  cavalry,  in  direct  pursuit,  while  Gen.  Steedman, 
moving  his  troops  by  railroad  to  Limestone  Creek,  advanced 
upon  Decatur,  on  the  25th.  Hood,  protecting  his  rear  by  For 
rest's  heavy  cavalry  force,  escaped  with  little  further  loss  to 
the  remnant  of  his  army,  moving  back  toward  the  interior  of 
Georgia. 

Hood  continued  to  make  all  haste  in  his  flight,  using  such 
strategy  as  he  was  able,  to  save  a  remnant  of  his  command 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  735 

By  surrenders,  desertions,  and  casualties  in  battle,  he  probably 
lost  20,000  men,  or  fully  one-half  the  number  with  which  ho 
entered  the  State  of  Tennessee.  Among  his  losses  were 
eighteen  general  officers  and  sixty-eight  pieces  of  artillery. 

Beauregard  had  gone  into  Georgia,  before  Hood's  advance 
into  Tennessee — with  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  some  way  to 
interfere  with  Sherman's  progress — his  stirring  appeal  to  the 
people  to  resist  the  invader  having  failed  to  produce  any  deci 
sive  effects.  Lyon,  who  had  gone  on  a  raid  into  Kentucky,  was 
compelled  suddenly  to  retrace  his  steps,  escaping  southward  as 
best  he  might.  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  had  now  seen  their 
last  invasion.  Secessionists  and  sympathizers  had  suffered 
gerious  losses,  as  the  like  class  had  done  during  Price's  inva 
sion  of  Missouri ;  and  in  a  similar  manner  the  Rebel  retreat 
had  rid  the  country  of  many  of  its  worst  enemies,  either  by 
enlistment  or  conscription  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy,  on  his 
haughty  and  exultant  advance.  None  of  these  profitless  expe 
ditions  were  to  be  repeated.  It  was  the  last  wave  of  the  rece 
ding  tide  across  a  border,  which  was  never  again  to  be  debata 
ble  ground  between  the  armies  of  the  Government  and  its 
Rebel  enemies. 

The  port  of  "Wilmington,  in  North  Carolina,  a  few  miles 
above  the  mouth  of  Cape  Fear  River,  and  the  adjacent  coast, 
were  so  situated  as  to  afford  great  facilities  to  blockade-runners, 
\^hiose  trade  had  everywhere  else  been  almost  entirely  broken 
up  by  the  activity  and  vigilance  of  our  large  naval  forces 
This  continued  defiance  of  the  blockade  was  annoying  to  the 
Government,  and  a  source  of  much  advantage  to  the  Rebels. 
It  had  long  since  been  found  that  the  navy  could  only  partially 
interrupt  this  contraband  traffic ;  but  the  army  movements  on 
foot  had  hitherto  prevented  the  detachment  of  a  sufficient 
force  to  warrant  an  attack  on  this  strongly-guarded  entrepot 
for  foreign  commerce  with  the  pretended  "  Confederacy."  The 
demonstrated  impracticability  of  any  effective  naval  operations 
against  Richmond  by  the  James  River,  rendered  it  expedient 
to  employ  elsewhere  that  portion  of  the  North-Atlantic  Squad 
ron  which  had  accompanied  the  movement  of  Gen.  Butler  to 
City  Point*  This  fleet  was  accordingly  enlarged  and  fitted  out 


736  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

for  an  expedition  against  Wilmington,  to  be  undertaken  when 
ever  the  state  of  affairs  before  Petersburg  and  Richmond 
would  warrant  the  detachment  of  an  adequate  supporting 
force  from  the  army.  Meanwhile,  Admiral  D.  D.  Porter  had 
been  transferred,  in  the  summer  of  1864,  from  the  command 
of  the  Mississippi  Squadron,  to  exchange  places  with  Admiral 
S.  P.  Lee,  and  the  naval  preparations,  commenced  in  the  month 
of  August,  were  under  the  charge  of  the  former  officer.  A 
military  force,  under  Gen.  Weitzel,  from  the  Army  of  the 
James,  was  organized  and  fitted  out  under  the  supervision  of 
Gen.  Butler,  to  co-operate  in  the  attack  on  the  defenses  of  Wil 
mington.  The  primary  object  of  the  expedition  was  the  reduc 
tion  of  Fort  Fisher,  commanding  the  entrance  to  the  Capo 
Fear  river. 

Gen.  Weitzel's  forces,  accompanied  by  Gen.  Butler,  sailed 
from  the  Chesapeake  Bay  in  the  afternoon  of  the  14th  of 
December,  reaching  the  rendezvous  the  following  night. 
Admiral  Porter,  waiting  for  the  preparation  of  a  vessel  (the 
Louisiana),  which  was  to  be  used  in  testing  the  effects  of 
exploding  a  large  amount  of  gunpowder  near  the  Fort,  did  not 
leave  Beaufort,  North  Carolina,  until  the  18th.  A  gale  on  the 
20th  delayed  the  operations  of  the  navy.  On  the  23d,  Com 
mander  Rhind  proceeded  with  the  Louisiana,  which  was  dis 
guised  as  a  blockade-runner,  to  play  his  preliminary  part  in  the 
assault  on  Fort  Fisher.  This  he  accomplished  by  making  the 
•vessel  fast  at  four  hundred  yards  distance  from  the  walls  of  the 
Fort,  and  lighting  a  slow  fuse.  The  whole  accompanying 
party  safely  retired  toward  the  fleet.  The  explosion  took  place 
near  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  24th,  the  main  fleet 
being  about  twenty-five  miles  distant.  Admiral  Porter  records 
that  "  the  shock  was  nothing  like  so  severe  as  was  expected." 
Gen.  Butler  believes  that,  of  more  than  one  hundred  tons  of 
powder  on  board  the  Louisiana — stowed  in  bags — "  not  more 
than  one-tenth  ever  did  burn — making  an  explosion,  indeed, 
which  is  described  as  hardly  more  than  would  have  been  felt 
from  a  fifteen -inch  gun." 

This  magnificent  inane  flash  fitly  pre-figured  the  result  of 
the  expedition.  Waiting  for  the  Louisiana  to  be  got  in  readi- 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  737 

ness,  wasted  two  or  three  fair  days  after  Butler's  forces  were  on 
the  spot,  ready  for  their  work.  Directly  after  Porter's  arrival, 
a  severe  gale  compelled  further  delay,  and  the  retirement  of 
Butler's  transports  to  Beaufort  Harbor,  sixty-five  miles  distant, 
where  he  was  at  the  time  of  the  great  explosion,  having  under 
stood  that  nothing  was  to  be  commenced  by  the  Admiral  with 
out  due  notice  to  the  Army.  Re-enforcements  from  "Wilming  - 
ton  reached  Fort  Fisher  on  the  night  following  the  Louisiana 
explosion. 

On  the  24th,  about  noon,  Admiral  Porter,  without  waiting 
for  Gen.  Butler  to  come  up,  attacked  the  Fort,  his  line  con 
sisting  of  the  following  vessels :  The  Ironsides,  Canonicus, 
Mahopac,  Monadnock,  Minnesota,  Colorado,  Mohican,  Tusca- 
rora,  Wabash,  Susquehanna,  Brooklyn,  Powhattan,  Juniata, 
Seneca,  Shenandoah,  Pawtuxet,  Ticonderoga,  Mackinaw,  Mau- 
mee,  Yantic,  Kansas,  Itasca,  Quaker  City,  Monticello,  Rhode 
Island,  Sassacus,  Chippewa,  Osceola,  Tacony,  Pontoosuc,  San 
tiago  de  Cuba,  Fort  Jackson  and  Vanderbilt.  His  reserve,  of 
small  vessels,  consisted  of  the  Aries,  Howquah,  Wilderness, 
Cherokee,  A.  D.  Vance,  Anemone,  Eolus,  Gettysburg,  Ala 
bama,  Keystone  State,  Banshee,  Emma,  Lillian,  Tristam 
Shandy,  Britannia,  Governor  Buckingham  and  Nansemond. 

After  five  hours'  cannonading,  some  damage  and  loss  of  life 
having  been  suffered  from  the  guns  of  the  Fort,  and  from  the 
explosion  of  a  heavy  gun  on  board  the  Ticonderoga,  tho 
attacking  vessels  withdrew.  Two  magazines  are  stated  by 
Admiral  Porter  to  have  been  exploded  within  the  Fort,  which 
was  set  on  fire  in  several  places,  and  its  guns  temporarily 
silenced. 

Gen.  Butler's  forces  arrived  that  night,  and  about  noon  on 
the  25th,  the  shore  being  covered  by  the  navy,  2,200  men  of 
his  command  were  landed.  The  cannonading  upon  Fort  Fisher 
had  been  renewed  at  an  earlier  hour  the  same  day,  and  was 
continued  while  the  troops  were  landing  on  the  beach,  fivo 
miles  eastward.  Gen.  Weitzel  advanced  a  skirmishing  party, 
under  cover  of  the  bombardment,  to  within  fifty  yards  of  the 
Fort,  after  capturing  two  batteries  near  the  beach,  with  a  num 
ber  of  prisoners.  After  careful  observation,  he  reported 


738  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

against  the  expediency  of  attempting  to  carry  the  place  by 
assault.  The  same  evening,  Gen.  Butler  ordered  the  troops  to 
re-embark,  and  notified  Admiral  Porter  that  he  should  sail  for 
Hampton  Roads,  as  soon  as  the  transport  fleet  could  be  put 
in  order.  He  added  :  "  The  engineers  and  officers  report  Fort 
Fisher  to  me  as  substantially  uninjured  as  a  defensive  work." 

This  termination  of  an  expedition  that  had  excited  such 
universal  interest  and  hope,  was  a  great  public  disappointment. 
The  want  of  hearty  co-operation  between  the  two  branches  of 
the  service  was  manifest,  and  there  is  good  reason  to  apprehend 
that  disastrous  failure  would  have  resulted  from  an  assault, 
under  the  circumstances  then  existing.  On  the  report  of  Glen. 
Yvreitzel,  a  skillful  engineer  and  a  gallant  officer,  Gen.  Butler 
could  hardly  do  otherwise  than  as  he  did.  His  orders  did  not 
contemplate  a  siege,  nor  did  he  care,  with  a  heavy  storm 
approaching,  to  await  an  attack  from  Hoke's  Division — larger 
than  his  entire  force — then  coming  up  in  his  rear. 

Another  trial  was,  however,  determined  upon,  as  apparently 
demanded  by  public  opinion.  The  military  forces,  on  this 
occasion  larger  in  number,  were  placed  under  command  of 
Maj.-Gen.  Alfred  II.  Terry,  who  arrived  off  Fort  Fisher  on 
the  night  of  the  12th  of  January,  1865.  On  the  following 
day,  his  men  were  all  landed,  under  cover  of  a  heavy  fire  from 
the  fleet.  On  the  14th,  Gen.  Terry  made  a  careful  reconnois- 
sance,  and  determined  to  venture  an  attack  on  the  Fort.  The 
same  day,  he  established  a  strong  defensive  line  against  any 
force  of  the  enemy  that  might  approach  from  the  direction  of 
Wilmington.  This  line,  extending  across  the  peninsula,  was 
held  by  Gen.  Paine's  Division  and  Col.  Abbott's  Brigade,  in 
all  about  4,000  men,  chiefly  blacks.  The  assaulting  party  was 
to  be  the  Division  commanded  by  Gen.  Ames,  and  a  column 
of  seamen  and  marines. 

Soon  after  three  o'clock  on  Sunday  afternoon,  the  15th  of 
January,  a  heavy  bombardment  having  been  kept  up  for  three 
hours  previous,  the  assault  commenced.  The  seamen  and 
marines,  fourteen  hundred  strong,  led  by  Capt.  Breese,  advanced 
against  the  walls  on  the  front,  which  had  been  considerably 
battered  by  the  heavy  fire  of  the  fleet  during  the  preceding 


LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  739 

three  days,  and  succeeded  in  reaching  the  parapet.  After  a 
brief  contest,  they  were  checked,  and  thrown  back  in  confu 
sion.  On  the  land  side  of  the  Fort,  which  was  the  most  diffi 
cult,  Curtis'  Brigade,  of  Ames'  Division,  led  the  charge,  simul 
taneously  with  that  made  by  the  men  under  Capt.  Breese. 
Pennybackcr's  and  Bell's  brigades  followed.  The  struggle 
was  a  severe  one,  the  troops  advancing  little  by  little,  under  a 
destructive  fire,  but  firmly  maintaining  their  ranks,  until,  at 
five  o'clock,  half  the  land  side  was  carried.  The  repulsed 
forces,  under  Capt.  Breese,  were  then  ordered  to  relieve  Abbott's 
brigade,  in  the  defensive  line  looking  toward  Wilmington,  and 
the  latter  force  was  brought  up  to  re-enforce  the  three  brigades 
of  Ames'  division.  The  Rebel  force  in  the  Fort  numbered 
about  2,200  men,  who  resisted  desperately,  defended  success 
ively  by  a  series  of  seven  traverses,  each  of  which  had  to  be 
carried  by  hard  fighting.  By  signals  understood  between  Gen. 
Terry  and  Admiral  Porter,  the  guns  of  the  navy  rendered 
Effective  service,  at  intervals,  by  a  well-directed  fire — destruc 
tive  to  the  enemy,  without  endangering  the  assailants.  The 
Conflict  lasted  until  about  ten  o'clock  at  night,  when  the  enemy 
Lad  been  driven  out  of  the  Fort  and  compelled  to  fall  back 
to  Federal  Point — the  extremity  of  the  peninsula — pursued  by 
part  of  the  assailing  force.  It  was  near  midnight  when  the 
Rebel  Gen.  Whiting  unconditionally  surrendered  himself  and 
his  command,  now  reduced  to  about  1,800  in  number,  as  pris 
oners  of  war. 

The  Union  loss  was  estimated  at  about  800  in  killed  and 
wounded.  Colonels  Curtis  and  Pennybacker  were  severely,  and 
Col.  Bell  mortally,  wounded.  Many  other  gallant  officers  fell. 
The  Rebel  loss  was  about  400  in  killed  and  wounded.  Both 
the  army  and  navy  heartily  co-operated  in  this  work,  and 
shared  its  glory.  The  victory  was  hailed  as  one  of  the  most 
important  as  well  as  brilliant  of  the  war — hermetically  seal 
ing  the  great  inlet  heretofore  so  rejoiced  in  by  the  blockade- 
runner.  It  excited  all  the  more  public  joy,  for  the  disap 
pointment  which  it  so  epeedily  followed. 

Gen.  Butler  was  relieved  from  the  command  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  on  the  7th  of  January, 


740  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

and  Maj.-Gen.  E.  0.  C.  Ord  was  appointed  in  his  place.  The 
organization  of  the  Army  of  the  James  had  been  previously 
changed,  by  a  general  order  of  the  War  Department,  under 
date  of  December  3d,  1864,  which  discontinued  the  Tenth 
and  Eighteenth  Corps,  consolidating  the  white  troops  of  those 
two  corps  into  a  new  one  called  the  Twenty-Fourth,  and 
organizing  the  colored  troops  of  the  Department  into  a  sepa 
rate  corps,  called  the  Twenty-Fifth.  Gen.  Ord,  by  the  samo 
order,  was  put  in  command  of  the  Twenty-Fourth,  and  Gen. 
Weitzel  of  the  Twenty-Fifth  Corps. 

On  the  1st  of  December,  Gen.  Gregg  was  sent  southward, 
from  before  Petersburg,  with  his  division  of  cavalry,  to  break 
up  the  enemy's  communication  by  the  Weldon  railroad,  and 
to  destroy  his  supplies  at  Stony  Creek  Station,  about  twenty 
miles  south  from  Petersburg.  He  captured  the  place  on  the 
same  day,  defeating  the  Rebel  forces  of  infantry  and  cavalry, 
who  were  within  defensive  works  and  supported  by  artillery. 
Gregg  captured  two  guns,  nearly  two  hundred  prisoners,  and 
destroyed  the  depot,  trains,  and  stores  of  various  kinds,  for 
the  Rebel  army.  He  also  proceeded  south  to  Duval  Station, 
inflicting  further  damage,  and  returned  safely  to  camp  the 
same  night. 

For  the  purpose  of  still  more  effectually  preventing  the 
enemy  from  procuring  supplies  by  the  aid  of  the  Weldon  rail 
road,  Gen.  Warren's  corps,  with  the  Third  Division  (Gen. 
Mott's)  of  the  Second  Corps  and  Gen.  Gregg's  cavalry,  was,  a 
few  days  later  (December  7th)  sent  down  the  road,  destroying 
the  track  most  effectually,  and  advancing  to  Hicksford,  but 
declining  to  attack  that  place,  which  was  strongly  defended  by 
the  Rebels,  occupying  both  sides  of  the  Meherrin  river.  It 
appeared  that  one  hundred  cars,  loaded  with  supplies,  had 
passed  over  this  part  of  the  road  every  day.  A  general 
destruction  of  depots,  mills,  and  other  Rebel  property,  was 
made  on  the  route  passed  over  by  Warren,  who  returned 
to  his  camp  before  Petersburg  on  the  12th  of  December. 
His  losses  were  few,  the  principal  fighting  having  occurred  at 
Jarrett's  Station  on  the  return.  Meanwhile,  the  two  divisions 
of  the  Second  Corps  moved  out  toward  Hatcher's  Run,  to  the 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  711 

left  of  Meade's  lines,  on  the  9th,  to  prevent  the  enemy  from 
intercepting  "Warren's  movements  on  the  Weldon  railroad,  and 
returned  the  next  day,  without  any  serious  engagement. 

After  resting  nearly  a  month  at  Savannah,  Gen.  Sherman 
began  a  new  campaign  into  the  Carolinas,  on  the  15th  of  Jan 
uary.  Before  his  arrival  at  Savannah,  Gen.  Foster  had  moved 
out  from  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  toward  Grahamsville,  on 
the  Charleston  and  Savannah  railroad,  co-operating  with  Sher 
man's  jnovement  by  attracting  the  enemy's  attention  to  that 
quarter.  It  had  been  conjectured  that  Sherman's  destination 
might  be  the  harbor  at  Port  Royal,  and  Foster's  advance, 
strengthening  this  probability,  led  to  the  concentration  of  a 
superior  Eebel  force  in  Foster's  front,  under  Hardee,  and  to 
his  temporary  repulse  near  Grahamsville.  He  gained  a  per 
manent  foothold  near  the  railroad,  however,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Pocotaligo.  At  the  outset  of  Gen.  Sherman's  new  movement, 
his  right  wing,  under  Gen.  Howard,  was  sent  around  by  trans 
ports  to  Beaufort,  and  from  thence  the  Seventeenth  Corps, 
(Blair's)  advanced  without  difficulty  to  the  Charleston  railroad, 
near  Pocotaligo,  effecting  a  secure  lodgment  there  on  the  15th 
of  January.'  A  depot  of  supplies  was  established  at  the 
mouth  of  Pocotaligo  Creek,  whence  there  was  easy  water  com 
munication  with  Port  Royal  Harbor. 

The  left  wing  of  the  army,  commanded  by  Gen.  Slocum,  and 
the  cavalry  corps,  under  Gen.  Kilpatrick,  proceeded  at  the 
Bame  time  toward  their  first  appointed  rendezvous,  near  Rob- 
ertsville  and  Coosawatchie,  in  South  Carolina.  Gen. 'Grant, 
meanwhile,  had  sent  Grover's  division  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps 
to  garrison  Savannah.  He  also  withdrew  Gen.  Schofield,  with 
the  Twenty-Third  Corps,  from  Tennessee,  and  sent  him  to  the 
coast  of  North  Carolina,  to  aid  Generals  Terry  and  Palmer,  in 
their  contemplated  movement  into  the  interior  of  the  State,  to 
co-operate  with  Sherman.  Transferring  the  command  of 
Savannah  and  its  forts  to  Gen.  Foster,  who  was  to  follow  by 
the  sea-coast  to  Charleston  and  elsewhere,  as  the  advance  of 
the  main  army  might  invite,  Gen.  Sherman  embarked  for  Hil 
ton  Head,  on  the  22d  of  January,  and  there  conferred  with 
Admiral  Dahlgren  and  Gen.  Foster.  On  the  24th,  he  reached 


742  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  encampment  of  Gen.  Blair,  at  Pocotaligo.  The  Fifteenth 
Corps  was  not  yet  brought  together — Wood's  and  Hazen's 
Divisions  lying  at  Beaufort,  Smith's  marching  by  the  coast 
road  from  Savannah,  and  Corse's  still  waiting  at  the  latter 
place,  his  intended  march  having  been  intercepted  by  freshets 
and  storms. 

On  the  25th,  Gen.  Sherman  amused  the  enemy  by  demon 
strating  against  his  works  on  the  Salkehatchie,  where  a  lino 
of  defense  had  been  established,  on  the  supposition  of  an 
intended  advance  of  the  Government  forces  toward  Charleston. 
Such  a  purpose  was  never  entertained  by  Sherman.  The 
demonstrations,  having  the  effect  to  keep  a  considerable  Rebel 
force  in  front,  were  continued  until  the  freshets  had  so  subj 
sided  on  the  route  of  Gen.  Slocum  as  to  enable  him  to  move 
his  forces  up  the  Savannah  river,  on  the  west  bank,  to  Sister's 
Ferry,  where  the  crossing  was  for  some  time  delayed  by  high 
water.  The  Fifteenth  Corps  entire  having  now  arrived  at 
Pocotaligo,  and  the  wagon  trains  being  in  readinesss,  the 
march  of  the  right  wing  northward  toward  Branchville  com 
menced  in  earnest  on  the  1st  of  February. 

Wheeler's  cavalry  had  for  some  time  previous  occupied  the 
roads  to  be  traversed,  obstructing  them  by  felling  trees  and 
destroying  bridges.  Gen.  Sherman's  pioneer  battalions,  how 
ever,  quickly  rendered  the  ways  passable.  The  Seventeenth 
Corps,  moving  directly  along  the  right  bank  of  the  Salke 
hatchie,  reached  Rivers'  Bridge  on  the  2d  of  February,  while 
the  Fifteenth  Corps,  at  the  same  time  moving  by  a  route  fur 
ther  west,  arrived  at  Loper's  Cross  Roads.  Gen.  Hatch's 
division  of  Gen.  Foster's  command  remained  at  Pocotaligo, 
keeping  up  the  feint  at  the  Salkehatchie  railroad  bridge  and 
ferry,  until  the  general  movement,  turning  the  enemy's  line 
on  that  river,  compelled  him  to  fall  back  behind  the  Edisto. 

From  Loper's  Cross  Roads,  communication  was  opened  with 
Gen.  Slocum,  who  was  still  delayed  at  Sister's  Ferry  by  swamps 
and  floods.  The  cavalry  of  Kilpatrick,  and  two  divisions  of 
the  Twentieth  Corps  (Williams)  had  crossed  to  the  east  side 
of  the  Savannah.  Hastening  forward  the  remainder  of  the 
left  wing  as  rapidly  as  possible,  Gen.  Williams  was  ordered  to 


LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  743 

move  on  Buford's  Bridge,  and  Gen.  Kilpatrick  by  Barnwell 
Court  House  to  Blackville,  on  the  South  Carolina  railroad 
(from  Charleston  to  Augusta.)  Gen.  Howard  crossed  the 
Salkehatchie,  and  moved  directly  toward  Midway,  on  the  same 
railroad.  The  enemy  held  the  line  of  that  river  in  force,  hav 
ing  intrenched  at  Buford's  and  Rivers'  bridges.  The  Seven 
teenth  Corps  crossed  over  by  the  latter,  on  the  3d  of  February, 
the  divisions  of  Mower  and  G.  A.  Smith  carrying  the  position, 
by  wading  through  the  swamp,  nearly  three  miles  wide,  the 
division  commander  taking  the  lead  on  foot.  The  water  was 
sometimes  up  to  the  breasts  of  the  stalwart  soldiers  as  they 
cheerily  moved  on,  despite  the  bitter  cold — many  a  man  in 
the  ranks,  no  doubt,  recalling  his  readings  of  watery  marches 
in  the  Netherlands,  in  the  days  of  William  of  Orange.  Effect 
ing  a  lodgment  below  the  bridge,  they  advanced  upon  the 
Rebel  brigade  which  defended  it,  and  drove  the  enemy  in  con 
fusion  toward  Branchville.  The  Union  loss  was  less  than  one 
hundred.  The  Rebels  at  once  fell  back  behind  the  Edisto, 
guarding  Branchville.  The  Seventeenth  Corps  pursued,  men 
acing  that  place,  so  that  the  enemy  burned  the  railroad  bridge 
there,  and  also  Walker's  bridge  below. 

Sherman's  whole  force  was  now  pushed  along  the  South 
Carolina  railroad,  and  proceeded  to  its  thorough  destruction, 
the  Seventeenth  Corps  working  from  the  Edisto  up  to  Bam- 
berg,  and  the  Fifteenth  Corps  from  Bamberg  to  Blackville. 
Kilpatrick  moved  beyond  the  latter  point  toward  Aiken, 
demonstrating  against  Augusta,  but  avoiding  any  serious 
engagement.  He  had  heavy  skirmishing,  however,  both  at 
Blackville  and  Aiken,  with  Wheeler's  cavalry.  These  opera 
tions  occupied  until  the  10th  of  February,  at  which  date  Slo- 
cum  was  fully  up  with  the  left  wing,  which  continued  the 
destruction  from  Blackville  as  far  as  Windsor.  The  whole 
army  was  now  concentrated  on  the  railroad,  from  Midway  to 
Johnson's  Station,  being  intercepted  between  the  two  portions 
of  the  enemy's  forces,  respectively  at  Augusta  and  Aiken 
westward,  and  at  Branchville  and  Charleston  on  the  east. 

Blair's  corps  crossed  the  south  fork  of  the  Edisto  at  Bin- 
naker's  Bridge,  on  the  llth  of  February,  and  marched  directly 


744  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

on  Orangeburg,  the  Fifteenth  Corps  crossing  at  Holman's  Bridge 
and  moving  to  Poplar  Springs,  in  support.  On  the  12th,  Blair 
carried  the  Orangeburg  Bridge,  in  the  face  of  stout  resistance, 
and  his  whole  corps  entered  the  town  at  four  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon.  He  at  once  proceeded  to  destroy  the  railroad,  continu 
ing  the  work  as  far  as  Lewisville,  and  on  the  14th  drove  the 
enemy  across  the  Congaree,  compelling  him  to  burn  the  bridges. 
The  left  wing  and  the  cavalry  crossed  the  South  Edisto  at  New 
and  Guignard's  Bridges,  and  proceeded  to  the  Orangeburg  and 
Edgefield  road,  awaiting  the  result  of  the  movement  on  the 
former  place. 

After  the  occupation  of  Orangeburg,  all  the  columns  were 
put  in  motion  toward  Columbia.  The  Seventeenth  Corps 
moved  by  the  State  road,  and  the  Fifteenth  crossed  the 
North  Edisto.  On  the  15th  of  February,  the  Fifteenth  Corps 
encountered  the  enemy,  in  a  strong  position,  at  Little  Congaree, 
with  a  tete  de  pont  on  the  south  side,  and  a  fort  on  the  north 
side,  commanding  the  bridge.  In  spite  of  the  difficult  nature 
of  the  ground,  which  was  low  and  wet,  the  position,  being  skill 
fully  turned  by  the  division  of  Gen.  Woods,  was  carried  with 
out  any  protracted  fighting.  After  nightfall,  the  column 
approached  the  bridge  across  the  Congaree,  in  front  of  Colum 
bia,  and  encamped  in  the  vicinity.  During  the  night  the 
enemy  shelled  the  Union  camps,  from  a  battery  above  Granby, 
on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  In  the  morning  (on  the  16th), 
the  bridge  was  found  to  have  been  burned.  The  pontoons 
came  up,  and  Gen.  Howard  crossed  the  Saluda  near  the  factory, 
three  miles  above  the  city,  and  afterward  the  Broad  river, 
approaching  the  city  from  the  north,  in  the  evening  of  tho 
same  day.  The  left  wing,  under  Gen.  Slocum,  crossed  the 
Saluda  at  Zion  Church,  and  moved  directly  toward  Winnsboro, 
destroying,  on  his  way,  the  railroads  and  bridges  near  Alston. 
The  city  was  formally  surrendered  by  the  Mayor,  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  17th.  Wade  Hampton,  commanding  the  Rebel 
rear-guard  of  cavalry,  had,  in  the  mean  time,  ordered  that  all 
the  cotton  in  the  city,  public  and  private,  should  be  moved 
into  the  streets  and  burned.  The  wind  was  blowing  with  fury, 
and  the  "bales  of  cotton  opened  and  fired,  were  piled  in  every 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  745 

direction,  and  the  city  in  general  conflagration,  as  Sherman's 
forces  entered.  Much  of  the  town  was  burned  in  spite  of  the 
exertions  of  the  Union  soldiers. 

During  the  day,  the  Fifteenth  Corps  passed  through  the 
place.  The  entire  left  wing  and  the  cavalry  passed  some  dis 
tance  to  the  left,  not  coming  within  two  miles  of  the  city. 
The  Seventeenth  Corps,  also,  passed  outside  of  the  limits  of 
the  town,  moving  north-eastward  toward  Chcraw.  In  regard 
to  the  burning  of  Columbia,  Gen.  Sherman  makes  the  follow 
ing  official  statement: 

Before  one  single  public  building  had  been  fired  by  order, 
the  smoldering  fires,  set  by  Hampton's  order,  were  re-kin 
dled  by  the  wind,  and  communicated  to  the  buildings  around. 
About  dark  they  began  to  spread,  and  got  beyond  the  control 
of  the  brigade  on  duty  within  the  city.  The  whole  of  Wood's 
division  was  brought  in,  but  it  was  found  impossible  to  check 
the  flames,  which,  by  midnight,  had  become  unmanageable, 
and  raged  until  about  four  A.  M.,  when,  the  wind  subsiding, 
they  were  got  under  control.  I  was  up  nearly  all  night,  and 
saw  Generals  Howard,  Logan,  Wood,  and  others,  laboring  to 
save  houses  and  protect  families  thus  suddenly  deprived  of 
shelter,  and  of  bedding  and  wearing  apparel.  I  disclaim,  on 
the  part  of  my  army,  any  agency  in  this  fire;  but,  on  the  con 
trary,  claim  that  we  saved  what  of  Columbia  remains  uncon- 
Bumed.  And,  without  hesitation,  I  charge  Gen.  Wade  Hampton 
with  having  burned  his  own  city  of  Columbia,  not  with  a  malicious 
intent,  or  as  the  manifestation  of  a  silly  "Roman  stoicism,"  but 
from  folly  and  want  of  sense,  in  filling  it  with  lint,  cotton,  and 
tinder.  Our  officers  and  men  on  duty  worked  well  to  extin 
guish  the  flames;  but  others  not  on  duty,  including  the  officers 
who  had  long  been  imprisoned  there,  rescued  by  us,  may  have 
assisted  in  spreading  the  fire  after  it  had  once  begun,  and  may 
have  indulged  in  unconcealed  joy  to  see  the  ruin  of  the  capital 
of  South  Carolina.  During  the  18th  and  19th  the  arsenal, 
railroad  depots,  machine  shops,  founderies,  and  other  buildings 
\vere  properly  destroyed  by  detailed  working  parties,  and  the 
railroad  track  torn  up  and  destroyed  down  to  Kingsville  and 
the  Wateree  Bridge,  and  up  in  the  direction  of  Winnsboro. 

Gen.  Slocuni  reached  Winnsboro  on  the  21st  of  February. 
The  Twentieth  Corps  reached  the  Catawba,  at  Rocky  Mount, 
oa  the  22d,  and  crossed  over  on  a  pontoon  bridge  the  next  day. 


746  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Kilpatrick's  cavalry  passed  the  same  bridge  during  the  night 
of  the  23d,  in  the  midst  of  a  heavy  storm  of  rain,  and  moved 
up  to  Lancaster,  keeping  up  the  appearance  of  a  general 
advance  toward  Charlotte,  N.  C.,  on  -which  place  Beauregard 
and  all  the  Rebel  cavalry  had  retreated.  Cheatham's  corps,  of 
Hood's  army,  returned  from  his  disastrous  campaign  in  Ten 
nessee,  was  also  known  to  be  endeavoring  to  join  Beauregard 
at  the  same  place,  having  been  cut  off  by  Sherman's  rapid 
march  upon  Columbia  and  Winnsboro. 

Heavy  rains  and  swollen  streams  rendered  further  movements 
nearly  impracticable,  until  the  26th,  on  which  day  the  Twen 
tieth  Corps  reached  Hanging  Rock,  there  waiting  for  the  Four 
teenth  to  come  up.  On  its  arrival,  the  entire  left  wing  was  put 
in  motion  on  the  road  to  Cheraw,  toward  which  point  the  right 
wing  was  already  considerably  advanced.  The  Seventeenth 
Corps  had  crossed  by  Young's  Bridge,  and  the  Fifteenth  by 
Tiller's  and  Kelly's  Bridges — detachments  from  the  latter 
corps  having  entered  Camden — ground  already  historic — and 
burned  the  railroad  bridge  over  the  Wateree,  destroying  stores 
and  other  public  property.  Detentions  of  the  right  wing  at 
Lynch's  Creek  enabled  the  left  to  make  up  nearly  all  the  time 
it  had  relatively  lost  in  getting  across  the  Catawba,  and  on  the  2d 
of  March,  the  advance  division  of  the  Twentieth  Corps  entered 
Chesterfield,  encountering  some  slight  resistance  from  Rebel 
cavalry.  On  the  3d,  the  Seventeenth  Corps  entered  Cheraw, 
the  Rebel  force  there  retiring  across  the  Pedee  river  and 
burning  the  bridge. 

Meanwhile,  these  movements  in  the  interior,  in  connection 
with  the  previous  operations  on  tne  coast,  and  especially  the 
capture  of  Fort  Fisher,  had  rendered  comparatively  easy  the 
work  of  successively  occupying  Charleston  and  Wilmington. 
Columbia  was  taken  on  the  17th  of  February,  as  already  seen, 
and  on  the  18th  Charleston  was  evacuated  by  the  Rebel  gar 
rison,  and  taken  possession  of  by  Gen.  Gillmore.  This  result 
•was  hastened  by  an  advance  of  Union  forces  on  the  Edisto 
and  from  Lull's  Bay.  Among  the  captures  of  Rebel  property 
were  about  two  hundred  pieces  of  artillery  and  a  good  supply 
of  ammunition.  The  cotton  warehouses,  arsenals  army  stores, 


LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  747 

and  railroad  bridges  were  burnt  by  the  enemy,  as  well  as  two 
iron-clad  boats,  and  a  number  of  vessels  in  the  ship-yard. 
Universal  joy,  throughout  the  loyal  States,  was  manifested  at 
the  final  subjugation  of  a  city,  in  which  was  hatched  the  dead 
liest  treason  the  world  ever  saw.  The  fearful  retribution  had 
come  at  last,  and  possession  of  the  place  revealed  a  picture  of 
desolation  beyond  what  the  fancy,  musing  on  "poetic  justice," 
had  as  yet  fully  conceived. 

On  evacuating  the  city,  a  considerable  quantity  of  ammuni 
tion  and  many  cannon  had  been  removed  by  the  Rebels  to 
Cheraw — not  then  apparently  threatened — where  they  fell  into 
the  hands  of  Gen.  Sherman. 

On  the  coast  of  North  Carolina,  Gen.  Schofield  assumed 
command  of  the  forces  of  the  Department,  on  arriving  with  his 
corps  from  Tennessee,  Gen.  Terry  taking  command  of  a  corps 
under  him.  Possession  had  already  been  gained  of  the  remain 
ing  works  near  the  mouth  of  Cape  Fear  river,  but  no  serious 
advance  was  made  upon  Wilmington  until  the  llth  of  Febru 
ary.  Meanwhile,  in  pursuance  of  a  plan  formed  before  the 
fall  of  Fort  Fisher,  to  occupy  and  restore  the  railroad  from 
Newbern  toward  Waynesboro  and  llaleigh,  and  to  move  a 
column  by  this  route  inland  from  the  coast,  co-operating  with 
Sherman's  army,  a  construction  party,  with  a  supporting  force, 
was  landed  at  the  former  place,  under  the  direction  of  Gen. 
Schofield.  On  the  morning  of  February  llth,  the  divisions  of 
Gen.  Ames  and  Gen.  Paine,  near  Fort  Fisher,  attacked  the 
Rebel  lines  across  the  peninsula,  between  Cape  Fear  river  and 
the  sea,  and  drove  back  the  enemy.  On  the  17th,  Gen.  Scho 
field,  with  8,000  men,  advanced  from  Smithville,  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Cape  Fear  river,  supported  by  a  portion  of  Admiral 
Porter's  fleet,  and  on  the  following  day  captured  Fort  Ander 
son  and  adjacent  works,  the  last  defenses  of  Wilmington. 
While  the  guns  played  upon  the  fort  in  front,  Major-Gen.  Cox 
led  a  force,  by  a  circuit  of  sixteen  miles,  around  the  right  flank 
of  the  enemy,  completely  turning  his  position,  causing  his 
immediate  evacuation  of  the  works  assailed,  and  his  retreat  to 
Wilmington.  On  the  21st,  our  forces  had  a  successful  engage 
ment,  four  miles  from  town,  which  resulted  in  its  speedy  occu- 


748  LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

pation  by  Gen.  Schofield.  The  columns  moving"  from  the 
seaboard  were  to  concentrate  at  Goldsboro,  as  pre-arranged 
jith  Gen.  Sherman. 

After  a  brief  delay  at  Cheraw,  Gen.  Sherman  resumed  his 
march,  passing  into  North  Carolina  and  moving  toward  Fay- 
ettevillc.  His  right  wing  crossed  the  Pedee  river  at  Cheraw* 
and  his  left  and  cavalry  at  Sneedsboro.  The  Fourteenth  and 
Seventeenth  Corps  entered  Fayetteville  on  the  llth  of  March, 
driving  back  Wade  Hampton's  cavalry,  which  covered  the  rear 
of  Hardcc's  forces,  as  they  retreated  across  the  Cape  Fear 
river,  burning  the  bridge  behind  them.  The  next  three  days 
were  passed  at  Fayetteville,  during  which  the  arsenal,  includ 
ing  a  large  amount  of  machinery  from  the  old  armory  at  Har 
per's  Ferry,  were  completely  destroyed,  as  well  as  much  other 
valuable  property  of  use  to  the  enemy. 

The  Rebel  forces,  hitherto  successfully  separated  by  Gen. 
Sherman  in  his  march — those  under  Beaurcgard,  including 
Cheatham's  brigade,  driven  aside  to  Charlotte,  as  well  as 
the  troops  which  had  garrisoned  Augusta,  and  those  under 
Hardee,  which  had  escaped  across  the  Cape  Fear  river — were 
now  getting  in  a  condition  to  form  a  junction  with  Johnston 
and  Hoke,  at  or  near  Raleigh.  These  several  commands, 
united  under  Johnston — one  of  the  most  skillful  of  the  Rebel 
generals— with  a  combined  cavalry  force  superior  to  that  under 
Kilpatrick,  would  constitute  a  formidable  army,  fighting  on 
familiar  ground  against  an  invading  force  without  a  "base." 
By  trusty  scouts,  Sherman  opened  communication  with  Gen. 
Terry,  now  in  command  at  Wilmington,  and  with  Gen.  Scho- 
field  at  Newburn,  apprising  them  of  his  situation  and  plans. 
Communication  was  also  opened  by  a  gunboat,  which  now  ran 
up  to  Fayetteville.  Both  Schofield  and  Terry  were  ordered  to 
advance  at  once  on  Goldsboro,  toward  which  place  Sherman 
himself  moved  on  the  15th  of  March,  first  feigning  an  advance 
on  Raleigh.  Kilpatrick  moved  out  accordingly,  on  the  road 
to  Averysboro,  followed  by  four  divisions  of  Slocum's  com 
mand,  accompanied  by  Gen.  Sherman  in  person.  On  the 
16th — Kilpatrick  having  had  some  heavy  skirmishing  with  the 
enemy's  rear -guard,  three  miles  beyond  Kyle's  Landing — the 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  749 

Rebels  were  found  in  a  fortified  position,  covering  a  point 
where  the  road  branches  off  through  Bcntonvillc  to  Goldsboro. 
It  was  apparent  to  the  commanding  General  that  Hardcc, 
whose  force  was  estimated  at  20,000  men,  had  made  a  stand 
here,  on  the  narrow,  swampy  neck  between  Cape  Fear  and 
South  rivers,  in  the  hope  of  gaining  time  for  a  concentration 
of  the  various  forces  under  Johnston,  at  some  point  beyond, 
toward  Goldsboro.  It  became  expedient,  therefore,  to  dislodge 
the  enemy  as  promptly  as  possible,  and  was  necessary,  as  well 
for  the  purpose  of  continuing  the  feint  on  Raleigh,  as  of 
securing  the  use  of  the  Goldsboro  read.  After  a  conflict, 
chiefly  difficult  from  tLj  nature  of  the  ground,  over  which 
horses  could  not  move,  and  which  yielded  to  the  steps  of 
the  men — two  or  three  charges  by  brigades,  and  some  artil 
lery  firing  by  a  well-posted  battery,  comprising  the  sum  of 
all — the  enemy  was  forced  back  from  his  first  and  second  lines, 
and  made  his  escape  in  the  darkness  of  the  ensuing  night.  It 
was  soon  found  that  he  had  retired  by  the  Smithfield  road,  and 
not  toward  Raleigh.  The  only  Union  forces  engaged  were  por 
tions  of  the  Twentieth  and  Fourteenth  Corps,  the  command  of 
Gen.  Slocum,  who  reported  his  losses  as  twelve  officers  and 
sixty-five  men  killed,  and  476  wounded.  The  enemy  left  108 
dead  on  the  field,  his  whole  loss  probably  exceeding  700.  Such 
was  the  battle  of  Averysboro,  fought  on  the  16th  day  of 
March. 

The  left  wing  now  took  the  Goldsboro  road.  Howard's  col 
umn  and  the  trains  were  already  moving  in  the  same  direction 
on  the  right;  Kilpatrick  watching  the  right  flank.  Slocum 
encamped  on  the  night  of  the  18th,  at  a  point  where  the 
road  from  Clinton  to  Smithfield  crosses  the  Goldsboro  road, 
twenty-seven  miles  from  Goldsboro,  and  five  from  Bentonvillc. 
Howard  was  at  Lee's  store,  two  miles  south,  and  both  wings 
had  pickets  thrown  out  for  three  miles,  to  where  the  two  roads 
united  in  one.  Not  anticipating  any  further  opposition,  How 
ard  was  directed  to  advance,  on  the  19th,  along  the  new  Golds 
boro  road,  by  Falling  Creek  Church,  while  Sherman  proceeded 
to  join  this  column  in  person,  desiring  to  open  communica 
tions  with  the  converging  columns  of  Schofield  and  Terry, 


750  LIFE   Or   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN, 

advancing  from  Newbern  and  Wilmington.  Slocum  Lad  not 
gone  far  before  Carlin's  division,  in  the  advance,  encountered 
DibbreU's  division  of  Rebel  cavalry,  supported  by  infantry, 
which  gained  some  advantage  over  him ;  and  soon  after  it 
appeared  that  he  was  confronted,  near  Bentonville,  by  the 
whol-3  of  Johnston's  army  in  position,  under  that  officer  in 
person.  Sherman  speedily  made  his  dispositions  for  battle. 
Couriers  from  Schofield  and  Terry  arrived  at  this  juncture, 
reporting  that  the  former  was  at  Kingston,  and  could  reach 
Goldsboro  by  the  21st,  and  that  Terry  was  at  or  near  Faison's 
Depot,  some  thirty  miles  south  of  Goldsboro,  on  the  Wilming 
ton  railroad.  Orders  were  issued  to  these  commanders,  with  a 
view  to  secure  their  most  effective  co-operation,  at  the  earliest 
moment,  in  the  battle  now  pending. 

Meanwhile,  Slocum  had  protected  himself  by  a  line  of  bar 
ricades,  and  remained  on  the  defensive,  having  with  him  but 
four  divisions,  to  which  the  cavalry  of  Kilpatrick  was  added, 
after  the  latter  had  heard  the  sounds  of  battle.  In  this  posi 
tion,  six  successive  charges  were  made  on  the  left,  by  the 
combined  forces  of  Hardee,  Cheatham  and  Hoke,  under  the 
direction  of  Johnston  himself.  Each  attack  was  repulsed, 
with  heavy  loss  to  the  enemy.  During  the  night  of  the  19th, 
the  two  divisions  guarding  the  wagon  train  arrived,  together 
with  Hazen's  division  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  enabling  Gen. 
Slocum  to  make  his  position  secure.  Gen.  Howard,  on  advan 
cing  the  Fifteenth  Corps  to  form  a  connection  with  Slocum, 
found  that  Johnston's  left  occupied  a  strong  position,  fortified 
by  a  line  of  parapets  across  the  Goldsboro  road,  thus  interpos 
ing  a  barrier  between  Sherman's  two  wings.  Howard,  however, 
succeeded  in  forming  a  connection  with  Slocum's  right,  with 
out  engaging  the  enemy.  Before  nightfall,  on  the  20th,  Sher 
man's  united  forces,  in  a  strong  line  of  battle,  had  Johnston  on 
the  defensive.  On  the  21st,  Gen.  Schofield  entered  Goldsboro 
without  serious  opposition,  and  Gen.  Terry  reached  the  Neuse 
river,  ten  miles  .above  Goldsboro.  The  three  armies  were  thus 
brought  into  communication,  within  supporting  distance  of 
each  other — a  triumphant  success  of  the  various  movements. 

During  the  day,  on  the  21st,  it  rained  steadily,  but  Mower's 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  751 

division  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  on  the  extreme  right, 
gradually  moved  around  on  the  enemy's  flank,  and  had  nearly 
reached  the  bridge  over  Mill  Creek,  Johnson's  only  line  of 
retreat  now  left  open.  To  prevent  Mower  from  being  over 
whelmed  by  a  superior  force  of  the  enemy,  Sherman  ordered 
his  skirmishers  to  attack  along  the  whole  line,  while  Mower 
regained  his  connection  with  his  own  corps.  During  the  night, 
the  enemy  retreated  on  Smithfield,  leaving  his  pickets,  with 
many  unburied  dead,  and  his  wounded  men  in  the  field  hospi 
tals  to  fall  into  Sherman's  hands.  Pursuit  was  made  for  two 
miles  beyond  Mill  Creek,  on  the  morning  of  the  22d,  and  then 
suspended.  Johnston  had  been  completely  foiled  in  his  main 
attempt,  and  decisively  beaten.  Slocum  reported  his  total 
losses  at  the  battle  of  Bentonville,  in  killed,  wounded  and  miss 
ing,  as  1,247.  Howard's  entire  losses  numbered  only  399 — 
making  an  aggregate  Union  loss  of  1,646.  The  Rebel  dead, 
buried  by  our  forces,  numbered  267,  and  his  entire  loss  in 
prisoners  was  1,625 — making  an  aggregate  of  1,892.  Johnston 
must  have  lost  heavily,  in  addition  to  the  foregoing,  in  his 
attacks  on  the  left  wing,  on  the  19th. 

Sherman  had  now  full  possession  of  Goldsboro,  accomplish 
ing  his  purpose,  and  his  forces  thus  combined  constituted  an 
army  irresistible  by  any  force  that  could  be  brought  against 
him.  He  had  now  communications  by  the  two  railroads,  rap 
idly  put  in  running  order,  with  the  seaboard  at  Beaufort  and 
Newbern. 

Before  Petersburg,  Gen.  Meade  had  continued  to  keep  a 
strong  hold  upon  Lee,  breaking  his  communications,  and 
extending  the  Union  lines  on  the  left.  The  effective  fighting 
under  Gen.  Sheridan,  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  had  rendered 
the  longer  maintenance  of  any  large  force  there  unnecessary. 
Ths  Sixth  Corps  had  returned  to  Petersburg  not  long  after  the 
decisive  engagements  in  the  late  autumn,  and  was  assigned  a 
position  on  the  left,  affording  the  opportunity  for  a  further 
advance  of  Meade's  lines  toward  the  Southside  railroad.  -The 
most  important  movement  undertaken  by  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  since  the  movement  on  the  Weldon  road  under 
Warren  and  Gregg,  in  December,  was  that  which  resulted  in 


752  LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

the  battle  of  Hatcher's  Run,  on  the  6th  and  7th  of  February, 
and  by  which  the  Rebel  communications  by  the  Boydtou 
Plank  road  were  broken.  The  Fifth,  and  a  portion  of  the 
Sixth  Corps,  were  engaged  in  this  movement,  the  Third  divis 
ion  of  the  Fifth  Corps  suffering  heavily.  Its  aggregate  loss 
in  killed  and  wounded  was  594.  The  losses  in  the  Sixth  Corps, 
acting  mainly  as  a  supporting  column,  were  slight. . 

It  was  now  manifest  that  the  main  Rebel  armies  under 
Lee  and  Johnson  were  becoming  inextricably  invovled  in 
the  toils  of  Grant  and  his  Generals.  Only  some  unforeseen 
cause,  or  some  serious  blunder,  could  long  delay  the  final 
termination  of  the  struggle.  A  conference  was  now  held  at 
City  Point,  between  President  Lincoln,  Lieut.-Gen.  Grant, 
and  Gens.  Meade,  Sherman,  and  other  leading  commanders, 
on  the  27th  of  March.  The  closing  movements  were  now 
fully  considered  and  planned,  with  incidental  discussions  of  the 
general  policy  to  be  pursued  in  the  final  exigencies  ;  and  the 
several  Generals  returned  to  their  commands,  prepared  to  strike 
the  last  blows,  and  confident  of  their  effect. 

To  President  Lincoln,  saddened  and  worn  by  four  years  of 
a  strife  so  relentless  and  painful,  the  prospect  of  peace  near 
at  hand  was  inexpressibly  gladdening.  To  each  of  the  war 
worn  Generals,  the  culmination  of  all  his  cares  and  toils  in  a 
grand  choral  triumph,  was  a  joyful  hope  that  made  music  in 
his  heart,  as  he  moved  away  to  his  closing  task. 


LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM.   LINCOLN.  753 


CHAPTERX. 

4  i 

Close  of  President  Lincoln's  First  Term. — Order  to  Gen.  Grant  in 
regard  to  Peace  Negotiations. — The  Fourth  of  March. — Inauguration 
Ceremonies. —  Mr.  Lincoln's  Second  Inaugural  Address. —  Con 
trasts. — Cabinet  Changes. — Indisposition  of  the  President. — His 
Speech  at  the  National  Hotel  on  Negro  Soldiers  in  the  Rebel  Armies.— 
He  Visits  Gen.  Grant's  Headquarters. — The  Military  Situation. — 
Conference  with  his  Chief  Generals. — Movement  of  the  Forces  under 
Meade  and  Sheridan. — Fighting  near  Dinwiddie  Court  House.— 
Sheridan's  Victory  at  the  Five  Forks.— Attack  of  Wright  and  Parke 
on  the  Lines  before  Petersburg. — The  Sixth  Corps  Carry  the  Enemy'a 
Works. — Petersburg  Evacuated. — Pursuit  of  the  Enemy. — Richmond 
Taken. — Dispatches  of  Mr.  Lincoln. — The  Nation's  Joy. — Lee's  Army 
Closely  Pressed. — Captures  at  Sailor's  Creek. — Surrender  of  Lee. — 
Mr.  Lincoln  at  Richmond. — His  Visit  to  the  City  Point  Hospital. — 
His  Return  to  Washington. — Peace  Rejoicings. — Speeches  of  Mr. 
Lincoln. — Important  Proclamations. — Demand  on  Great  Britain 
for  Indemnity. — Closing  Military  Movements. — Reduction  of  the 
Army. — Mr.  Lincoln's  Last  Meeting  with  His  Cabinet. — Celebration 
at  Fort  Sumter. 

THE  morning  of  the  4th  of  March,  1865,  was  dark  with 
clouds  and  rain.  The  previous  stormy  night  Mr.  Lincoln, 
with  the  members  of  his  Cabinet,  remained  at  the  President's 
room,  in  the  north  wing  of  the  capitol,  until  a  late  hour,  con 
sidering  and  signing  bills  which  came  thronging  upon  him,  in 
the  usual  manner,  during  the  closing  hours  of  a  Congress  soon 
to  be  dissolved.  The  President  had  a  somewhat  care-worn 
look,  but  a  cheerfulness  of  manner,  manifesting  itself  in  occa 
sional  pleasantry,  or  in  the  relation  of  some  suggested  incident 
or  anecdote,  as  was  his  wont  in  Jris  most  seriously  earnest 
moods.  He  had  a  genial  word  for  occasional  visitors,  and  a 
ready  ear,  as  always,  for  whatever  had  any  fair  claim  to  Ida 
attention.  Without  a  word  as  to  the  morrow,  or  as  to  the 

momentous  hours  of  an  eventful  term  of  service  now  inet 
48 


754  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

closing,  his  furrowed  face  spoke  to  the  casual  observer  of  sober 
thoughts,  not  unmingled  with  conscious  satisfaction,  in  looking 
back  upon  the  work  of  the  four  years  of  his  unceasing  watch- 
•fulness  and  assiduity  in  the  service  to  which  his  country  had 
called  him.  Some  talked  hopefully  of  brighter  hours  for  the 
intended  pageant  of  the  coming  day.  To  him,  long  used  to 
more  real  and  penetrating  storms,  the  passing  shadows  and 
mists  of  a  day  seemed  of  no  concern.  More  inspiring  were  the 
thoughts  of  an  abiding  calm  and  of  the  lasting  sunshine  of  peace. 
But,  again,  he  knew  that  with  the  close  of  the  desolating  strife 
of  armed  men  in  the  field,  a  new  struggle  was  to  begin — one 
that  must  precede  and  accompany  the  evolution  of  order  and 
repose  from  the  chaos  existing  throughout  the  rebellious  dis 
tricts.  For  had  he  not  clearly  enunciated,  four  years  ago,  this 
undeniable  truth:  "  Suppose  you  go  to  war,  you  can  not  fight 
always  j  and  when,  after  much  loss  on  both  sides,  and  no  gain 
on  either,  you  cease  fighting,  the  identical  questions  as  to  terms 
of  intercourse  are  again  upon  you."  In  the  angry  commotion, 
excited  by  self-willed  agitators,  these  persuasive  words  had 
passed  unheeded.  Battle  had  come,  and  had  done  its  fearful 
work.  The  aggressors  were  about  to  yield  to  the  national 
power  they  had  defied.  The  "questions  "  at  issue  were  already 
settled  in  part,  yet  much  remained  for  the  clear  head,  kind 
heart,  and  strong  hand  of  the  re-elected  Chief  Magistrate  of 
the  people. 

While  the  President  was  thus  waiting  at  the  capitol,  there 
came  to  the  Secretary  of  War  a  telegraphic  dispatch  from  Gen. 
Grant,  announcing  that  the  Rebel  Gen.  Lee  had  sought  an 
interview  with  the  Lieutenant-General,  for  the  purpose  of 
arranging  terms  of  peace.  It  is  now  known  that  Lee  had  for 
several  months  despaired  of  any  final  success  in  the  unholy 
work  which  he  had  deserted  the  United  States  Army  to  engage 
in,  and  that  he  prudently  desired  to  end  the  war,  accepting  the 
best  terms  that  could  be  made.  This  was  a  proposition  to 
which  Davis  himself,  then,  as  at  the  last  moment,  could  only 
speak  of  with  impatience.  From  his  message  to  the  Rebel 
Congress,  however,  it  appears  that  the  telegram  to  Gen.  Grant, 
just  mentioned,  was  sent  with  Davis'  knowledge.  He  avers 


LIFE   OF   ABKAHAM    LINCOLN.  755 

that  one  of  his  Commissioners  at  the  Hampton  Roads  Con 
ference,  suggested  to  President  Lincoln  that  his  objections  to 
treating  with  the  "Confederate  Government,"  or  with  any 
State  by  itself,  might  be  avoided  by  adopting  the  method 
sometimes  employed  of  a  military  convention,  to  be  entered 
into  by  the  commanding  generals  of  the  armies  of  the  two 
belligerents — almost  a  precise  foreshadowing  of  the  mode  sub 
sequently  suggested  to  Gen.  Sherman  by  Johnston  and  Breck- 
inridge.  This  suggestion,  Davis  distinctly  says,  was  not 
accepted  by  Mr.  Lincoln.  In  the  same  message,  Davis  alleges 
that  advances  were  afterward  made  by  Gen.  Ord  to  Longstreet, 
intimating  the  possibility  of  arriving  at  a  satisfactory  adjust 
ment  by  means  of  a  military  convention,  and  that  if  Lee 
desired  an  interview  on  this  subject,  it  would  not  be  declined, 
if  Lee  were  clothed  with  authority  to  act  in  the  premises.  He 
further  states  that  Lee  wrote  to  Gen.  Grant,  on  the  2d  of 
March,  informing  him  that  he  was  vested  with  the  requisite 
authority  for  such  negotiation, 

It  was  Lee's  letter,  thus  referred  to,  that  formed  the  subject 
of  Gen.  Grant's  dispatch  to  President  Lincoln.  This  dispatch, 
Mr.  Stanton  informs  us,  "was  submitted  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  who, 
after  pondering  a  few  minutes,  took  up  his  pen  and  wrote  with 
his  own  hand  the  following  reply,  which  he  submitted  to  the 
Secretary  of  State  and  Secretary  of  War.  It  was  then  dated, 
addressed,  and  signed  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  telegraphed 
to  Gen.  Grant:  " 

WASHINGTON,  March  3,  1865,  12  P.  M, 
Lieutenant-  General  Grant: 

The  President  directs  me  to  say  to  you  that  he  wishes  you 
to  have  no  conference  with  Gen.  Lee,  unless  it  be  for  the  capit 
ulation  of  Gen.  Lee's  army,  or  on  some  minor  and  purely  mil 
itary  matter.  He  instructs  me  to  say  that  you  are  not  to 
decide,  discuss,  or  confer  upon  any  political  question.  Such 
questions  the  President  holds  in  his  own  hands,  and  will  sub 
mit  them  to  no  military  conferences  or  conventions.  Mean 
time  you  are  to  press  to  the  utmost  your  military  advantages. 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 
Secretary  of  War. 


756  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

I 

The  morning  of  Saturday,  the  4th  of  March,  found  tho 
President  again  at  his  post  at  the  capitol,  while  the  world 
outside  was  still  dismal  with  the  continuing  storm.  Many 
thousands  had  come  from  far  and  near  to  witness  the  re-inau 
guration  of  a  loved  President.  The  condition  of  the  skies  and 
the  streets  was  dismal.  The  procession,  which  would  other 
wise,  perhaps,  have  surpassed  any  previous  one  in  numhers  and 
show,  lost  much  of  its  attraction.  Yet  was  there  never  a  more 
numerous  and  sympathetic  turn-out  of  the  people  at  any  like 
ceremony. 

A  committee  to  notify  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  a  formal  manner,  of 
his  re-election,  had  waited  on  him  for  that  purpose,  and  Mr. 
Wilson,  of  Iowa,  reported  to  the  House,  on  the  evening  of 
the  1st  of  March,  his  response,  which  was  in  the  following 
terms : 

Having  served  four  years  in  the  depths  of  a  great  and  yet 
imended  national  peril,  I  can  view  this  call  to  a  second  term 
in  no  wise  more  flattering  to  myself  than  as  an  expression  of 
the  public  judgment  that  I  may  better  finish  a  difficult  work, 
in  which  I  have  labored  from  the  first,  than  could  any  one  less 
severely  schooled  to  the  task.  In  this  view,  and  with  assured 
reliance  on  that  Almighty  Ruler  who  has  so  graciously  sus 
tained  us  thus  far,  and  with  increased  gratitude  to  the  generous 
people  for  their  continued  confidence,  I  accept  the  renewed 
trust,  with  its  yet  onerous  and  perplexing  duties  and  responsi 
bilities. 

As  the  hour  of  twelve  arrived,  and  the  two  Houses  of  Con 
gress  were  declared  finally  adjourned,  the  rain  had  ceased,  and 
a  vast  throng  of  citizens,  with  battalions  of  soldiers,  white  and 
black,  stood  in  front  of  the  stand  erected  at  the  east  front  of 
the  capitol,  awaiting  the  approach  of  the  procession  from  tho 
Senate  Chamber.  Meanwhile,  Hon.  Andrew  Johnson  had 
taken  the  oath  of  office  as  Yice-President,  in  presence  of  the 
compact  audience  assembled  on  the  floor  and  in  the  galleries 
of  the  Senate.  The  new  Senate,  called  by  the  President  to 
meet  in  special  session  for  .Executive  business,  had  organized. 
At  twenty-five  minutes  past  twelve  o'clock,  Mr.  Lincoln,  hav 
ing  now  closed  the  Presidential  labors  of  his  first  term,  entered 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  757 

th3  Senate  Chamber,  accompanied  by  a  committee  of  Senators 
and  Representatives.  The  procession  moved  to  the  eastern 
portico  in  the  following  order :  The  Marshal  of  the  District 
of  Columbia;  the  Ex-Vice-President;  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States ;  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  of  the  Senate ;  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  the  President  elect;  the  Vice- 
President  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate ;  the  members  of 
the  Senate ;  the  Diplomatic  Corps ;  heads  of  Departments  ; 
Governors  of  States  and  Territories ;  the  Mayors  of  Washing 
ton  and  Georgetown,  and  other  persons  admitted  to  the  floor 
of  the  Senate  Chamber. 

As  President  Lincoln  stepped  upon  the  platform  to  address 
the  many  thousands  present,  the  bright  sunlight,  hitherto 
obscured  through  all  the  morning,  broke  from  the  clouds,  as 
if  by  miracle,  and  illuminated  his  face  and  form,  as  he  bowed 
acknowledgment  to  the  boisterous  greeting  of  the  people. 
With  wonder  and  joy,  the  multitude  accepted  the  omen  as 
something  more  than  unmeaning  chance.  The  long  hours  of 
rain  and  cloud  were  over.  The  city  roofs  and  spires,  the  trees 
and  lawns,  the  hills  and  woods  farther  away,  and  all  the  land 
scape  around  were  gladdened  as  with  the  freshness  of  the  first 
created  light. 

Standing  in  this  presence,  with  a  clear  voice,  mellowed  by 
the  emotion  of  the  hour  and  by  the  slightly  plaintive  tone 
usually  pervading  his  utterances,  Mr.  Lincoln  delivered  the 
following 

INAUGURAL   ADDRESS. 

Fellow-  Countrymen : 

At  this  second  appearing  to  take  the  oath  of  the  Presiden 
tial  office,  there  is  less  occasion  for  an  extended  address  than 
there  was  at  the  first.  Then,  a  statement,  somewhat  in  detail, 
of  a  course  to  be  pursued,  seemed  fitting  and  proper.  Now, 
at  the  expiration  of  four  years,  during  which  public  declara 
tions  have  been  constantly  called  forth  on  every  point  and 
phase  of  the  great  contest  which  still  absorbs  the  attention  and 
engrosses  the  energies  of  the  nation,  little  that  is  new  could 
be  presented.  The  progress  of  our  arms,  upon  which  all  else 
chiefly  depends,  is  as  well  known  to  the  public  as  to  myself; 
and  it  is,  I  trust,  reasonably  satisfactory  and  encouraging  to  all. 


758  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

With  high  hope  for  the  future,  no  prediction  in  regard  to  it  is 
ventured. 

On  the  occasion  corresponding  to  this  four  years  ago,  all 
thoughts  were  anxiously  directed  to  an  impending  civil  war. 
All  dreaded  it;  all  sought  to  avert  it.  "While  the  inaugural 
address  was  being  delivered  from  this  place,  devoted  altogether 
to  saving  the  Union  without  war,  insurgent  agents  were  in  the 
city  seeking  to  destroy  it  without  war — seeking  to  dissolve  the 
Union,  and  divide  effects,  by  negotiation.  Both  parties  depre 
cated  war ;  but  one  of  them  would  make  war  rather  than  let 
the  nation  survive  ;  and  the  other  would  accept  war  rather  than 
let  it  perish.  And  the  war  came. 

One-eighth  of  the  whole  population  were  colored  slaves,  not 
distributed  generally  over  the  Union,  but  localized  in  the 
southern  part  of  it.  These  slaves  constituted  a  peculiar  and 
powerful  interest.  All  knew  that  this  interest  was,  somehow, 
the  cause  of  the  war.  To  strengthen,  perpetuate,  and  extend 
this  interest  was  the  object  for  which  the  insurgents  would 
rend  the  Union,  even  by  war;  while  the  Government  claimed 
no  right  to  do  more  than  to  restrict  the  territorial  enlargement 
of  it.  Neither  party  expected  for  the  war  the  magnitude  or 
the  duration  which  it  has  already  attained.  Neither  antici 
pated  that  the  cause  of  the  conflict  might  cease  with,  or  even 
before,  the  conflict  itself  should  cease.  Each  looked  for  an 
easier  triumph,  and  a  result  less  fundamental  and  astounding. 
Both  read  the  same  Bible,  and  pray  to  the  same  God ;  and  each 
invokes  His  aid  against  the  other.  It  may  seem  strange  that 
any  men  should  dare  to  ask  a  just  God's  assistance  in  wringing 
their  bread  from  the  sweat  of  other  men's  faces ;  but  let  us 
judge  not,  that  we  be  not  judged.  The  prayers  of  both  could 
not  be  answered  ;  that  of  neither  has  been  answered  fully. 
The  Almighty  has  His  own  purposes.  "  Woe  unto  the  world 
because  of  offenses  !  for  it  must  needs  be  that  offense  come ; 
but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offenses  cometh."  If  we 
shall  suppose  American  slavery  is  one  of  those  offenses  which, 
in  the  providence  of  God,  must  needs  come,  but  which,  having 
continued  through  His  appointed  time,  He  now  wills  to  remove, 
and  that  He  gives  to  both  North  and  South  this  terrible  war, 
as  the  woe  due  to  those  by  whom  the  offense  came,  shall  we 
discern  therein  any  departure  from  those  divine  attributes 
which  the  believers  in  a  living  God  always  ascribe  to  Him  ? 
Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently  do  we  pray,  that  this  mighty 
scourge  of  war  may  speedily  pass  away.  Yet,  if  God  wills 
that  it  continue  until  all  the  wealth  piled  by  the  bondman's 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  unrequited  toil  shall  be  sunk, 
and  until  everv  drop  of  blood  drawn,  with  the  lash  shall  be 


LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  759 

paid  by  another  drawn  with  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thous 
and  years  ago,  so  still  it  must  be  said,  "  The  judgments  of  the 
Lord  are  true  and  righteous  altogether." 

With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with  firmness 
in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive  on 
to  finish  the  work  we  are  in  ;  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds  • 
to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his 
widow,  and  his  orphan ;  to  do  all  which  may  achieve  and 
cherish  a  just  and  a  lasting  peace  among  ourselves  and  with  all 
nations. 

The  oath  of  office  was  then  administered  to  the  President 
by  Chief  Justice  Chase.  Reverberating  cannon,  saluting  the 
re-inaugurated  Chief  Magistrate,  and  giving  voice  to  the  peo 
ple's  joy,  announced  the  close  of  the  brief  ceremony.  The 
address,  in  the  grand  setting  of  events  before  and  after,  has  an 
imperishable  luster,  and  a  priceless  worth — to  be  recognized 
wherever  the  tongue  in  which  it  is  written  is  known.  Com 
pared  with  that  of  four  years  previous,  it  shows  the  same 
kindly  forbearance  and  good-will  toward  his  enemies,  the  same 
yearning  for  restored  harmony  under  the  equal  laws  of  a  free 
republic.  Yet  wide  was  the  contrast  between  the  two  addresses, 
and  between  the  two  occasions.  He  was  no  longer  the  com 
paratively  inexperienced  statesman,  entering  upon  a  position 
of  unexampled  trials,  undertaking  to  lead  the  people,  at  their 
command,  through  a  wilderness  of  untold  dangers  to  the  State. 
He  had  gained  the  last  ridge,  and  paused  to  converse  with 
them  on  the  duties  remaining,  as  they  entered  the  longed-for 
land.  Then,  he  had  been  willing,  for  the  sake  of  peace — 
although  he  had  ever  felt  that  "  if  slavery  was  not  wrong,  noth 
ing  was  wrong  " — to  leave  the  removal  of  this  evil  to  the  slow 
processes  of  time,  through  the  convictions  of  those  sustaining 
it,  and  the  formalities  of  legislation  ;  but  now  he  rejoiced  in  his 
own  decisive  act,  which  had  summarily  ended  this  great  wrong, 
striking  down  at  once  the  cause  and  the  support  of  the  Rebel 
lion.  Then,  he  had  taken  his  official  oath  before  a  Chief  Jus 
tice  whose  most  memorable  act  was  an  attempt,  by  a  political 
decision,  to  render  impregnable  the  bulwarks  of  slavery.  Now, 
lie  was  sworn  by  a  Chief  Justice  who  believed  that  no  inherent 
right  of  manhood  was  dependent  on  the  hue  of  the  skin,  or  on 


760  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  accident  of  birth.  Before,  treason  was  rampant,  and  armed 
Rebels  gathering  in  Charleston,  where  the  germ  of  secession 
had  been  for  thirty  years  developing  into  sturdy  growth.  The 
same  Charleston,  almost  a  ruin,  was  now  under  the  heel  of  the 
military  power  it  had  insulted,  and  proud  South  Carolina  was 
overrun,  from  border  to  border,  by  unsparing  Western  soldiery. 
Four  years — the  most  wonderful  the  nation  had  ever  seen,  or, 
perhaps,  ever  may  see — years  into  which  the  ordinary  history  of 
generations  had  been  condensed,  had  made  the  name  of  ABRA 
HAM  LINCOLN  more  famous  and  enduring  than  any  other  Amer 
ican  name  in  his  century.  As  the  procession  returned  from 
the  Capitol  to  the  White  House,  but  little  after  midday,  hun 
dreds  of  persons  were  gazing  upward  at  a  bright  star,  visible 
in  the  heavens— ^not  less  marvelous  than  the  favorable  sunlight 
omen.  A  phenomenon  so  rare — to  many  spectators  altogether 
unknown  hitherto — was  the  subject  of  universal  comment. 

The  public  reception  at  the  White  House,  on  Saturday  even 
ing,  was  attended  by  perhaps  greater  numbers  than  ever 
before.  The  day  had  closed  without  serious  accident.  Vague 
rumors  had  been  in  the  air  of  a  plot  of  assassination,  to  cul 
minate  on  that  day ;  but  no  disorder  of  any  kind  occurred. 
Political  opponents,  heretofore  the  most  hostile,  now  outwardly 
seemed  quietly  to  assume  the  attitude  of  reverent  acquiescence 
in  the  renewed  leadership  of  the  Chosen  One  of  the  people, 
the  Elect  of  Providence. 

Hon.  William  P.  Fessenden,  having  been  elected  a  Senator 
from  the  State  of  Maine,  for  the  term  of  six  years,  commencing 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1865,  had  resigned  his  office  as  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury,  to  take  his  seat  in  the  Senate  on 
that  day.  Mr.  Fessenden  had  assumed  the  always  responsible 
and  trying  position  of  Finance  Minister,  at  a  time  of  peculiar 
difficulty,  when  the  country  was  comparatively  depressed,  in 
view  of  heavy  losses  in  war  without  decisive  victories,  and 
when  a  heavy  conscription  impending,  with  its  burdensome 
demands  upon  the  Treasury,  added  to  the  heretofore  severe 
strain  upon  the  financial  capabilities  of  the  Government. 
Despite  all  the  criticism  and  captiousness  incident  to  such  a 
time,  Mr.  Fessenden,  by  the  even  tenor  of  his  course — avoid- 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  761 

ing  hazardous  experiments  and  visionary  resorts — passed 
safely  through  the  ordeal,  and  left  to  his  successor  no  harder 
task  than  that  he  had  himself  assumed  when  taking  the  office. 
President  Lincoln  selected  Hon.  Hugh  McCulloch,  of  Indiana, 
to  fill  the  place  made  vacant  by  Senator  Fesseriden's  resigna 
tion — an  appointment  not  only  promptly  confirmed  by  the 
Senate,  but  cordially  approved  by  the  people.  Judge  McCul 
loch  had  organized  the  Currency  bureau,  and,  perfected  the 
working  of  the  National  Bank  system  originated  by  Gov.  Chase  ; 
and  his  later  labors,  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  have  been 
attended  with  such  marked  success  as  to  insure  him  a  reputa 
tion  in  the  office  scarcely  inferior  to  that  of  either  of  his  pre 
decessors  under  Mr.  Lincoln's  Administration. 

This  appointment  of  another  Cabinet  officer  from  Indiana, 
led  to  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Usher  as  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
to  take  effect  on  the  15th  of  May.  Mr.  Lincoln  appointed 
Hon.  James  Harlan,  a  Senator  from  Iowa,  to  fill  this  vacancy, 
and  his  nomination,  which  was  eminently  satisfactory  to  the 
country,  was  at  once  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  on  the  9th  of 
March,  in  advance  of  the  time  at  which  he  was  to  enter  upon 
his  duties  at  the  head  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior.  No 
other  changes  occurred  in  the  constitution  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
Cabinet,  at  his  entrance  upon  his  second  term  of  office. 

The  called  session  of  the  Senate  terminated  on  the  llth  of 
March.  A  large  proportion  of  the  nominations  sent  into  that 
body,  during  this  brief  session,  were  promotions  in  the  army 
and  navy.  Few  changes  were  made  in  civil  offices,  the  Presi- 
ident  having  determined  to  adopt  no  general  system  of  "  rota 
tion."  The  Executive  Mansion  was,  however,  thronged  by 
unusual  numbers,  during  the  first  two  or  three  weeks,  and  his 
time  continually  occupied  with  visitors,  on  manifold  business, 
the  variety  and  amount  of  which  was  such  as  no  President 
before  him  ever  grappled  with,  or  would  have  conceived  as 
within  the  range  of  possible  attention.  Much  of  this  tax  upon 
his  time  and  vital  energy  was  levied  for  the  mere  personal 
interests  of  either  the  visitor  himself,  or  some  importunate 
friend  or  constituent.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  uniformly  indulgent 
to  such  appeals,  when  made  in  no  offensive  manner ;  and  a 


762  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

positive  element  of  the  wasting  weariness  which  these  inces 
sant  calls  occasioned  him,  was  the  sympathetic  regret  he  felt 
for  the  many  whom  he  was  daily  compelled  to  disappoint, 
whom  yet  he  would  gladly  have  gratified.  Much  of  this 
"  pressure  "  related  to  other  matters  than  official  appointments. 
Most  of  it  was,  perhaps,  as  unavoidable  by  the  visitor,  as  it 
was  deemed  to  be  by  the  President.  But  it  was  not,  on  this 
account,  any  the  less  exhausting.  These,  and  other  cares  of 
graver  sort,  were  manifestly  telling  upon  his  physical  condition. 
For  some  days  prior  to  the  15th  of  March,  he  was  obliged  to 
deny  himself  to  visitors  altogether.  To  those  who  had  the 
opportunity  of  occasionally  meeting  him,  when  in  his  office, 
this  change  was  doubtless  generally  apparent.  It  may  be 
readily  seen  by  all  who  compare  his  photographic  likenesses, 
taken  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1864,  with  those  of  Feb 
ruary  and  March,  1865.  Not  a  little  of  this  change  was  prob 
ably  due  to  the  anxieties  he  had  continuously  felt,  and  to  the 
labors  he  had  undergone,  in  connection  with  the  great  mili 
tary  campaigns  of  the  past  twelve -month,  which  were  now 
near  a  final  consummation. 

On  the  17th  of  March,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  present  at  the  pre 
sentation  to  Gov.  Morton,  of  Indiana,  of  a  flag  captured  at 
Fort  Anderson,  near  Wilmington,  by  Indiana  troops.  The 
ceremony  occurred  at  the  National  Hotel,  and  the  President, 
responding  to  the  request  of  those  present,  made  the  following 
memorable  speech  from  the  balcony : 

FELLOW  CITIZENS  :  It  will  be  but  a  very  few  words  that  I 
shall  undertake  to  say.  I  was  born  in  Kentucky  ;  raised  in 
Indiana,  and  live  in  Illinois  [laughter],  and  I  now  am  here, 
where  it  is  my  business  to  be,  to  care  equally  for  the  good  peo 
ple  of  all  the  States.  I  am  glad  to  see  an  Indiana  regiment  on 
this  day  able  to  present  this  captured  flag  to  the  Governor  of 
the  State  of  Indiana.  I  am  not  disposed,  in  saying  this,  to 
make  a  distinction  between  the  States,  for  all  have  done  equally 
well. 

There  are  but  few  views  or  aspects  of  this  great  war  upon 
which  I  have  not  said  or  written  something,  whereby  my  own 
views  might  be  made  known.  There  is  one :  the  recent 
attempt  of  our  erring  brethren,  as  they  are  sometimes  called 
^laughter],  to  employ  the  negro  to  fight  for  them.  I  have 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  7G3 

neither  written  nor  made  a  speech  upon  that  subject,  because 
that  was  their  business  and  not  mine ;  and  if  I  had  a  wish 
upon  the  subject,  I  had  not  the  power  to  introduce  it  or  make  it 
effective. 

The  great  question  with  them  was,  whether  the  negro,  being 
put  into  the  army,  will  fight  for  them.  I  do  not  know,  and, 
therefore  can  not  decide.  [Laughter.]  They  ought  to  know 
better  than  we,  and  do  know.  I  have  in  my  life-time  heard 
many  arguments  why  the  negro  ought  to  be  a  slave  ;  but  if 
they  fight  for  those  who  would  keep  them  in  slavery  it  will  be 
a  better  argument  than  any  I  have  yet  heard.  He  who  will 
fight  for  that  ought  to  be  a  slave.  [Applause].  They  have 
concluded,  at  last,  to  take  one  out  of  four  of  the  slaves  and  put 
him  in  the  army ;  and  that  one  out  of  the  four,  who  will  fight 
to  keep  the  others  in  slavery,  ought  to  be  a  slave  himself, 
unless  he  is  killed  in  a  fight.  While  I  have  often  said  that  all 
men  ought  to  be  free,  yet  I  would  allow  those  colored  persons 
to  be  slaves  who  want  to  be  ;  and,  next  to  them,  those  white 
men  who  argue  in  favor  of  making  other  people  slaves.  I  am. 
in  favor  of  giving  an  opportunity  to  such  white  men  to  try  ife 
for  themselves.  [Applause.] 

I  will  say  one  thing  with  regard  to  the  negro  being  employed 
to  fight  for  them  that  I  do  know.  I  know  he  can  not  fight 
and  stay  at  home  and  make  bread  too.  [Laughter  and  ap 
plause.]  And  as  one  is  about  as  important  as  the  other  to 
them,  1  don't  care  which  they  do.  I  am  rather  in  favor  of 
having  them  try  them  as  soldiers.  They  lack  one  vote  of  doing 
that,  and  I  wish  I  could  send  my  vote  over  the  river,  so  that 
I  might  cast  it  in  favor  of  allowing  the  negro  to  fight.  [Ap 
plause.]  But  they  can  not  fight  and  work  both.  We  must 
now  see  the  bottom  of  the  enemy's  resources.  They  will  stand 
out  as.  long  as  they  can,  and  if  the  negro  will  fight  for  them, 
they  must  allow  him  to  fight.  They  have  drawn  upon  their 
last  branch  of  resources,  and  we  can  now  see  the  bottom. 
[Applause].  I  am  glad  to  see  the  end  so  near  at  hand.  [Ap 
plause.]  1  have  said  now  more  than  I  intended  to,  and  will 
therefore  bid  you  good-by. 

Partly  to  break  away  from  the  throngs  at  the  White  House, 
and  to  recuperate  his  strength,  but  perhaps  still  more  from  the 
impulse  which  had  several  times  before  induced  him  to  visit 
the  army  at  important  crises,  Mr.  Lincoln  determined  to 
pass  some  time  at  the  headquarters  of  Gen.  Grant,  at  Peters 
burg.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  his  presence  with 
the  army  in  the  field,  was  not,  in  this  or  any  other  instance, 


764  LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

for  the  purpose  of  assuming  any  supervision  of  military  affairs. 
He  found  a  relief  in  an  interchange  of  views  \vith  the  com 
manding  general,  perhaps  often  not  without  profit  to  the  latter, 
and  a  satisfaction  in  gaining  such  an  exact  knowledge  of  affairs 
as  could  only  be  obtained  on  the  ground.  More  hopeful  of  an 
early  consummation  of  decisive  results  than  at  any  previous 
hour,  his  mind  was  now,  in  spite  of  all  distracting  influences, 
intently  fixed  on  the  chief  work  of  disarming  treason  and  end 
ing  the  deplorable  work  of  war. 

It  was  a  period  of  joyous  hope  to  the  whole  country,  now 
eagerly  watching  the  culmination  of  a  series  of  widelv-extended, 
but  harmonious  movements.  From  New  Orleans,  and  from 
points  above,  on  the  Mississippi  river,  expeditions  were  pen 
etrating  the  Gulf  States  eastward — partly  cavalry  raids,  and 
partly  detachments  for  the  occupation  of  State  capitals  or  other 
prominent  towns  in  the  great  cotton  region.  Sherman,  having 
already  overrun  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas,  was  uniting  with 
the  armies  of  Schofield  and  Terry,  at  Goldsboro,  N.  C.,  and 
preparing  to  occupy  Raleigh,  as  well  as  to  envelop  and  crush 
the  army  of  Johnston.  Sheridan's  cavalry  force  was  sweeping 
down  from  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  by  Charlottsville,  thoroughly 
breaking  the  Virginia  Central  Railroad,  destroying  the  James 
river  canal,  isolating  Lynchburg,  and  cutting  off  all  com 
munications  further  west,  as,  while  moving  down  upon  Rich 
mond,  creating  universal  panic  there,  as  he  passed  around  to 
join  Grant  and  Meade.  Ord's  army  was  holding  its  advance 
line,  in  the  positions  so  gallantly  carried  at  Fort  Harrison  and 
Chapin's  Farm,  months  before. 

The  army  under  Gen.  Meade,  which  had  constantly  occupied 
Lee,  giving  his  forces  no  release  through  the  winter,  while  all 
the  remoter  and  more  active  operations  were  going  forward, 
and  while  events  were  rapidly  sweeping  on  to  a  central  consum 
mation,  was  now  ready  to  strike  the  final  blows  for  which  it 
had  awaited  the  fitting  time.  From  the  moment  that  Grant 
assumed  the  general  control,  the  enemy  had  had  no  moment's 
respite.  Neither  summer's  heat,  nor  winter's  cold;  neither 
drenching  rains,  nor  "  horrible"  roads;  neither  insufficiency  of 
supplies,  uor  the  want  of  re-enforcements  j  neither  heavy  losses, 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  765 

nor  temporary  disappointments  ;  no  difficulty,  no  hazard,  no 
subterfuge  had  prevented  the  irresistible  onward  tread  and 
ceaseless  pressure  of  our  glorious  legions  upon  the  chief  armies 
and  the  vital  centers  of  the  rebellion.  For  once,  Mr.  Lincoln's 
purpose  had  been  fairly  carried  out.  The  Rebels  had  been 
given  no  coveted  season  for  recuperation.  The  damage  in 
flicted,  they  were  allowed  no  leisure  to  repair.  And  thus  the 
end  was  at  hand. 

President  Lincoln  was  present  at  the  memorable  interview 
at  Gen.  Grant's  Headquarters,  at  City  Point,  on  the  evening  of 
the  27th  of  March,  when  the  final  movements  in  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina  were  arranged.  Generals  Meade,  Sherman, 
She.'idan  and  Ord  were  among  the  leading  commanders  who 
participated  in  this  conference.  The  terms  to  be  made  with 
the  enemy,  when  decisively  conquered,  were,  it  may  be  pre 
sumed,  incidentally  considered,  and  Mr.  Lincoln's  policy,  as 
definitely  announced  in  the  dispatch  of  Gen.  Grant,  of  the  3d 
of  March,  already  given,  was  left  in  full  force.  The  military 
commanders  were  given  no  authority  in  making  peace  or  estab 
lishing  a  basis  of  State  re-organization,  beyond  the  mere  act  of 
disarming  and  disbanding  the  Rebel  forces.  In  regard  to  the 
conditions  of  surrender,  a  liberal  course  was  deemed  advisable, 
as  may  be  inferred  from  the  subsequent  action  of  Gen.  Grant. 

It  is  not  even  alleged  by  Gen.  Sherman,  whose  subsequent 
action  was  inconsistent  with  that  of  Gen.  Grant,  and  with  Mr. 
Lincoln's  order  of  March  3d,  that  any  authority  was  delegated 
to  the  military  commanders,  at  this  interview,  or  any  other 
time,  to  enter  into  negotiations  for  peace.  When  examined 
before  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  AYar,  he  explains 
his  action  in  at  first  recognizing .  the  Rebel  State  government 
of  North  Carolina,  by  stating  that  President  Lincoln  encour 
aged  him  to  a  similar  course  with  the  Governor  of  Georgia, 
when  he  (Sherman)  was  at  Atlanta.  He  says  he  had  "  never 
received  one  word  of  instruction,  advice  or  counsel,  as  to  the 
plan  or  policy  of  the  Government,  looking  to  a  restoration  of 
peace  on  the  part  of  the  Rebel  States  of  the  South."  In 
another  part  of  his  testimony,  however,  while  still  conceding 
that,  at  the  time  of  his  armistice  with  Johnston,  he  "  did  not 


766  LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN 

know  what  the  views  of  the  Administration  were"  in  regard 
to  "  reconstruction,"  he  says  :  "  Mr.  Lincoln,  up  to  that  time, 
in  letters  and  by  telegrams  to  me,  encouraged  me,  by  all  the 
words  which  could  be  used  in  general  terms,  to  believe,  not  only 
in  his  willingness,  but  in  his  desire  that  I  should  make  terms 
with  civil  authorities,  Governors  and  Legislatures,  even  as  far 
back  as  1863."  It  is,  therefore,  plainly  inferable  that  this 
subject  was  not  formally  discussed  at  the  conference  of  the 
27th  of  March.  That  no  authority  on  these  matters  was  dele 
gated  by  the  President  to  the  military  commanders,  is  thus 
apparent  from  Gen.  Sherman's  testimony.  It  is  obvious  that 
the  views  which  might  have  been  entertained  by  Mr.  Lincoln  in 
regard  to  the  terms  to  be  made  with  Gov.  Brown,  of  Georgia, 
in  order  to  detach  him  from  the  Rebellion,  at  the  particular 
juncture  named,  might  well  be  different  from  those  he  would 
contemplate  after  another  long  period  of  active  warfare,  and 
the  Rebel  armies  were  surrendered  from  necessity,  and  not  by 
voluntary  submission.  But  from  what  is  otherwise  known  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  policy  on  this  subject,  it  may  be  fairly  presumed 
that  Gen.  Sherman  was  under  a  misapprehension,  in  suppos 
ing  that  under  any  circumstances  the  Rebel  State  government 
of  Georgia  would  have  been  recognized  as  legitimate. 

This  conference  with  the  Generals  was  not  a  protracted  one, 
for  they  had  important  work  in  hand.  Sherman  was  back  at 
Goldsboro  on  the  30th,  and  the  combined  forces  under  his 
command  were  soon  in  readiness  to  move  against  Johnston, 
whose  army,  much  inferior  in  numbers,  was  concentrated  about 
Smithfield,  on  the  Neuso  river,  nearly  half  way  to  Raleigh. 
Sherman,  however,  awaited  the  result  of  the  impending  move 
ment  of  Meade's  forces  against  Lee. 

Gen.  Sheridan's  cavalry,  consisting  of  the  First  and  Third 
Divisions,  under  the  immediate  command  of  Gen.  Merritt, 
having  marched  from  Winchester,  cut  all  Lee's  communica 
tions  westward,  effectually  destroying  his  most  important 
medium  for  transporting  supplies — the  James  River  Canal — 
crossed  the  James  at  Jones'  Landing,  on  the  26th  of  March, 
and  went  into  camp  at  Hancock's  Station,  near  Petersburg,  on 
the  27th.  The  Second  Cavalry  Division,  under  Gen.  Crook, 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  767 

now  reported  to  Sheridan,  who  was  under  the  immediate  com 
mand  of  Grant,  increasing  his  force  to  an  aggregate  of  9,000. 
McKenzie's  division  of  the  Army  of  the  James,  1,000  strong, 
reported  to  him  on  the  1st  of  April.  On  the  29th,  Sheridan 
moved  out  by  way  of  Reams'  Station,  and  thence  across  Row- 
anty  Creek,  to  Dinwiddie  Court  House,  where  his  main  force 
encamped  for  the  night.  On  the  morning  of  the  30th,  the 
First  Division,  under  Gen.  Devin,  was  sent  to  gain  possession 
of  the  Five  Forks,  on  the  White  Oak  road.  The  enemy  was 
discovered,  by  reconnoissance,  to  be  in  strong  force  near  this 
vicinity,  and  heavy  skirmishing  occurred  before  nightfall. 
On  the  81st,  the  advance  of  the  First  Division  reached  the 
Five  Forks,  after  serious  opposition.  In  the  mean  time,  the 
Second  and  Fifth  Corps  (respectively  commanded  by  Gen 
erals  Humphreys  and  Warren),  by  direction  of  Gen.  Grant, 
crossed  Hatcher's  Run  on  the  29th.  On  the  30th,  both  corps 
further  advanced,  with  some  unimportant  fighting,  pressing 
the  enemy's  lines.  On  the  31st,  Gen.  Ayres'  Division  was  sent 
by  Warren  to  dislodge  the  enemy  on  the  White  Oak  road. 
Ayres  was  repulsed  and  driven  back  upon  Crawford,  whose 
division  in  turn  broke,  and  both  retreated  in  some  confusion 
to  the  position  occupied  by  Griffin.  The  enemy  then  ceased 
pursuit,  and  rapidly  turned  upon  Sheridan  at  Five  Forks  and 
Dinwiddie  Court  House,  and  threatened  a  movement  in  flank 
and  rear  upon  the  lines  of  Humphreys  and  Warren.  A  severe 
battle  followed,  in  which  the  enemy's  entire  cavalry  force  and 
two  divisions  of  infantry  were  kept  in  check  by  Sheridan's 
cavalry.  During  the  night,  Warren's  corps  was  ordered  by 
Gen.  Grant  to  report  to  Sheridan,  whose  headquarters  were 
now  at  Dinwiddie  Court  House. 

On  the  1st  of  April  occurred  the  brilliant  action  at  the  Five 
Forks,  in  which  the  cavalry  and  the  Fifth  Corps,  Sheridan 
commanding  the  combined  forces,  achieved  an  important  vic 
tory.  The  enemy  was  driven  back  by  the  cavalry  to  the  Five 
Forks,  and  forced  within  his  works,  while  a  feint  was  made  of 
turning  his  right — the  real  purpose  being  to  get  between  this 
force  and  Petersburg^  and  to  cut  off  retreat.  The  design  was 
well  carried  out?  infantry  and  cavalry  moving  vigorously  to 


768  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

their  work,  and  fighting  with  valor,  under  the  inspiring  pres 
ence  of  a  popular  commander.  The  enemy  at  length  fled  in 
disorder,  his  artillery  was  captured,  and  over  5,000  prisoners 
were  taken.  The  fugitives  were  pursued  for  six  miles  by  cav 
alry,  being  driven  westward. 

Meanwhile,  the  Sixth  and  Nin'h  Corps,  under  Generala 
Wright  and  Parke,  had  remained  in  front  of  Petersburg. 
After  consultation  with  Gen.  Grant,  on  the  1st  of  April,  Gen. 
Meade,  believing  that  the  enemy's  forces  before  Petersburg 
had  been  much  reduced  to  meet  the  operations  on  the  left, 
ordered  an  attack  by  the  Sixth  and  Ninth  Corps  on  the  lines 
in  their  front,  at  four  o'clock  the  following  morning.  Mean 
while  the  soldiers  were  jubilant  over  the  news  received  the 
same  evening,  of  the  victory  at  the  Five  Forks.  The  Sixth 
Corps  attacked  at  the  hour  appointed,  driving  the  enemy  at 
all  points,  and  capturing  his  strong  works,  with  many  guns 
and  prisoners.  After  reaching  the  Boydton  plank  road,  Gen. 
Wright  turned  to  the  left,  sweeping  down  the  Rebel  line  of 
mtrenchments  nearly  to  Hatcher's  Bun,  where  he  met  the 
Twenty-fourth  Corps  (two  divisions),  under  Gen.  Gibbon, 
which  had  come  in  on  the  left.  Wright  then  returned  by  the 
plank  road  toward  Petersburg,  where  he  met  the  enemy  in  an 
inner  line  of  works  immediately  around  the  city.  He  deployed 
his  corps  in  front  of  these  works,  and  was  joined  by  the 
Twenty-fourth  and  part  of  the  Second  Corps.  Gen.  Parke 
also  attacked  the  works  in  his  front,  at  four  o'clock  on  the 
same  Sunday  morning,  and  carried  the  first  line,  capturing  guns 
and  prisoners  ;  but  was  unable  to  carry  the  remaining  works'. 
At  three  o'clock,  the  enemy  had  disappeared  from  the  front  of 
Wright  and  Parke,  and,  on  advancing,  they  found  Petersburg 
evacuated.  Gen.  Wilcox's  division,  of  the  Ninth  Corps  was 
left  to  occupy  Petersburg,  and  the  Sixth  Corps,  with  portions 
of  the  Second  and  Ninth,  at  once  moved  up  the  Appomattox 
river,  reaching  Sutherland's  Station  the  same  evening. 

Sunday,  the  2d  of  April,  was  a  memorable  day  for  Richmond 
and  the  Rebellion.  As  the  people  of  that  city  went  to  church 
in  the  morning,  they  knew  that  during  the  last  two  or  three 
days  there  had  been  fighting  on.  Lee's  right,  and  among  their 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  769 

impressions  of  the  result,  that  of  a  defeat  of  Meade's  Fifth 
Corps  was  the  most  vivid.  Not  even  Jefferson  Davis  or  GOT. 
Smith,  though  better  informed,  had  any  thought,  on  that  morn 
ing-  that  the  last  day  of  their  power  in  Richmond  had  come. 
Davis  was  quietly  seated  in  his  pew.  Prayers  had  been  said. 
The  reverend  pastor  had  begun  his  discourse.  Presently  the 
sexton,  moving  softly  up  the  aisle,  put  a  telegraphic  dispatch 
in  the  hand  of  the  "Confederate  President."  That  functionary 
rose,  and,  followed  by  many  inquiring  but  not  startled  eyes, 
stalked  out  of  the  sanctuary.  The  discourse  \verit  on  to  the 
end,  and  the  concluding  exercises,  even  to  the  collection,  wero 
not  omitted.  The  news  was  then  broken  to  the  minister,  and 
speedily  spread  among  his  flock.  The  lines  before  Petersburg 
had  been  broken  through  by  Grant's  whole  army,  and  Lee  had 
apprised  his  superior  that  Richmond  must  bo  evacuated.  Davis 
and  his  chief  associates  moved  away  that  night  toward  Danville. 
On  the  following  morning,  Gen.  "Weitzel's  colored  troops,  of 
the  Army  of  the  James,  entered  the  city,  which  was  now 
wrapped  in  flames  kindled  by  Rebel  hands.  Despite  the  efforts 
of  the  soldiers  to  extinguish  the  conflagration,  an  ^important 
portion  of  the  city  was  destroyed. 

President  Lincoln,  who  was  awaiting  at  City  Point  the 
results  of  the  movement  commenced  on  the  29th  of  March, 
transmitted,  successively,  the  following  dispatches  to  Secretary 
Stanton : 

CITY  POINT,  VA.,  April  2—8.30  A.  M. 
Hon.  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of   War  : 

Last  night  Gen.  Grant  telegraphed  that  Gen.  Sheridan,  with 
his  cavalry,  and  the  Fifth  Corps,  had  captured  three  brigades 
of  infantry,  a  train  of  wagons,  and  several  batteries — prisoners 
amounting  to  several  thousand.  This  morning,  Gen.  Grant, 
having  ordered  an  attack  along  the  whole  line,  telegraphs  as 
follows : 

"  Both  Wright  and  Parke  got  through  the  enemy's  lines. 
The  battle  now  rages  furiously.  Gen.  Sheridan,  with  his  cav* 
airy,  the  Fifth  Corps,  and  Miles'  division  of  the  Second  Corps, 
which  was  sent  to  him  since  one  o'clock  this  morning,  is  now- 
sweeping  down  from  the  west." 

All  now  looks  highly  favorable.  Gen.  Ord  is  engaged,  but 
I  have  not  yet  heard  the  result  in  his  front, 

A.  LINCOLN. 
49 


770 


LIFE    OF  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


CITY  POINT,  VA.,  April  2,  1865—11  A.  M. 
Hon.  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War : 

Dispatches  frequently  coming  in.  All  going-  finely.  Parke, 
Wright  and  Ord,  extending  from  the  Appomattox  to  Hatcher's 
Run,  have  all  broken  through  the  enemy's  intrenched  lines, 
taking  some  forts,  guns  and  prisoners. 

Sheridan,  with  his  own  cavalry,  Fifth  Corps  and  part  of  the 
Second,  is  coming  in  from  the  west  on  the  enemy's  flank,  and 
Wright  is  already  tearing  up  the  Southside  railroad. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

CITY  POINT,  VA.,  April  2,  1865—2  P.  M. 
Hon.  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of   War: 

At  10.45  A.  M.,  Gen.  Grant  telegraphs  as  follows: 
"  Everything  has  been  carried  from  the  left  of  the  Ninth 
Corps.  The  Sixth  Corps  alone  captured  more  than  3,000  pris 
oners.  The  Second  and  Twenty-fourth  Corps,  both  captured 
forts,  guns  and  prisoners  from  the  enemy,  but  I  can  not  tell  the 
numbers.  We  are  now  closing  around  the  works  of  the  line 
immediately  enveloping  Petersburg.  All  looks  remarkably 
well.  I  have  not  yet  heard  from  Sheridan." 

His  headquarters  have  been  moved  up  to  T.  Banks'  house 
near  the  Boydtou  road,  about  three  miles  south-west  of 
Petersburg.  A.  LINCOLN. 

Later  in  the  day,  the  President  telegraphed — sending  some 
further  details  from  Gen.  Grant : 

All  seems  well  with  us,  and  everything  quiet  just  now. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

The  news  of  the  evacuation  of  Petersburg,  and  soon  after,  of 
the  occupation  of  Richmond  by  Union  troops,  was  received  at 
Washington  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  April.  Expectation 
had  been  excited  by  the  cheering  dispatches  of  the  previous 
day,  and  the  decisive  intelligence  was  not  a  surprise ;  yet  never 
before  was  there  witnessed  at  the  National  Capital  any  scene 
to  be  compared  with  the  present  spontaneous  manifestations  of 
joy.  The  streets  were  speedily  filled;  everybody  was  abroad, 
business  was  suspended,  flags  waved  on  every  side,  bands  played 
national  airs,  batteries  thundered  in  token  of  the  universal 
delight.  Processions  visited  the  War  Department.  Vice 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  771 

President  Johnson,  Secretary  Seward,  Secretary  Stanton,  and 
other  public  men,  made  speeches  in  answer  to  the  calls  of  many 
thousands  of  jubilant  listeners,  A  deep  feeling  of  religious 
gratitude  seemed  to  move  the  hearts  of  all  speakers  and  all 
listeners,  underlying  all  the  superficial  demonstrations  of  popu 
lar  gladness.  It  was  not  the  mere  exultation  of  triumph  over 
a  fallen  foe.  In  those  ever-memorable  hours,  there  was  a 
gentle  spirit  of  clemency  diffused  among  the  people,  such  as 
had  but  now  become  consciously  present.  To  the  colored  race, 
the  "jubilee  "  appeared  indeed  to  have  come — an  hour  earn 
estly  longed  for,  and  now  welcomed  with  childlike  exhilaration. 

Similar  was  the  reception  of  the  news  in  all  the  great  cities, 
and  throughout  the  loyal  portion  of  the  land.  Even  those  who 
least  sympathized  with  the  Government,  found  cause  for  grati 
fication  in  the  immediate  prospect  of  peace.  The  joy  was  truly 
universal. 

While  the  people  were  rejoicing  over  the  capture  of  Rich 
mond,  Gen.  Grant  and  the  armies  with  him  were  eagerly 
endeavoring  to  make  an  end  of  the  army  of  Lee,  without  which 
the  work  was  incomplete.  Anticipating  the  prompt  retreat  of 
the  enemy  from  Richmond,  Grant  did  not  wait  for  "  official 
information "  that  he  was  gone,  but  threw  his  men  at  once 
westward  toward  Burkesville,  moving  with  great  celerity,  in 
order  to  intercept  his  retiring  march.  Sheridan,  with  the  Fifth 
Corps,  led  the  van.  His  cavalry  pursued  the  forces  retreating 
from  Petersburg,  routing  the  Rebel  cavalry  and  taking  many 
prisoners,  on  the  3d  of  April.  During  the  two  following  days 
Grant's  entire  force,  except  those  left  in  garrison  at  Petersburg, 
and  the  Ninth  Corps,  guarding  the  Southside  railroad,  was 
moving  along  the  river  and  Namozine  roads,  the  Second  and 
Sixth  Corps  following  after  the  Fifth,  which  was  preceded  by 
the  cavalry. 

On  the  4th,  learning  from  scouts  that  a  body  of  the  enemy 
was  at  Amelia  Court  House,  a  concentration  at  that  point  being 
probable,  Sheridan  ordered  Crook's  cavalry  division  to  strike 
the  Danville  railroad  between  Jettersville  and  Burke's  Sta 
tion,  advancing  toward  the  former  place.  The  Fifth  Corps 
moved  rapidly  up  to  that  point,  and  the  fact  was  soon  settled 


772  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

that  Lee,  with  his  whole  army,  was  there,  his  retreat  to  Burkes- 
Yille  Junction  having  thus  been  intercepted.  He  now  endeav 
ored  to  strike  across  the  country  by  way  of  Deatonsville  to 
Farmville,  on  the  Lynchburg  road.  The  cavalry  and  the  Sixth 
and  Second  Corps  encountered  Swell's  corps  at  Sailor's  creek, 
on  the  6th,  surrounded  it,  and  captured  nearly  all  the  force, 
including  Ewell  and  other  general  officers.  On  the  7th,  the 
Fifth  Corps  was  moved  to  the  left,  toward  Prince  Edward's 
Court  House,  south-west  of  Farmville.  The  Second  Corps 
continued  the  direct  pursuit,  coming  up  with  the  enemy  at 
High  Bridge,  across  the  Appomattox,  capturing  eighteen  of 
his  guns.  Gen.  Barlow's  division  advanced  to  the  left,  found 
the  enemy  evacuating  Farmville,  and  hastened  his  movement 
by  attacking  the  place. 

Pursuit  was  continued  on  the  8th,  by  the  Lynchburg  stage 
road,  and  on  the  following  day  at  noon,  the  advance  of  the 
Second  Corps  came  up  with  the  enemy,  three  miles  from  Appo 
mattox  Court  House.  Meanwhile,  Gen.  Sheridan's  cavalry 
had  succeeded  in  getting  beyond  that  point,  oh  the  8th,  and 
having  reported  the  situation,  with  an  urgent  request  for  infan 
try  support,  the  Fifth  and  Twenty-Fourth  Corps,  with  one 
division  of  the  Twenty-Fifth,  arrived  in  position  on  the  Lynch 
burg  side  of  the  enemy,  who  was  now  surrounded. 

Gen.  Grant,  in  the  meantime,  had  sent  the  following  note  to 
the  Rebel  General-in-Chief,  there  being  "  no  relaxation  in  the 
pursuit :" 

April  7th,  1865. 
Gen.  R.  E.  Lee,  Commanding  C.  S.  A.  : 

GENERAL  :  The  result  of  the  last  week  must  convince  you 
of  the  hopelessness  of  further  resistance  on  the  part  of  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia  in  this  struggle.  I  feel  that  it  is 
so,  and  regard  it  as  my  duty  to  shift  from  myself  the  responsi 
bility  of  any  further  effusion  of  blood,  by  asking  of  you  the 
surrender  of  that  portion  of  the  Confederate  army  known  as 
.the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General, 

Commanding  Armies  United  States. 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  773 

To  this  the  subjoined  reply  was  received : 

April  7,  1865. 

To  Lieut.-  Gen.  U.  S.  Grant,  Commanding  Armies  of  the  United 

Slates: 

GENERAL  :  I  have  received  your  note  of  this  date.  Though 
not  entirely  of  the  opinion  you  express  of  the  hopelessness  of 
the  further  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia,  I  reciprocate  your  desire  to  avoid  useless  effusion  of 
blood,  and,  therefore,  considering  your  proposition,  ask  the 
terms  you  will  offer  on  condition  of  its  surrender. 

R.  E.  LEE,  General. 

The  remainder  of  this  memorable  correspondence  is  as  fol 
lows- 

GEN.  GRANT   TO   GEN.    LEE. 

April  8,  1865. 
Gen.  R.  E.  Lee,  Commanding  C.  S.  A. : 

GENERAL  :  Your  note  of  last  evening,  in  reply  to  mine  of 
game  date,  asking  conditions  on  which  I  will  accept  the  sur 
render  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  is  just  received. 
In  reply,  I  would  say  that  peace  being  my  first  desire,  there  is 
but  one  condition  I  insist  upon,  viz.  : 

That  the  men  surrendered  shall  be  disqualified  for  taking  up 
arms  against  tke  Government  of  the  United  States  until  prop 
erly  exchanged.  I  will  meet  you,  or  designate  officers  to  meet 
any  officers  you  may  name  for  the  same  purpose,  at  any  point 
agreeable  to  you,  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  definitely  the 
terms  upon  which  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  will  be  received. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General. 

GEN.  LEE   TO   GEN.   GRANT. 

April  8, 1865. 

GENERAL  :  I  received  at  a  late  hour  your  note  of  to-day,  in 
answer  to  mine  of  yesterday.  I  did  not  intend  to  propose  the 
surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  but  to  ask  the 
terms  of  your  proposition.  To  be  frank,  I  do  not  think  the 
emergency  has  arisen  to  call  for  the  surrender  of  this  army, 
but  as  the  restoration  of  peace  should  be  the  sole  object  of  all, 
I  desire  to  know  whether  your  proposals  would  tend  to  tha.t 
end.  I  can  not,  therefore,  meet  you  with  a  view  to  surrender 
the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia ;  but  as  far  as  your  proposi- 


774  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

tion  may  affect  the   Confederate  States  forces  under  my  com 
mand,  and  tend  to  the  restoration  of  peace,  I  should  be  pleased 
to  meet  you  at  10  A.  M.  to-morrow,  on  the  old  stage  road  to 
Richmond,  between  the  picket  lines  of  the  two  armies. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

R.  E.  LEE,  General, 

Confederate  States  Army. 
Lieut.-Gen.  U.  S.  GRANT,  Commanding  United  States  Armies. 

GEN.  GRANT  TO   GEN.  LEE. 

April  9,  1865. 
Gen.  R.  E.  Lee,  Commanding  C.  S.  A.  : 

GENERAL  :  Your  note  of  yesterday  is  received.  As  I  have 
no  authority  to  treat  on  the  subject  of  peace,  the  meeting  pro 
posed  for  10  A.  M.  to-day  could  lead  to  no  good.  I  will  state, 
however,  General,  that  I  am  equally  anxious  for  peace  with 
yourself,  and  the  whole  North  entertains  the  same  feeling. 
The  terms  upon  which  peace  can  be  had  are  well  understood. 
By  the  South  laying  down  their  arms  they  will  hasten  that 
desirable  event,  save  thousands  of  human  lives;  and  hundreds 
of  millions  of  property  not  yet  destroyed. 

Sincerely  hoping  that  all  our  difficulties  may  be  settled  with 
out  the  loss  of  another  life,  I  subscribe  myself,  very  respect- 
fully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General. 

GEN.  LEE   TO   GEN.  GRANT. 

April  9,  1865. 

GENERAL  :  I  received  your  note  of  this  morning  on  the 
picket  line,  whither  I  had  come  to  meet  you,  and  ascertain 
definitely  what  terms  were  embraced  in  your  proposition  of 
yesterday.  With  reference  to  the  surrender  of  this  army,  I 
now  request  an  interview,  in  accordance  with  the  offer  con 
tained  in  your  letter  of  yesterday  for  that  purpose. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

R.  E.  LEE,  General. 

Lieut.-Gen.  U.  S.  GRANT,  Commanding  United  States  Armies. 

GEN.  GRANT  TO  GEN.  LEE. 

April  9,  1865. 
Gen.  R.  E.  Lee,  Commanding  Confederate  States  Army  : 

Your  note  of  this  date  is  but  this  moment,  11.50  A.  M., 
received,  in  consequence  of  my  having  passed  from  the  Rich- 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  775 

mond  and  Lynchburg  road  to  the  Farmville  and  Lynchburg 
road.  I  am  at  this  writing  about  four  miles  west  of  Walter's 
Church,  and  will  push  forward  to  the  front  for  the  purpose  of 
meeting  you.  Notice  sent  to  me  on  the  road  where  you  wish 
the  interview  to  take  place  will  meet  me. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General. 

TERMS   PROPOSED   BY   GEN.  GRANT. 

APPOMATTOX  C.  H.,  April  9,  1865. 
Gen.  R.  E.  Lee,  Commanding  C.  S.  A.: 

In  accordance  with  the  substance  of  my  letter  to  you  of  the 
8th  inst.,  I  propose  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  on  the  following  terms,  to  wit : 

Rolls  of  all  the  officers  and  men  to  be  made  in  duplicate ; 
one  copy  to  be  given  to  an  officer  to  be  designated  by  me,  the 
other  to  be  retained  by  such  officer  or  officers  as  you  may 
designate.  The  officers  to  give  their  individual  paroles  not  to 
take  arms  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States  until 
properly  exchanged,  and  each  company  or  regimental  com 
mander  to  sign  a  like  parole  for  the  men  of  their  commands. 
The  arms,  artillery,  and  public  property  to  be  packed  and 
stacked,  and  turned  over  to  the  officers  appointed  by  me  to 
receive  them.  This  will  not  embrace  the  side  arms  of  the 
officers,  nor  their  private  horses  or  baggage.  This  done,  each 
officer  and  man  will  be  allowed  to  return  to  their  homes,  not 
to  be  disturbed  by  United  States  authority  so  long  as  they 
observe  their  parole  and  the  laws  in  force  where  they  may 
reside. 

Very  respectfully, 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant-General. 

GEN.  LEE'S  ACCEPTANCE  OF  THE  TERMS. 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA,  | 

April  9,  1865.  j 
Lieut.-Gen.  U.  S.  Grant,  Commanding  United  States  Armies: 

GENERAL  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  this  date,  con 
taining  the  terms  of  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia,  as  proposed  by  you.  As  they  are  substantially  the  same 
as  those  expressed  in  your  letter  of  the  8th  inst.,  they  are 
accepted.  I  will  proceed  to  designate  the  proper  officers  to 
carry  the  stipulations  into  effect. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

R.  E.  LEE,  General. 


776  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

The  intelligence  of  Lee's  surrender  put  the  seal  of  certainty 
on  what  was  confidently  hoped  the  week  before.  The  main 
army  of  the  rebellion,  the  only  one  that  had  successfully 
resisted  the  advance  of  our  forces  for  any  long  period,  was  now 
disarmed  and  disbanded.  All  other  insurgent  forces  must 
quickly  succumb.  PEACE  was  at  last  secured.  Enthusiastic 
exhibitions  of  glad  emotion  were  renewed,  with  even  greater 
earnestness,  and  with  a  thankfulness  more  devout,  than  on  tho 
fall  of  the  Rebel  capital. 

On  the  4th  of  April,  the  day  after  Gen.  Weitzel  entered 
Richmond,  President  Lincoln  visited  that  city.  On  arriving, 
he  proceeded  at  once  to  the  headquarters  of  the  commanding 
general,  which  happened  to  be  the  late  residence  of  Jefferson 
Davis.  The  appearance  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  Richmond  might 
well  excite  universal  attention  and  remark.  He  walked  from 
the  landing  to  headquarters — not  a  little  distance — with  but 
few  attendants.  Nor  was  his  presence  unknown,  as  he  passed 
along  the  streets,  for  crowds  came  out  to  see  him.  By  a  por 
tion  of  the  residents,  he  was  received  with  enthusiasm — by  the 
negroes  universally  with  their  customary  manifestations  of 
uncontrollable  emotion.  He  received  calls  of  respect  from 
many  army  officers  and  Richmond  citizens,  holding  a  sort  of 
levee  in  the  parlor  of  the  late  Rebel  Executive.  Subsequently, 
he  rode  through  the  city,  looking  at  the  burnt  district,  the 
Libby  prison,  and  other  objects  of  special  interest.  At  night 
he  slept  on  board  one  of  the  gunboats  lying  in  the  James.  On 
the  4th,  and  again  on  the  5th,  he  had  protracted  interviews 
with  Gen.  Weitzel,  and  also  with  Judge  Campbell,  formerly  a 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  recently 
Assistant  Secretary  of  War  to  Jefferson  Davis.  The  Ex- Judge 
had  been  one  of  the  Rebel  conferees  at  Hampton  Roads,  and 
was  now  more  anxious  than  ever  about  terms  of  peace  and 
re-organization.  It  was  finally  understood  that  Gen.  Weitzel 
should  permit  the  assembling  of  a  number  of  the  leading  men 
of  Virginia,  to  consult  as  to  the  re-establishment  of  a  State 
government.  It  was  manifestly  not  agreed  to  by  Mr.  Lincoln, 
however,  that  the  Pierpoint  government  or  the  Alexandria 
free  constitution  should  be  set  aside,  and  much  less  that  Wil« 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  777 

liam  Smith  and  the  Rebel  State  Legislature  should   be  recog 
nized. 

•On  the  5th,  the  President  returned  to  City  Point.  On  tho 
same  day,  Mrs.  Lincoln,  accompanied  by  Attorney-General 
Speed,  Senator  Harlan,  and  other  friends,  left  Washington  to 
join  him.  Tho  two  following  days  were  occupied  in  visiting 
Petersburg,  the  scenes  of  military  operations  in  the  vicinity, 
and  other  interesting  localities.  Mr.  Lincoln,  meanwhile,  was 
occasionally  receiving  dispatches  from  Gen.  Grant,  whose  head 
quarters  were  now  at  Burkesville,  announcing  the  progress  of 
military  events.  These  dispatches  were  in  turn  transmitted  to 
the  Secretary  of  War — the  last  one,  announcing  the  brilliant 
victory  at  Sailor's  Creek,  having  been  sent  from  City  Point 
on  the  morning  of  April  7th. 

Mr.  Lincoln  passed  most  of  the  day,  on  the  8th  of  April,  in 
visiting  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  in  hospital  at  City 
Point.  He  said  to  the  Medical  Director  that  he  had  come  to 
see  the  boys  who  had  fought  the  battles  of  the  country,  and 
particularly  the  battles  which  resulted  in  the  evacuation  of 
Richmond.  He  expressed  his  desire  to  take  these  men  by  the 
hand,  as  it  would  probably  be  his  last  opportunity  of  meeting 
them.  Though  his  will  was  good  to  see  them  in  Washington, 
on  their  return  from  the  war  homeward,  it  would  be  impossible 
for  him  to  meet  so  many  of  them  again.  The  Medical  Direc 
tor  had  at  first  proposed  some  particular  places  for  the  Presi 
dent  to  visit,  and  was  surprised  to  learn  the  extent  and  impar 
tiality  of  his  intentions.  Mr.  Lincoln  devoted  the  entire  day 
to  shaking  hands  with  over  six  thousand  soldiers,  many  of 
them  fresh  from  the  fields  of  battle,  and  to  giving  them  such 
words  of  cheer  and  sympathy,  as  the  circumstances  from  timo 
to  time  suggested.  "It  was,"  says  one  who  visited  the  hospi 
tal  the  same  day,  "  like  the  visit  of  a  father  to  his  children, 
and  was  appreciated  in  the  same  kindly  spirit  by  the  soldiers. 
They  loved  to  talk  of  his  kindness  and  unaffected  manner,  and 
to  dwell  upon  the  various  incidents  of  this  visit,  as  a  green  spot 
in  the  soldier's  hard  life.  Atone  point  in  his  visit  he  observed 
an  ax,  which  he  picked  up  and  examined,  and  made  some 
pleasant  remark  about  his  having  once  been  considered  a  good 


778  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

chopper.  He  was  invited  to  try  his  hand  upon  a  log  of  wood 
lying  near,  from  which  he  made  the  chips  fly  in  primitive  style. 
The  « boys  '  seemed  to  worship  him  ;  and  the  visit  of  the  Pre 
sident  to  City  Point  Hospital  will  long  be  remembered  by 
many  a  soldier  who  was  only  too  happy  in  its  enjoyment." 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day — Saturday,  April  8th — the 
fate  of  Lee's  army  not  being  yet  definitely  known  to  him,  but 
its  capture  a  well  assured  result,  Mr.  Lincoln  embarked  on 
his  way  back  to  Washington,  with  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  accom 
panying  friends.  During  the  voyage,  he  was  at  times  occupied 
in  reading  the  tragedy  of  Macbeth,  a  favorite  drama  in  which 
he  seemed  now  to  take  an  unusual  interest.  Some  passages 
he  read  aloud  to  the  friends  near  him,  adding  remarks  on  the 
peculiar  beauties  that  most  impressed  his  mind.  He  dwelt 
particularly  on  the  following  lines,  which  he  read  with  feeling, 
and  again  read,  giving  emphasis  to  his  admiration  : 

"  Duncan  is  in  his  grave, 
After  life's  fitful  fever  he  sleeps  well ; 
Treason  has  done  his  worst ;  nor  steel,  nor  poison, 
Malice  domestic,  foreign  levy,  nothing 
Can  touch  him  further." 

President  Lincoln,  almost  on  the  first  occupation  of  Rich 
mond,  had  visited  the  city — amid  many  anxious  misgivings  of 
his  friends — but  slightly  guarded,  for  two  days  appearing  more 
or  less  in  the  streets  where  his  name  had  so  lately  been  rarely 
mentioned  except  in  scorn  or  hate.  He  was  now  returning 
homeward  unharmed,  gliding  quietly  along  the  Potomac,  sur 
rounded  only  by  friends.  Did  a  thought  of  coming  danger 
visit  him?  To  many  hearts  it  was  a  relief  to  know  that  he 
had  safely  reached  the  White  House,  on  Sunday  evening,  hav 
ing  witnessed  the  triumph  of  weary  years  of  war.  Late  at 
night  came  the  tidings  which  gladdened  the  land,  and  which 
on  the  morrow  was  to  open  again — more  widely  if  possible, 
than  on  the  preceding  Monday — the  floodgates  of  gladness. 
Lee  had  surrendered. 

On  the  10th  of  April,  the  country  was  jubilant  with  the 
glad  tidings.  The  streets  of  the  national  capital  again  over 
flowed  with  enthusiastic  crowds,  Reverberations  of  cannon 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  779 

were  heard  in  city,  town,  and  hamlet  throughout  the  land. 
Millions  of  flags  were  dancing  to  the  movements  of  the  winds. 
Te  Deum  was  sung  in  New  York,  and  thanksgiving  notes  of 
"  peace  on  earth,  good-will  to  men,"  in  audible  strain,  or  in 
the  silent  rhythm  of  the  heart,  swelled  in  one  grand  harmony 
through  all  the  nation.  A  day  which  none  now  living  can 
ever  forget :  a  day  which  future  generations  will  think  of,  bu 
never  adequately  imagine. 

An  unnumbered  throng  gathered  before  the  White  House, 
while  cannon  were  resounding,  and  bands  playing,  and 
voices  spontaneously  joining  in  choral  accompaniment.  Mr. 
Lincoln,  in  response  to  the  calls  of  the  besieging  multitude, 
appeared  at  the  window  above  the  main  entrance,  amid 
excited  demonstrations  of  affectionate  respect.  Declining  at 
this  moment  to  make  any  extended  speech,  he  only  said : 

I  am  very  greatly  rejoiced  that  an  occasion  has  occurred  so 
pleasurable  that  the  people  can't  restrain  themselves.  I  sup 
pose  that  arrangements  are  being  made  for  some  sort  of  formal 
demonstration,  perhaps  this  evening  or  to-morrow  night.  If 
there  should  be  such  a  demonstration  I,  of  course,  shall  have 
to  respond  to  it,  and  I  shall  have  nothing  to  say  if  I  dribble 
it  out  before.  [Laughter  and  cries  of  "  We  want  to  hear  you 
now,"  etc.]  I  see  you  have  a  band.  [Voices,  "  We  have 
three  of  them."]  I  propose  now  closing  up  by  requesting 
you  to  play  a  certain  air,  or  tune.  I  have  always  thought 
"  Dixie  "  one  of  the  best  tunes  I  ever  heard.  [Laughter.] 

I  have  heard  that  our  adversaries  over  the  way  have 
attempted  to  appropriate  it  as  a  national  air.  I  insisted  yes 
terday  that  we  had  fairly  captured  it.  I  presented  the  ques 
tion  to  the  Attorney  General,  and  he  gave  his  opinion  that  it 
is  our  lawful  prize.  [Laughter  and  cheers.]  I  ask  the  band 
to  give  us  a  good  turn  upon  it. 

"  Dixie  "  was  played  with  a  vigor  suited  to  the  temper  of 
the  people,  Mr.  Lincoln  still  remaining  at  the  window.  As  the 
music  ceased,  he  proposed  "  three  good,  rousing,  hearty  cheers 
for  Lieut. -Gen.  Grant  and  all  under  his  command,"  which 
were  given.  He  then  called  for  "  three  more  cheers  for  our 
gallant  navy,"  which  were  no  less  energetically  given.  Tho 
President  then  bowed  and  retired. 


780  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Considerable  numbers  were  assembled  in  front  of  the  Execix* 
live  Mansion  at  several  times  during  the  day.  After  five 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  he  again  appeared  at  the  window,  in 
answer  to  repeated  calls  of  a  large  crowd,  and  made  the  follow 
ing  speech  : 

MY  FRIENDS  :  I  am  informed  that  you  have  assembled 
here  this  afternoon  under  the  impression  that  I  had  made  an 
appointment  to  speak  at  this  time.  This  is  a  mistake.  I  have 
made  no  such  appointment.  More  or  less  persons  have  been 
gathered  here  at  different  times  during  the  day,  and  in  the 
exuberance  of  their  feeling,  and  for  all  of  which  they  are 
greatly  justified,  calling  upon  me  to  say  something,  and  I  have, 
from  time  to  time,  been  sending  out  what  I  supposed  was 
proper  to  disperse  them  for  the  present.  [Laughter  and 
applause.] 

I  said  to  a  larger  audience  this  morning  which  I  desire  now 
to  repeat.  It  is  this :  That  I  supposed  in  consequence  of 
the  glorious  news  we  have  been  receiving  lately,  there  is  to  be 
some  general  demonstration,  either  on  this  or  to-morrow  even 
ing,  when  I  will  be  expected,  1  presume, -to  say  something. 
Just  here,  I  will  remark,  that  1  would  much  prefer  having 
this  demonstration  take  place  to-morrow  evening,  as  I  would 
then  be  much  better  prepared  to  say  what  I  have  to  say  than 
I  am  now  or  can  be  this  evening. 

I  therefore  say  to  you  that  I  shall  be  quite  willing,  and  I 
hope  ready,  to  say  something  then ;  whereas  just  now  I  am 
not  ready  to  say  anything  that  one  in  my  position  ought  to 
say.  Everything  I  say,  you  know,  goes  into  print.  [Laugh 
ter  and  applause].  If  I  make  a  mistake  it  doesn't  merely 
affect  me,  or  you,  but  the  country.  I,  therefore,  ought  at 
least  try  not  to  make  mistakes. 

If,  then,  a  general  demonstration  be  made  to-morrow  even 
ing,  and  it  is  agreeable,  I  will  endeavor  to  say  something,  and 
not  make  a  mistake,  without  at  least  trying  carefully  to  avoid 
it.  [Laughter  and  applause].  Thanking  you  for  the  complr 
ment  of  this  call,  I  bid  you  good  evening. 

On  the  evening  of  Tuesday,  April  llth,  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
serenaded ;  and  the  general  expectation  of  a  somewhat  elab 
orate  speech,  giving  a  definite  foreshadowing  of  his  future 
policy  in  regard  to  the  Rebel  States,  attracted  a  very  largo 
gathering  of  the  people.  The  remarks  he  designed  to  make 
on  this  occasion  were  carefully  written  out,  and  will  be  ever 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  781 

memorable  as  the  final  words  of  political  counsel  which  he  haa 
left  as  a  legacy  to  his  country. 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  LAST  SPEECH. 

We  meet  this  evening  not  in  sorrow,  but  in  gladness  of  'Aeart. 
The  evacuation  of  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  and  the  surren 
der  of  the  principal  insurgent  army,  give  hope  of  a  righteous  and 
speedy  peace,  whose  joyous  expression  can  not  be  restrained. 
In  the  midst  of  this,  however,  He  from  whom  all  blessings  flow 
must  not  be  forgotten.  A  call  for  a  national  thanksgiving  is 
being  prepared,  and  will  be  duly  promulgated.  Nor  must  those 
whose  harder  part  gives  us  the  cause  of  rejoicing  be  overlooked. 
Their  honors  must  not  be  parceled  out  with  others.  I  myself 
was  near  the  front,  and  had  the  high  pleasure  of  transmitting 
much  of  the  good  news  to  you;  but  no  part  of  the  honor,  for 
plan  or  execution,  is  mine.  To  Gen.  Grant,  his  skillful  officers 
and  brave  men,  all  belongs.  The  gallant  navy  stood  ready,  but 
was  not  in  reach  to  take  active  part. 

By  these  recent  successes,  the  re-inauguration  of  the  national 
authority,  reconstruction,  which  has  had  a  large  share  of  thought 
from  the  first,  is  pressed  much  more  closely  upon  our  attention. 
It  is  fraught  with  great  difficulty.  Unlike  the  case  of  a  war 
between  independent  nations,  there  is  no  authorized  organ  for 
us  to  treat  with.  No  one  man  has  authority  to  give  up  the 
rebellion  for  any  other  man.  We  simply  must  begin  with  and 
mold  from  disorganized  and  discordant  elements.  Nor  is  it  a 
small  additionarembarrassment  that  we,  the  loyal  people,  differ 
among  ourselves  as  to  the  mode,  manner  and  means  of  recon 
struction. 

As  a  general  rule,  I  abstain  from  reading  the  reports  of 
attacks  upon  myself,  wishing  not  to  be  provoked  by  that  to 
which  I  can  not  properly  offer  an  answer.  In  spite  of  this 
precaution,  however,  it  comes  to  my  knowledge  that  I  am  much 
censured  from  some  supposed  agency  in  setting  up  and  seeking 
to  sustain  the  new  State  Government  of  Louisiana.  In  this  I 
have  done  just  so  much  as,  and  no  more  than,  the  public  knows. 
In  the  annual  message  of  December,  1863,  and  accompanying 
proclamation,  I  presented  a  plan  of  reconstruction  (as  the 
phrase  goes),  which  I  promised,  if  adopted  by  any  State,  should 
be  acceptable  to,  and  sustained  by,  the  Executive  Government 
of  the  nation.  I  distinctly  stated  that  this  was  not  the  only 
plan  which  might  possibly  be  acceptable  ;  and  I  also  distinctly 
protested  that  the  Executive  claimed  no  right  to  say  when  or 
whether  members  should  be  admitted  to  seats  in  Congress  from 
such  States.  This  plan  was,  in  advance,  submitted  to  the  then 


782  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN, 

Cabinet,  and  distinctly  approved  by  every  member  of  it.  One 
of  them  suggested  that  I  should  then,  and  in  that  connec 
tion,  apply  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  to  the  theretofore 
excepted  parts  of  Virginia  and  Louisiana  ;  that  I  should  drop 
the  suggestion  about  apprenticeship  for  freed  people,  and  that 
I  should  omit  the  protest  against  my  own  power,  in  regard  to 
the  admission  of  members  of  Congress,  but  even  he  approved 
every  part  and  parcel  of  the  plan  which  has  since  been  employed 
or  touched  by  the  action  of  Louisiana. 

The  new  Constitution  of  Louisiana,  declaring  emancipation 
for  the  whole  State,  practically  applies  the  proclamation  to  the 
part  previously  excepted.  It  does  not  adopt  apprenticeship  for 
freed  people,  and  it  is  silent,  as  it  could  not  well  be  otherwise, 
about  the  admission  of  members  to  Congress.  So  that,  as  it 
applies  to  Louisiana,  every  member  of  the  Cabinet  fully  approved 
the  plan.  The  message  went  to  Congress,  and  I  received  many 
commendations  of  the  plan,  written  and  verbal ;  and  not  a  sin 
gle  objection  to  it,  from  any  professed  emancipationist,  came  to 
my  knowledge,  until  after  the  news  reached  Washington  that 
the  people  of  Louisiana  had  begun  to  move  in  accordance  with 
it  From  about  July,  1862,  I  had  corresponded  with  diiferent 
persons,  supposed  to  be  interested,  seeking  a  reconstruction  of 
a  State  government  for  Louisiana.  When  the  message  of  1863, 
with  the  plan  before  mentioned,  reached  New  Orleans,  Gen. 
Banks  wrote  me  he  was  confident  that  the  people,  with  his  mil 
itary  co-operation,  would  reconstruct  substantially  on  that 
plan.  I  wrote  him,  and  some  of  them,  to  try  it.  They  tried 
it,  and  the  result  is  known.  Such  only  has  been  my  agency  in 
getting  up  the  Louisiana  government.  As  to  sustaining  it,  my 
promise  is  out,  as  before  stated.  But,  as  bad  promises  are 
better  broken  than  kept,  I  shall  treat  this  as  a  bad  promise, 
and  break  it,  whenever  I  shall  be  convinced  that  keeping  it  is 
adverse  to  the  public  interest.  But  I  have  not  yet  been  so  con 
vinced. 

I  have  been  shown  a  letter  on  this  subject,  supposed  to  be  an 
able  one,  in  which  the  writer  expresses  regret  that  my  mind 
has  not  seemed  to  be  definitely  fixed  on  the  question  whether 
the  seceded  States,  so-called,  are  in  the  Union  or  out  of  it. 
It  would,  perhaps,  add  astonishment  to  his  regret  were  he  to 
learn  that,  since  I  have  found  professed  Union  men  endeavor 
ing  to  make  that  question,  I  have  purposely  forborne  any  public 
expression  upon  it.  As  appears  to  me,  that  question  has  not 
been,  nor  yet  is,  a  practically  material  one,  and  that  any  dis 
cussion  of  it,  while  it  thus  remains  practically  immaterial,  could 
have  no  effect  other  than  the  mischievous  one  of  dividing  our 
friends.  As  yet,  whatever  it  may  hereafter  become,  that  ques- 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  783 

tion  is  bad,  as  the  basis  of  a  controversy,  and  good  for  nothing 
at  all — a  merely  pernicious  abstraction.  We  all  agree  that  the 
Feceded  States,  so-called,  are  out  of  their  proper  practical 
relation  with  the  Union,  and  that  the  sole  object  of  the  Govern 
ment,  civil  and  military,  in  regard  to  those  States,  is  to  again 
get  them  into  that  proper  practical  relation.  I  believe  it  is 
not  only  possible,  but  in  fact  easier  to  do  this  without  deciding, 
or  even  considering,  whether  these  States  have  ever  been  out 
of  the  Union,  than  with  it.  Finding  themselves  safely  at  home, 
it  would  be  utterly  immaterial  whether  they  had  ever  been 
abroad.  Let  us  all  join  in  doing  the  acts  necessary  to  restor 
ing  the  proper  practical  relations  between  these  States  and  the 
Union,  and  each  forever  after  innocently  indulge  his  own 
opinion  whether,  in  doing  the  acts,  he  brought  the  States  from 
without  into  the  Union,  or  only  gave  them  proper  assistance, 
they  never  having  been  out  of  it. 

The  amount  of  constituency,  so  to  speak,  on  which  the  new 
Louisiana  government  rests,  would  be  more  satisfactory  to  all 
if  it  contained  fifty,  thirty,  or  even  twenty  thousand,  instead 
of  only  about  twelve  thousand,  as  it  really  does.  It  is  also 
unsatisfactory  to  some  that  the  elective  franchise  is  not  given 
to  the  colored  man.  I  would  myself  prefer  that  it  were  now 
conferred  on  the  very  intelligent,  and  those  who  serve  our 
cause  as  soldiers.  Still  the  question  is  not  whether  the  Lou- 
isiana  government,  as  it  stands,  is  quite  all  that  is  desirable. 
The  question  is  "  Will  it  be  wiser,  to  take  it  as  it  is,  and  help 
to  improve  it,  or  to  reject  and  disperse  it?"  "Can  Louisiana  be 
brought  into  proper  practical  relation  with  the  Union  sooner  by 
sustaining  or  by  discarding  her  new  State  government  ?" 

Some  twelve  thousand  voters,  in  the  heretofore  slave  State 
of  Louisiana,  have  sworn  allegiance  to  the  Union,  assumed  to 
be  the  rightful  political  power  of  the  State,  held  elections, 
organized  a  State  government,  adopted  a  free  State  constitution, 
giving  the  benefit  of  public  schools  equally  to  black  and  white, 
and  empowering  the  Legislature  to  confer  the  elective  fran 
chise  upon  the  colored  man.  Their  legislature  has  already 
voted  to  ratify  the  constitutional  amendment  recently  passed 
by  Congress,  abolishing  slavery  throughout  the  nation.  These 
twelve  thousand  persons  are  thus  fully  committed  to  the  Union, 
and  to  perpetual  freedom  in  the  States — committed  to  the 
very  things  and  nearly  all  the  things  the  nation  wants — and 
they  ask  the  nation's  recognition  and  its  assistance  to  make 
good  that  committal.  Now,  if  we  reject  and  spurn  them,  we 
do  our  utmost  to  disorganize  and  disperse  them.  We,  in  effect, 
gay  to  the  white  men,  "  You  are  worthless,  or  worse,  we  will 
neither  help  you,  nor  be  helped  by  you."  To  the  blacks  we 


784  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

say,  "  This  cup  of  Liberty  which  these,  your  old  masters,  hold 
to  your  lips,  we  will  dash  from  you,  and  leave  you  to  the 
chances  of  gathering  the  spilled  and  scattered  contents  in  some 
vague  and  undefined  when,  where  and  how."  If  this  course, 
discouraging  and  paralyzing  both  white  and  black,  has  any 
tendency  to  bring  Louisiana  into  proper  practical  relations  with 
the  Union,  I  have,  so  far,  been  unable  to  perceive  it.  If,  on 
the  contrary,  we  recognize  and  sustain  the  new  government  of 
Louisiana,  the  converse  of  all  this  is  made  true. 

We  encourags  the  hearts  and  nerve  the  arms  of  the  twelve 
thousand  to  adhere  to  their  work,  and  argue  for  it,  and  prose 
lyte  for  it,  and  fight  for  it,  and  feed  it,  and  grow  it,  and  ripen 
it  to  a  complete  success.  The  colored  man,  too,  seeing  all 
united  for  him,  is  inspired  with  vigilance,  and  energy,  and 
daring  to  the  same  end.  Grant  that  he  desires  the  elec 
tive  franchise,  will  he  not  attain  it  sooner  by  saving  the 
already  advanced  steps  towards  it,  than  by  running  backward 
over  them  ?  Concede  that  the  new  government  of  Louisiana 
is  only  to  what  it  should  be  as  the  egg  is  to  the  fowl,  we  shall 
sooner  have  the  fowl  by  hatching  the  egg  than  by  smashing  it. 
^Laughter].  Again,  if  we  reject  Louisiana,  we  also  reject  one 
vote  in  favor  of  the  proposed  amendment  to  the  National  Con 
stitution.  To  meet  this  proposition,  it  has  been  argued  that  no 
more  than  three-fourths  of  those  States,  which  have  not 
attempted  secession,  are  necessary  to  validly  ratify  the  amend 
ment.  I  do  not  commit  myself  against  this,  further  than  to 
say  that  such  a  ratification  would  be  questionable,  and  sure  to 
be  persistently  questioned,  while  a  ratification  by  three-fourths 
of  all  the  States  would  be  unquestioned  and  unquestionable. 

I  repeat  the  question.  "  Can  Louisiana  be  brought  into 
proper  practical  relation  with  the  Union  sooner  by  sustaining 
or  by  discarding  her  new  State  government?"  What  has  been 
said  of  Louisiana  will  apply  generally  to  other  States.  And 
yet  so  great  peculiarities  pertain  to  each  State,  and  such 
important  and  sudden  changes  occur  in  the  same  State,  and, 
withal,  so  new  and  unprecedented  is  the  whole  case,  that  no 
exclusive  and  inflexible  plan  can  safely  be  prescribed  as  to 
details  and  collaterals.  Such  exclusive  and  inflexible  plan 
would  surely  become  a  new  entanglement.  Important  princi 
ples  may,  and  must,  be  inflexible. 

In  the  present  situation,  as  the  phrase  goes,  it  may  be  my 
duty  to  make  some  new  announcement  to  the  people  of  the 
South.  I  am  considering,  and  shall  not  fail  to  act,  when 
satisfied  that  action  will  be  proper. 

The  change  in  the  domestic  situation,  rendered  it  expedient  to 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  785 

take  new  ground  in  regard  to  the  concession  of  belligerent  rights 
to  the  Rebels,  made  by  certain  foreign  powers.  The  following 
proclamation — issued  at  this  time — speedily  accomplished  its 
purpose  of  utterly  outrooting  this  international  heresy : 

BY    THE    PRESIDENT  OF   THE   UNITED  STATES   OF   AMERICA — A 
PROCLAMATION. 

WHEREAS,  for  some  time  past,  vessels  of  war  of  the  United 
States  have  been  refused,  in  certain  foreign  ports,  privileges 
and  immunities  to  which  they  were  entitled  by  treaty,  public 
law  or  the  comity  of  nations,  at  the  same  time  that  vessels  of 
war  of  the  country  wherein  the  said  privileges  and  immunities 
have  been  withheld,  have  enjoyed  them  fully  and  uninterrupt 
edly  in  ports  of  the  United  States ;  which  condition  of  things 
has  not  always  been  forcibly  resisted  by  the  United  States, 
although,  on  the  other  hand,  they  have  not,  at  any  time,  failed 
to  protest  against  and  declare  their  dissatisfaction  with  the 
same.  In  the  view  of  the  United  States,  no  condition  any 
longer  exists  which  can  be  claimed  to  justify  the  denial  to 
them,  by  any  one  of  such  nations,  of  customary  naval  rights, 
as  has  heretofore  been  so  unnecessarily  persisted  in. 

Now,  therefore,  I,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  President  of  the 
United  States,  do  hereby  make  known  that,  if,  after  a  reason 
able  time  shall  have  elapsed  for  intelligence  of  this  proclama 
tion  to  have  reached  any  foreign  country  in  whose  ports  the 
said  privileges  and  immunities  shall  have  been  refused,  as 
aforesaid,  they  shall  continue  to  be  so  refused,  then  and  hence 
forth  the  same  privileges  and  immunities  shall  be  refused  to 
the  vessels  of  war  of  that  country  in  the  ports  of  the  United 
States,  and  this  refusal  shall  continue  until  the  war  vessels  of 
the  United  States  shall  have  been  placed  upon  an  entire  equal 
ity,  in  the  foreign  ports  aforesaid,  with  similar  vessels  of  other 
countries,  the  United  States,  whatever  claim  or  pretence  may 
have  existed  heretofore,  are  now,  at  least,  entitled  to  claim  and 
concede  an  entire  and  friendly  equality  of  rights  and  hospi 
talities  with  all  maritime  nations. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  have 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  eleventh  day  of  April, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty- 
five,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  Amer 
ica  the  eighty-ninth.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

By  the  President : 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 
50 


786  LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

The  following  statement  of  Senator  Sumner,  in  regard  to 
President  Lincoln's  earlier  views  and  actions  on  this  question, 
with  a  citation  of  the  striking  terms  used  by  him  in  relation 
thereto,  has  an  abiding  interest: 

The  President  saw  the  painful  consequences  of  this  con 
cession,  and  especially  that  it  was  a  first  step  toward  the 
acknowledgment  of  Rebel  slavery  as  an  independent  power. 
Clearly,  if  it  were  proper  for  a  foreign  power  to  acknowledge 
belligerency,  it  might,  at  a  later  stage,  be  proper  to  acknowl 
edge  independence ;  and  any  objection  vital  to  independence 
would,  if  applicable,  be  equally  vital  to  belligerency.  Sol 
emn  resolutions  by  Congress  on  this  subject  were  communi 
cated  to  foreign  powers,  but  the  unanswerable  argument  against 
any  possible  recognition  of  a  new  power  founded  on  slavery — 
whether  as  independent  or  as  belligerent — was  stated  by  the 
President,  in  a  paper  which  I  now  hold  in  my  hand,  and  which 
has  never  before  seen  the  light.  It  is  a  copy  of  a  resolution 
drawn  by  himself,  which  he  gave  to  me,  in  his  own  autograph, 
for  transmission  to  one  of  our  valued  friends  abroad,  as  an 
expression  of  his  opinion  on  the  great  question  involved,  and 
a  guide  to  public  duty.  It  is  in  these  words : 

"WHEREAS,  While  heretofore  states  and  nations  have  tole 
rated  slavery,  recently,  for  the  first  [time]  in  the  world,  an 
attempt  has  been  made  to  construct  a  new  nation  upon  the 
basis  of  human  slavery,  and  with  the  primary  and  funda 
mental  object  to  maintain,  enlarge  and  perpetuate  the  same ; 
therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  no  such  embryo  state  should  ever  be  recog 
nized  by,  or  admitted  into,  the  family  of  Christian  and  civilized 
nations ;  and  that  all  Christian  and  civilized  men  everywhere 
should,  by  all  lawful  means,  resist,  to  the  utmost,  such  recog 
nition  or  admission." 

On  the  llth  day  of  April,  also,  the  President  issued  a  proc 
lamation  closing  certain  ports  of  entry,  in  accordance  with  an  act 
of  Congress,  approved  July  13,  1861,  "  further  to  provide  for 
the  collection  of  duties  on  imports  and  for  other  purposes," 
and  recognizing  the  fact  that  the  blockade  had  been  condition 
ally  set  aside  or  relaxed,  "  in  consequence  of  actual  military 
occupation  by  this  Government,"  at  Norfolk  and  Alexandria, 
Virginia ;  Beaufort,  North  Carolina ;  Port  Royal,  South  Caro 
lina  ;  Pensacola  and  Fernandina,  Florida,  and  New  Orleans, 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  787 

Louisiana.      The  body  of  the  proclamation,  relating  to  the 
closing  of  Southern  ports  of  entry,  is  in  the  following  words : 

"  Now,  therefore,  be  it  known  that  I,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 
President  of  the  United  States,  do  hereby  proclaim  that  the 
ports  of  Richmond,  Tappahannock,  Cherrystone,  Yorktown 
and  Petersburg,  in  Virginia;  of  Camden  (Elizabeth  City), 
Edenton,  Plymouth,  Washington,  Newberne,  Ocracoke  and 
Wilmington,  in  North  Carolina;  of  Charleston,  Georgetown 
and  Beaufort,  in  South  Carolina  ;  of  Savannah,  St.  Marys  and 
Brunswick  (Darien),  in  Georgia ;  of  Mobile,  in  Alabama ;  of 
Pearl  River  (Shieldsborough),  Natchez  and  Vicksburg,  in 
Mississippi ,  of  St.  Augustine,  Key  West,  St.  Marks  (Port 
Leon),  St.  Johns  (Jacksonville)  and  Apalachicola,  in  Florida; 
of  Teche  (Franklin),  in  Louisina;  of  Galveston,  La  Salle, 
Brazos  de  Santiago  (Point  Isabel)  and  Brownsville,  in  Texas, 
are  hereby  closed,  and  all  right  of  importation,  warehousing 
and  other  privileges  shall,  in  respect  to  the  ports  aforesaid, 
cease  until  they  shall  have  again  been  opened  by  order  of  the 
President;  and  if,  while  said  ports  are  so  closed,  any  ship  or 
vessel  from  beyond  the  United  States,  or  having  on  board  any 
article  subject  to  duties,  shall  attempt  to  enter  any  such  port, 
the  same,  together  with  its  tackle,  apparel,  furniture  and  cargo, 
shall  be  forfeited  to  the  United  States, 

President  Lincoln  had  made  repeated  demands  upon  Great 
Britain  for  indemnity  for  losses  to  our  citizens  from  the  dep 
redations  of  the  Alabama,  and  other  cruisers  constructed  and 
equipped  in  English  ports  since  the  commencement  of  the 
war.  Though  refused  by  the  British  Government,  Mr.  Lin 
coln  never  relinquished  the  demand.  It  was  specially  renewed 
at  this  time,  with  a  manifest  determination  to  press  the  matter 
to  a  favorable  determination. 

On  the  llth  of  April,  Lynchburg  was  surrendered  to  a  scout 
ing  party  from  Griffin's  division  of  the  Fifth  Army  Corps,  and 
McKenzie's  brigade  of  cavalry  was  ordered  to  occupy  the  place. 
Gen.  Sherman  was  now  moving  on  Raleigh,  with  little  opposi 
tion,  Johnston  falling  back  before  him.  This  advance  was 
commenced  by  order  of  Gen.  Grant,  from  Burkesville,  with 
the  apparent  object  of  preventing  a  junction  between  John 
ston  and  Lee,  should  the  latter  succeed  in  escaping  Sheridan 
and  getting  off  toward  Danville.  Sherman  occupied  Raleigh 


788  LIFE   Or    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 

on  the  13th.  Gen.  Canby  captured  Mobile  on  the  following 
day.  Gen.  Wilson,  having  taken  Selma,  was  raiding  through 
Alabama  and  Georgia  at  will.  Everywhere  our  arms  were  tri 
umphant,  and  each  Rebel  army — it  was  now  certain — must 
speedily  follow  the  example  of  that  in  Virginia,  under  the 
Rebel  General-in-Chief.  President  Lincoln  accordingly  deter 
mined  on  an  immediate  reduction  of  the  military  force  in  the 
field,  as  announced  in  the  following  dispatch : 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON,  ) 
April  13,  1865—6  P.  M.     j 
Maj-Gen.  Dix,  New  York: 

The  Department,  after  mature  consideration  and  consulta 
tion  with  the  Lieutenant-General  upon  the  results  of  the 
recent  campaign,  has  come  to  the  following  determination, 
which  will  be  carried  into  effect  by  appropriate  orders,  to  bo 
issued  immediately: 

1.  To  stop  all  drafting  and  recruiting. 

2.  To  curtail  purchases  for  arms,  ammunition,  Quartermas 
ter  and  Commissary  supplies,  and  reduce  the  expense  of  the 
military  establishment  in  its  several  branches. 

3.  To  reduce  the  number  of  general  and  staff  officers  to  the 
actual  necessities  of  the  service. 

4.  To  remove  all  military  restrictions  upon  trade  and  com 
merce,  so  far  as  it  may  be  consistent  with  public  safety. 

As  soon  as  these  measures  can  be  put  in  operation,  it  will  bo 
made  known  by  public  order. 

EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 
Secretary  of  War 

In  the  evening  of  the  13th,  the  city  of  Washington  was 
brilliantly  illuminated,  in  honor  of  the  great  victories  achieved, 
and  in  recognition  of  the  near  approach  of  peace. 

On  the  14th  day  of  April,  at  the  regular  meeting  of  the 
Cabinet,  the  mode  of  dealing  with  the  Rebel  States  and  people 
was  discussed  at  some  length.  President  Lincoln  expressed 
himself  decidedly  in  favor  of  lenient  measures  -with  the  great 
mass  of  the  offenders,  and  found,  it  is  understood,  no  discord- 
,ant  opinion  in  his  council.  The  re-organization  of  the  revolted 
States  was  determined  upon  substantially  in  accordance  with 
the  principles  heretofore-  acted  on  in  Virginia,  Missouri  and 
.Louisiana — almost  the  identical  policy  since  carried  into  effect, 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  789 

The  order  of  Gen.  Weitzel,  at  Richmond,  practically  recogniz 
ing  the  disloyal  Virginia  Legislature,  and  William  Smith  as 
Governor  of  the  State,  was  revoked  by  the  President,  who  mani 
festly  can  not  have  intended  to  vest  any  authority  of  this  sort 
in  the  military  commander  at  Richmond,  or  to  annul  his  former 
recognition  of  the  Pierpoint  Government. 

On  the  same  day — the  cycle  of  war  having  now  revolved 
quite  around  to  its  starting  point — the  flag  hauled  down  from 
Fort  Sumter,  four  years  before,  was  again  run  up  by  the  hand 
of  Gen.  Robert  Anderson,  who  was  then  compelled  to  surren 
der  the  Fort  to  traitors ;  Henry  Ward  Beecher  represented 
New  England  ideas  in  the  city  of  Charleston;  and  William 
Lloyd  Garrison  spoke  there,  as  he  listed,  of  slavery. 

The  grand  sweep  of  events  since  the  4th  of  March — six 
swift  weeks — culminating  in  the  complete  downfall  of  the 
Rebellion,  the  unresisting  submission  of  the  traitors,  the 
re-occupation  and  possession  of  all  the  Government  forts,  the 
destruction  of  slavery,  and  the  restoration  of  peace,  had,  at 
length,  under  the  guidance  of  a  good  Providence,  crowned  the 
Administration  of  Abraham  Lincoln  with  immortal  honor. 
His  earnest  grapple  with  the  monster  treason,  that  struck  at 
the  nation's  life,  had  never  relaxed  until  the  work  was  done. 
It  only  remained  that  he  should  seal  the  great  result  with  the 
sacrifice  of  his  life. 


790  LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 


CHAPTERXI. 

Last  Days  of  Mr.  Lincoln. — His  Assassination. — Attack  on  Mr.  Sew- 
ard. — Remains  of  Mr.  Lincoln  lying  in  State. — Obsequies  at  Wash 
ington. — Removal  of  the  Remains  to  Springfield,  Illinois. — Demon 
stration  along  the  route. — Obsequies  at  Springfield. — The  Great 
Crime,  its  authors  and  abettors. — The  Assassin's  End. — The  Con 
spiracy. — Complicity  of  Jefferson  Davis. — How  assassins  were 
trained  to  their  work. — Tributes  and  Testimonials. — Mr.  Lincoln  as 
a  Lawyer. — Incidents  and  Reminiscences. — Additional  Speeches. — 
Letter  to  Gov.  Hahn,  on  Negro  Suffrage. — Letter  to  Mrs.  Gurney. — 
Letter  to  a  Widow  who  had  lost  five  Sons  in  the  War. — Letter  to  a 
Centenarian. — A  letter  written  in  early  life. — A  speech  made  in 
1839.— Letter  to  Mr.  Choate,  on  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.— Letter  to 
Dr.  Maclean,  on  receiving  the  Degree  of  LL.  D. — Letter  to  Gov. 
JFletcher,  of  Missouri,  on  the  restoration  of  order. — A  message  to 
the  Miners. — Speech  at  Independence  Hall  in  1861. — Concluding 
remarks. 

AFTER  years  of  weary  toil,  Mr.  Lincoln  seemed  now  to  be 
entering  on  a  period  of  comparative  repose.  The  first  step 
had  been  taken  for  putting  the  army  on  a  peace  footing.  A 
policy  had  been  matured  for  the  re-establishment  of  loyal  local 
governments  in  the  insurgent  States.  Forbearance,  clemency, 
charity  were  to  control  the  executive  action  in  dealing  with 
the  difficult  problems  still  awaiting  practical  solution.  After 
the  Cabinet  meeting  on  the  14th  of  April,*  the  President  was 
in  unusually  buoyant  spirits.  His  remaining  tasks  evidently 
seemed  lighter  than  ever  before.  His  gladsome  humor  was 
noticed  by  his  friends. 

As  he  went  on  an  afternoon  drive  with  Mrs.  Lincoln,  she 
could  not  forbear  an  expression  of  slight  foreboding,  suggested 

*At  a  Cabinet  meeting  at  which  General  Grant  was  present  to-day, 
the  subject  of  the  state  of  the  country  and  the  prospects  of  speedy 
peace  was  discussed.  The  President  was  very  cheerful  and  hopeful, 
epoke  very  kindly  of  General  Lee,  and  others  of  the  Confederacy,  and 
the  establishment  of  Government  ia  Virginia. — Secretary  Stantorft 
Dispalch,  April  Uth. 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  791 

by  this  change  of  manner :  "  It  was  thus  with  you,"  she  said,  "just 
before  our  dear  Willie's  death."  The  allusion  to  this  event, 
the  depressing  effects  of  which,  during  more  than  three  years, 
had  never  been  effaced,  cast  a  shadow  on  his  heart.  But  in  a 
moment  he  replied,  speaking  of  the  impossibility  of  accounting 
for  such  transitions  of  mood.  The  passing  thought  was  quickly 
gone,  to  be  recalled  only  by  subsequent  realities.  Mr.  Lincoln 
talked  of  the  future,  and  of  the  hopes  he  indulged  of  happier 
hours  during  his  second  term  than  he  had  been  permitted  to 
enjoy  during  that  which  was  passed — an  expectation  reasona 
bly  founded  on  the  altered  condition  of  national  affairs,  and 
on  the  assured  confidence  and  love  of  the  people,  which  would 
lighten  the  burdens  undertaken  on  their  behalf. 

Gen.  Grant  had  arrived  in  Washington  in  time  to  witness 
the  grand  illumination  of  the  previous  evening.  There  was  a 
general  desire  to  see  the  great  commander,  to  whom,  during 
the  war,  three  Rebel  armies  had  successively  surrendered,  and 
whose  leadership  had  at  length  brought  the  military  power  of 
the  rebellion  to  utter  ruin.  This  desire  had  not  been  gratified. 
On  the  evening  of  the  14th,  the  places  of  public  amusement 
were  to  be  specially  decorated  in  honor  of  the  great  victories 
achieved,  and  of  the  raising  over  Fort  Sumter  of  the  identical 
flag  pulled  down  on  that  day  four  years  before,  at  the  opening 
of  the  war.  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  had  been  wont  occasionally, 
though  seldom,  to  seek  a  brief  respite  from  his  heavy  cares  by 
attending  on  a  play,  or  an  opera,  thought  proper  to  engage  a 
private  box  at  Ford's  Theater,  for  this  evening,  intending  that 
Gen.  Grant  should  accompany  him  on  the  occasion.  A  mes 
senger  was  accordingly  sent  on  Friday  morning  to  secure  the 
upper  double  box,  on  the  right  hand  side  of  the  audience, 
before  occupied  by  him,  and  the  announcement  was  made  in 
the  evening  papers,  by  the  business  manager  of  the  theater, 
that  the  President  and  Gen.  Grant  would  be  present  to  witness 
the  performance  of  "  The  American  Cousin."  Gen.  Grant, 
however,  had  felt  compelled  to  leave  the  city  that  evening, 
going  north  with  his  family,  and  he  was  accordingly  excused. 

There  were  visitors  at  the  White  House  that  night  as  usual, 
and  it  was  somewhat  late  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  ready  to  leave. 


792  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    Li.NcOLN. 

Mrs.  Lincoln,  as  if  some  persentiment  restrained  her,  seemed 
reluctant  to  go,  but  the  President  was  unwilling  that  those  who 
had  seen  the  announcement  should  be  totally  disappointed  by 
seeing  neither  himself  nor  the  Lieutenant-General.  Speaker 
Colfax,  who  was  the  last  person  received  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  walked 
with  him  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  from  the  parlor  to  the  carriage.  Mr. 
Ashmun,  who  had  nearly  five  years  before  presided  over  the 
National  Convention,  which  first  nominated  Mr.  Lincoln  for  the 
Presidency,  came  up  at  this  moment,  having  hoped  to  obtain  an 
interview.  After  salutations,  a  card  was  handed  to  Mr.  Ashmun, 
written  by  the  President  as  he  sat  in  his  carriage,  directing  the 
usher  to  admit  that  gentleman  to  the  Executive  room  on  the  fol 
lowing  morning.  The  carriage  drove  away,  stopping  to  take  up 
two  young  friends  on  the  way — Maj.  Rathbone  and  Miss  Harris. 
It  was  not  yet  past  nine  when  the  party  reached  the  theater, 
which  was  densely  thronged.  As  President  Lincoln  entered 
and  passed  to  his  box  he  was  greeted  with  enthusiastic  cheering. 

"Mr.  Lincoln  occupied  a  chair  on  the  side  of  the  box  nearest 
the  audience,  Mrs.  Lincoln  sitting  next  him.  Their  guests 
were  seated  beyond,  in  a  portion  of  the  box  usually  separated 
by  a  partition,  which  had  been  removed  for  this  occasion. 
Each  part  was  ordinarily  entered  by  its  own  door,  opening 
from  a  narrow  passage,  to  which,  near  the  outer  wall,  a  door 
gives  access  from  the  dress  circle.  The  last  named  door  and 
the  further  one  inside  were  closed,  the  other,  through  which 
the  whole  party  passed,  remaining  open.  Any  intrusion  upon 
this  privacy,  in  the  presence  of  so  many  spectators,  was  hardly 
to  be  thought  of  as  possible.  Every  day  of  his  life  in  Wash 
ington,  the  President  had  been  in  positions  far  more  inviting 
to  murderous  malice  or  Rebel  conspiracy. 

During  the  hour  that  followed  Mr.  Lincoln's  entrance  into 
the  theater,  his  attention  seemed  to  be  unusually  absorbed  in 
the  scenes  before  him.  His  countenance  indicated  an  appre 
ciation  of  the  lively  caricature  in  which  the  good-humored 
audience  manifested  a.  high  degree  of  delight.  Yet  it  may 
safely  be  affirmed  that  there  was,  in  his  mind,  a  strong  under 
current  of  quite  other  thoughts  and  emotions  than  those  which 
had  to  do  with  this  mock  presentation  of  human  life  and  man- 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  793 

ners.     One  can  not  doubt,  knowing  his  mental  characteristics, ' 
that   while  partly    enjoying    this  light   diversion,   his   mind 
was  active  with  more  substantial  realities,  and  actually  most 
occupied  with  these,  when  apparently  most  intent  in  observing 
what  passed  on  the  stage. 

In  the  midst  of  a  scene  of  the  third  act,  when  but  one  actor 
was  before  the  curtain,  the  sound  of  a  pistol-shot  was  heard, 
and  a  man  leaped  from  the  President's  box  and  disappeared 
behind  the  scenes.  So  sudden  was  all  this,  that  only  the 
screams  of  Mrs.  Lincoln,  a  moment  later,  revealed  its  mean 
ing.  The  President  had  been  shot.  His  assassin  had  escaped. 
One  of  the  audience  promptly  sprang  upon  the  stage,  following 
the  fugitive,  but  was  only  in  time  to  see  him  mount  a  horse  at 
the  rear  of  the  theater,  and  ride  away  at  a  flying  speed.  Wild 
excitement  swayed  the  audience  now  toward  the  stage,  many 
leaping  over  the  foot-lights,  and  now  toward  the  door.  Atten 
tion  was  earnestly  directed,  on  the  next  instant,  to  the  condi 
tion  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  was  found  to  be  insensble,  having 
fallen  slightly  forward,  where  he  sat.  Presently  surgeons  were 
admitted  to  the  box,  and  soon  after  it  was  discovered  that  he 
had  been  shot  in  the  back  of  the  neck,  just  beneath  the  base 
of  the  brain,  in  which  the  ball  was  still  lodged — a  hopeless 
wound.  In  a  few  minutes  more  he  was  borne  from  the  theater 
to  a  private  house  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street. 

The  terrible  news  quickly  spread  through  the  city,  and  the 
streets  near  the  theater  were  thronged  with  distressed  and 
indignant  thousands,  anxious  for  a  word  as  to  the  President's 
condition,  that  would  give  encouragement  to  hope — eager  to 
know  who  was  the  author  of  this  monstrous  crime.  Almost 
simultaneously  came  the  intelligence  that  Secretary  Seward, 
who  had  been  lying  seriously  ill  for  many  days  past,  had  been 
brutally  stabbed  in  his  bed  by  a  ruffian,  who  had  wounded 
several  others  in  making  his  escape  from  the  house.  It  soon 

Became    known,  also,  that    Frederick  W.  Seward,  Assistant 

Secretary  of  State,  had  been   so  wounded,  by  the  same  hand, 

tint  his  recovery  was  very  doubtful. 

-n  the  room  to  which   Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  removed,  he 

remained,  still  breathing,  but  unconscious,  surrounded  by  his 


794  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

distracted  family — who  sometimes  retired  together  to  an  adjoin 
ing  room — by  his  Cabinet,  by  surgeons,  and  by  a  few  others, 
until  twenty-three  minutes  past  seven  o'clock,  on  the  morning 
of  April  15th,  when  his  great  heart  ceased  to  beat. 

Never  before  was  rejoicing  turned  into  such  sudden  and 
overwhelming  sorrow.  A  demon  studying  how  most  deeply  to 
wound  the  greatest  number  of  hearts,  could  have  devised  no  act 
for  his  purpose  like  that  which  sent  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  to  his 
grave.  No  man's  loss  could  have  been  so  universally  felt  as 
that  of  a  father,  brother,  friend.  Many  a  fireside  was  made 
doubly  lonely  by  this  bereavement.  "  Sadness  to  despondency 
Las  seized  on  all  " — says  a  private  letter  from  a  resident  of  one 
of  our  largest  cities,  written  on  the  fatal  day.  "Men  have 
ceased  business,  and  workmen  are  turning  home  with  their 
dinner  buckets  unopened.  The  merchants  are  leaving  their 
counting-rooms  for  the  privacy  of  their  dwellings.  A  gloom, 
intensified  by  the  transition  from  the  pomp  and  rejoicing  of 
yesterday,  settles  impenetrably  on  every  mind."  And  this  was 
but  a  picture  of  the  grief  everywhere  felt.  Bells  sadly  tolled 
in  all  parts  of  the  land.  Mourning  drapery  was  quickly  seen 
from  house  to  house  on  every  square  of  the  national  capital ; 
and  all  the  chief  places  of  the  country  witnessed,  by  spontane 
ous  demonstrations,  their  participation  in  the  general  sorrow. 
In  every  loyal  pulpit,  and  at  every  true  altar  throughout  tho 
nation,  the  great  public  grief  was  the  theme  of  earnest  prayer 
and  discourse,  on  the  day  following.  One  needs  not  to  dwell 
on  what  no  pen  can  describe,  and  on  what  no  adult  living  on 
that  day  can  ever  forget. 

During  the  night  of  Friday,  diligent  efforts  were  made  to 
discover  the  assassin,  and  to  secure  his  arrest.  It  was  early 
ascertained  that  J.  W.  Booth,  an  actor,  was  the  perpetrator  of 
the  crime,  and  that  he  had  probably  escaped  across  the  East 
Branch,  into  a  portion  of  Maryland  in  warm  sympathy  with 
the  rebellion.  The  circumstances  attending  the  deed  were 
eagerly  inquired  into,  and  testimony  taken,  from  which  it  was 
learned  that  the  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  attempted 
murder  of  Mr.  Seward,  had  their  source  in  a  conspiracy,  of 
which  Vioe-President  Johnson  was  also  an  intended  victiir 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  795 

The  statements  of  Major  Rathbone,  who  was  in  the  President's 
box,  and  of  the  actor  (Mr.  Hawk)  who  was  alone  on  the  stage, 
at  the  time  of  the  murder,  base  a  special  value  in  relation  to 
the  circumstances  attending  its  consummation.  Maj.  Kath- 
bone,  in  an  affidavit  made  on  the  17th  of  April,  said : 

The  distance  between  the  President,  as  he  sat,  and  the  door 
was  about  four  or  five  feet.  The  door,  according  to  the  recol 
lection  of  this  deponent,  was  not  closed  during  the  evening. 
When  the  second  scene  of  the  third  act  was  being  performed, 
and  while  this  deponent  was  intently  observing  the  proceedings 
upon  the  stage,  with  his  back  toward  the  door,  he  heard  the 
discharge  of  a  pistol  behind  him,  and  looking  around,  saw, 
through  the  smoke,  a  man  between  the  door  and  the 
President.  At  the  same  moment  deponent  heard  him  shout 
some  word  which  deponent  thinks  was  "  freedom !"  This 
deponent  instantly  sprang  toward  him  and  seized  him  ;  he 
•wrested  himself  from  the  grasp  and  made  a  violent  thrust 
at  the  breast  of  deponent  with  a  large  knife.  Deponent  par 
ried  the  blow  by  striking  it  up,  and  received  a  wound  several 
inches  deep  in  his  left  arm,  between  the  elbow  and  the  shoul 
der.  The  orifice  of  the  wound  is  about  an  inch  and  a  half  in 
length,  and  extends  upward  toward  the  shoulder  several  inches. 
The  man  rushed  to  the  front  of  the  box,  and  deponent 
endeavored  to  seize  him  again,  but  only  caught  his  clothes  as 
he  was  leaping  over  the  railing  of  the  box.  The  clothes,  as 
deponent  believes,  were  torn  in  this  attempt  to  seize  him.  As 
lie  went  over  upon  the  stage,  deponent  cried  out  with  a  loud 
voice,  "  Stop  that  man  !"  iDeponent  then  turned  to  the  Pres 
ident  ;  his  position  was  not  changed  j  his  head  was  slightly 
bent  forward,  and  his  eyes  were  closed.  Deponent  saw  that  he 
was  unconscious,  and  supposing  him  mortally  wounded,  rushed 
to  the  door  for  the  purpose  of  calling  medical  aid.  On  reach 
ing  the  outer  door  of  the  passage  way  as  above  described, 
deponent  found  it  barred  by  a  heavy  piece  of  plank,  one  end 
of  which  was  secured  in  the  wall,  and  the  other  resting  against 
the  door.  It  had  been  so  securely  fastened  that  it  required 
considerable  force  to  remove  it.  This  wedge  or  bar  was  about 
four  feet  from  the  floor.  Persons  upon  the  outside  were  beating 
against  the  door  for  the  purpose  of  entering.  Deponent 
removed  the  bar,  and  the  door  was  opened. 

The  actor  who  was  at  the  moment  on  the  stage,  gave  the  fol- 
owing  particulars  in  a  letter  to  his  father,  written  on  the  16th 
<f  April: 


796  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

I  was  playing  Asa  TrencJiard,  in  the  "  American  Cousin." 
The  "  old  lady  "  of  the  theater  had  just  gone  off  the  stage, 
and  I  was  answering  her  exit  sjpeech  when  I  heard  the  shot 
fired.  I  turned,  looked  up  at  the  President's  box,  heard  the  man 
exclaim,  "  Sic  semper  tyrannis  !"  saw  him  jump  from  the  box, 
seize  the  flag  on  the  staff  and  drop  to  the  stage ;  he  slipped 
when  he  gained  the  stage,  but  he  got  upon  his  feet  in  a  moment, 
brandished  a  large  knife,  saying,  "  The  South  shall  be  free !" 
turned  his  face  in  the  direction  I  stood,  and  I  recognized  him 
as  John  Wilkes  Booth.  He  ran  toward  me,  and  I,  seeing  the 
knife,  thought  I  was  the  one  he  was  after,  ran  off  the  stage  and 
up  a  flight  of  stairs.  He  made  his  escape  out  of  a  door 
directly  in  the  rear  of  the  theater,  mounted  a  horse  and  rode  off. 

The  above  all  occurred  in  the  space  of  a  quarter  of  a  minute, 
and  at  the  time  .1  did  not  know  that  the  President  was  shot, 
although,  if  I  had  tried  to  stop  him  he  would  have  stabbed  me. 

I  am  now  under  one  thousand  dollars  bail  to  appear  as  a  wit 
ness  when  Booth  is  tried,  if  caught. 

All  the  above  I  have  sworn  to.  Y"ou  may  imagine  the 
excitement  in  the  theater,  which  was  crowded,  with  cries  of 
"  Hang  him  !"  "  Who  was  he?"  etc.,  from  every  one  present. 

On.  the  morning  of  his  death,  Mr.  Lincoln's  remains  were 
taken  to  the  White  House,  embalmed,  and  on  Tuesday  laid  in 
state  in  the  East  Room,  where  they  were  visited  by  many  thou 
sands  during  the  day.  On  Wednesday,  funeral  services  were  held 
in  the  same  room.  An  impressive  discourse  was  preached  by 
Rev.  Dr.  Gurley,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  which  the 
late  President  attended  ;  the  main-  portion  of  the  Episcopal 
service  for  the  burial  of  the  dead  was  read  by  Rev.  Dr.  Hall 
(Episcopalian),  and  prayers  were  offered  by  Bishop  Simpson 
(Methodist)  and  Rev.  Dr.  Gray  (Baptist).  The  funeral  pro- 
C2ssion  and  pageant,  as  the  body  was  removed  to  the  rotunda 
of  the  capitol,  were  of  grand  and  solemn  character,  beyond 
description.  The  whole  length  of  the  Avenue,  from  the  Execu 
tive  Mansion  to  the  capital,  was  crowded  ^with  the  thousands 
of  the  army,  navy,  civil  officers,  and  citizens,  marching  to  the 
music  of  solemn  dirges.  From  window  and  roof,  and  from 
side-walks  densely  crowded,  tens  of  thousands  along  the  whole 
route  witnessed  the  spectacle.  The  remains  again  lay  in  state, 
in  the  Rotunda,  and  were  visited  by  many  thousands  during 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  797 

the  following  day.  On  Friday  morning  the  remains  were 
borne  to  the  rich  funeral  car,  in  which,  accompanied  by  an 
escort  of  distinguished  officers  and  citizens,  they  were  to  be 
borne  on  their  journey  of  nearly  two  thousand  miles  to  their 
last  rest  in  the  silence  of  the  Western  prairie.  The  funeral 
cortege  left  Washington  on  the  21st  of  April,  going  by  way  of 
Baltimore  and  Harrisburg  to  Philadelphia,  where  the  body  lay 
in  state  in  Independence  Hall,  from  Saturday  evening,  the  22d, 
until  Monday  morning.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  24th,  the  train 
reached  New  York.  All  along  the  route,  thus  far,  the  demon 
strations  of  the  people  were  of  the  most  earnest  character,  and 
at  Philadelphia  the  ceremonies  were  imposing,  profound  grief 
and  sympathy  being  universally  manifested.  At  New  York, 
on  the  25th,  a  funeral  procession,  unprecedented  in  numbers, 
inarched  through  the  streets,  while  mottoes  and  emblems  of  woe 
were  seen  on  every  hand — touching  devices,  yet  altogether  vain 
to  express  the  reality  of  the  general  sorrow.  The  train  reached 
Albany  the  same  night,  remaining  there  part  of  the  day  on  the 
26th,  while  the  same  overflowing  popular  manifestations  were 
witnessed  as  at  previous  places  along  the  route.  These  were 
continued  at  all  the  principal  points  on  the  way  from  that  city 
to  Buffalo,  where  there  were  special  demonstrations,  on  the 
27th,  as  again  at  Cleveland  on  the  28th,  at  Columbus  on  the 
29th,  and  at  Indianapolis  on  the  30th.  Wherever  the  funeral 
car  and  cortege  passed  through  the  State  of  Ohio,  as  through 
Indiana  and  Illinois,  the  people  thronged  to  pay  their  sad  greet 
ing  to  the  dead,  and  tokens  of  public  mourning  and  private 
Badness  were  seen.  At  Chicago,  where  the  train  arrived  on  the 
1st  of  May,  the  demonstrations  were  specially  impressive,  and 
the  mournful  gatherings  of  the  people  were  such  as  could  have 
happened  on  no  other  occasion.  It  was  the  honored  patriot  of 
Illinois,  who  had  been  stricken  down  in  the  midst  of  his  glori 
ous  work,  and  whose  lifeless  remains  were  now  brought  back 
to  the  city  which  he  had  chosen  to  be  his  future  home. 

From  Chicago  to  Springfield,  the  great  ovation  of  sorrow 
was  unparalleled,  through  all  the  distance.  The  remains  of  the 
martyred  statesman  were  passing  over  ground  familiar  to  his 


798  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

sight  for  long  years,  and  filled  with  personal  friends  who  had 
known  him  from  early  life.  Yet  even  here,  where  all  were 
deeply  moved,  there  could  scarcely  he  a  more  heartfelt  tribute, 
a  more  universal  impulse  to  render  homage  to  the  memory  of 
the  immortal  martyr  for  liberty,  than  in  every  city  and  State 
through  which  the  funeral  car  and  its  cortege  had  passed. 

The  final  obsequies  took  place  at  Springfield,  on  Thursday, 
the  4th  day  of  May,  when  the  remains  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
in  the  presence  of  many  thousands,  were  placed  in  a  vault  in 
Oak  Hidge  Cemetery.  With  the  body  of  the  late  President,  the 
disinterred  remains  of  his  son  Willie,  who  died  in  February, 
1862,  had  been  borne  to  Illinois,  and  were  now  placed  beside 
those  of  the  father  by  whom  he  had  been  so  tenderly  loved. 
The  ceremonies  were  grandly  impressive.  Mr.  Lincoln's  last 
inaugural  address  was  read,  the  Dead  March  in  Saul,  and 
other  dirges  and  hymns  were  sung,  accompanied  by  an  instru 
mental  band,  and  an  eloquent  discourse  was  preached  by  Bishop 
Simpson.  Rev.  Dr.  Gurley,  of  Washington,  and  other  clergy 
men,  participated  in  the  religious  exercises,  In  every  part  of 
the  nation,  the  day  was  observed,  and  business  suspended. 
Never,  probably,  was  the  memory  of  any  man  before  so  honored 
in  his  death,  or  any  obsequies  participated  in  by  so  many  hun 
dreds  of  thousands  of  sincere  mourners. 

The  assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  the  culmination 
of  a  series  of  fiendish  schemes  undertaken  in  aid  of  an  infa 
mous  rebellion.  It  was  the  deadly  flower  of  the  rank  and 
poisonous  weed  of  treason.  The  guiding  and  impelling  spirit 
of  Secessionism  nerved  and  aimed  the  blow  struck  by  the 
barbarous  and  cowardly  assassin,  who  stole  up  from  behind  to 
surprise  his  victim,  and  brutally  murdered  him  in  the  privacy 
of  his  box,  and  in  the  presence  of  his  wife. 

Large  rewards  were  speedily  offered  for  the  capture  of  the 
chief  assassin  and  of  his  principal  known  accomplices,  Atzerodt 
and  Herold.  The  villain  who  attempted  the  murder  of  Mr. 
Seward  was  first  arrested — giving  his  name  as  Payne.  Booth 
and  his  companion  Herold  were  traced  through  the  counties  of 
Prince  George,  Charles,  and  St.  Mary,  in  Maryland,  and  finally 
across  the  Potomac  into  King  George  and  Caroline  counties  in 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  799 

Virginia.  They  had  crossed  the  Rappahannock  at  Port  Con- 
way,  and  had  advanced  some  distance  toward  Bowling  Green. 
By  the  aid  of  information  obtained  from  negroes,  and  from  a 
Rebel  paroled  prisoner,  they  were  finally  found  in  a  barn,  on  a 
Mr.  Garrett's  place,  early  on  the  morning  of  the  26th  of  April, 
when  Herold  surrendered.  Booth,  defiant  to  the  last,  was  shot 
by  Sergeant  Corbett,  of  the  cavalry  force  in  pursuit  of  the 
fugitives,  and  lived  but  a  few  hours,  ending  his  life  in  misera 
ble  agony.  In  leaping  from  the  box  of  the  theater,  he  had 
broken  a  bone  of  his  leg,  impeding  his  flight  and  producing 
intense  suffering  during  the  eleven  days  of  his  wanderings.  A 
swift  and  terrible  retribution  had  overtaken  the  reckless  crimi 
nal — perhaps  the  most  fitting  expiation  of  his  deed.* 

In  addition  to  the  arrests  of  Payne  and  Herold,  were  those 
of  Atzerodt,  O'Laughlin,  Spangler,  an  employee  at  Ford's 
Theater ;  Dr.  Mudd,  who  harbored  Booth  the  day  after  the 
assassination,  set  the  broken  bone  of  his  leg,  and  helped  him  on 
his  way ;  Arnold,  whose  letter  to  Booth,  found  in  the  latter's 
trunk,  signed  "  Sam,"  showed  his  connection  with  the  con 
spiracy,  and  Mrs.  Surratt,  at  whose  house  some  of  the  con 
spirators  were  wont  to  meet,  and  who  was  charged  with  aiding 
the  plans  and  the  escape  of  Booth. 

But  the  conspiracy  was  clearly  traceable  to  a  higher  source 
than  Booth  and  these  wretched  accomplices.  Mr.  Johnson, 
who  had  been  inaugurated  as  President  on  the  morning  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  death,  issued,  after  the  plot  had  become  more  fully 
unraveled,  the  following 


*  The  wretched  miscreant  -whose  hand  has  spread  mourning  over  a 
continent,  and  turned  even  hostility  into  sympathy  for  his  victim,  has 
perished  in  a  manner  that  is  perhaps  the  fittest  penalty  for  his  crime. 
Other  assassins  have  invested  their  deed  with  a  glow  of  heroism,  by 
setting  their  own  lives  frankly  against  the  life  they  smote,  and  daring 
vengeance  in  the  name  of  justice.  But  Wilkes  Booth  was  a  cowardly 
villain,  who  crept  secretly  to  strike  his  enemy  in  the  back,  and  who 
thought  to  secure  his  own  safety  by  a  prepared  flight.  So  it  is  best 
that  he  should  not  even  have  the  dignity  of  dying  by  the  hands  of 
justice,  but  hunted  like  vermin  to  his  lair,  be  put  out  of  life  by  the 
pistol  of  a  common  soldier.  It  is  best  for  the  world  that  as  speedily  aa 
possible  it  should  be  enabled  to  cease  thinking  of  a  nature  so  deformed, 
which  had  drawn  to  itself  notoriety  by  a  crime  BO  inhuman. — London 
Daily  News. 


BOO  LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

PROCLAMATION  I 

WHEREAS,  It  appears  from  evidence  in  the  Bureau  of  Mili 
tary  Justice  that  the  atrocious  murder  of  the  late  President, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  and  the  attempted  assassination  of  the  Hon. 
W.  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State,  were  incited,  concerted  and 
procured  by  and  between  Jefferson  Davis,  late  of  Richmond, 
Virginia,  and  Jacob  Thompson,  Clement  C.  Clay,  Beverley 
Tucker,  George  N.  Sanders,  "VV.  C.  Cleary,  and  other  Rebels 
and  traitors  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  har 
bored  in  Canada;  now,  therefore,  to  the  end  that  justice  may 
be  done,  I,  Andrew  Johnson,  President  of  the  United  States, 
do  offer  and  promise  for  the  arrest  of  said  persons,  or  either 
of  them,  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  so  that  they 
can  be  brought  t.o  trial,  the  following  rewards :  One  hundred 
thousand  dollars  for  the  arrest  of  Jefferson  Davis;  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars  for  the  arrest  of  Clement  C.  Clay  j  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars  for  the  arrest  of  Jacob  Thompson,  late 
of  Mississippi ;  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  for  the  arrest  of 
George  N.  Sanders ;  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  for  the  arrest 
of  Beverley  Tucker,  and  ten  thousand  dollars  for  the  arrest  of 
William  C.  Cleary,  late  clerk  of  Clement  C.  Clay. 

The  Provost-Marshal-General  of  the  United  States  is  directed 
to  cause  a  description  of  said  persons,  with  notice  of  the  above 
rewards,  to  be  published. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  the  second  day  of  May,  in 
the  year' of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 

[L.  S.]    sixty-five,  and  of   the  independence  of   the  United 
States  of  America  the  eighty-ninth. 

ANDREW  JOHNSON. 
By  the  President:  W.  HUNTER,  Acting  Secretary  of  State. 

A  Military  Commission  was  convened  to  meet  on  the  8th 
of  May,  for  the  trial  of  the  parties  arrested  on  the  charge  of 
"maliciously, unlawfully,  and  traitorously,  and  in  aid  of  the  pres 
ent  armed  Rebellion  against  the  United  States  of  America,  on 
or  before  the  6th  day  of  March,  A.D.  1865,  combining,  confede 
rating  and  conspiring  together,  with  one  John  H.  Surratt,  John 
Wilkes  Booth,  Jefferson  Davis,  George  N.  Sanders,  Beverley 
Tucker,  Jacob  Thompson,  William  C.  Cleary,  Clement  C.  Clay, 
George  Harper,  George  Young,  and  others  unknown,  to  kill 
and  murder,  within  the  Military  Department  of  Washington, 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  801 

and  within  the  fortified  and  intrenched  lines  thereof,  ABRA 
HAM  LINCOLN,  and  at  the  time  of  said  combining,  confedera 
ting  and  conspiring,  President  of  the  United  States  and  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  the  Army  and  Navy  thereof;  Andrew  John- 
Bon,  then  Vice  President  of  the  United  States  aforesaid,  Wm. 
H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States  aforesaid, 
and  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  Lieutenant- General  of  the  Army  of 
the  United  States  aforesaid,  then  in  command  of  the  armies  of 
the  United  States,  under  the  direction  of  the  said  Abraham 
Lincoln;  and  in  pursuance  of  and  in  prosecuting  said  malicious, 
unlawful  and  traitorous  conspiracy  aforesaid,  and  in  aid  of  said 
Rebellion,  afterward,  to-wit,  on  the  14th  day  of  April,  1865, 
within  the  Military  Department  of  "Washington  aforesaid,  and 
within  the  fortified  and  intrenched  lines  of  said  Military 
Department,  together  with  said  John  Wilkes  Booth  and  John 
H.  Surratt,  maliciously,  unlawfully  and  traitorously  murdering 
the  said  Abraham  Lincoln,  then  President  of  the  United  States 
and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United 
States  as  aforesaid,  and  maliciously,  unlawfully  and  traitor 
ously  assaulting,  with  intent  to  kill  and  murder,  the  said  Wm. 
H.  Seward,  then  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States  as 
aforesaid,  and  lying  in  wait  with  intent,  maliciously,  unlawfully 
and  traitorously,  to  kill  and  murder  the  said  Andrew  Johnson, 
then  being  Vice  President  of  the  United  States,  and  the  said 
Ulysses  S.  Grant,  then  being  Lieutenant-General  and  in  com 
mand  of  the  Armies  of  the  United  States  as  aforesaid." 

In  the  course  of  the  trial,  positive  evidence  was  furnished, 
connecting ,  Jacob  Thompson,  Jefferson  Davis,  and  their  asso 
ciates  named  above,  with  President  Lincoln's  assassination. 
This  direct  evidence  is  only  the  key-stone  of  an  arch  of  cir 
cumstances,  strong  as  adamant.  We  have  already  seen  the 
avowal,  in  the  Greeley-Sanders  peace  correspondence,  that  sev 
eral  of  these  men  were  in  Canada,  in  the  "  confidential  employ 
ment  "  of  Davis.  This  employment,  after  the  failure  of  their 
busy  intrigues  with  Northern  sympathizers,  to  defeat  Mr.  Lin 
coln's  re-election,  and  the  liberal  waste  of  funds  in  sustaining 
Northern  Rebel  journalism,  had  taken  a  form  congenial  to  their 

"  chivalrous  "  instincts,  in  instigating  and  aiding  piratical  seiz- 
51 


802  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

ures  on  Lake  Erie,  robbery  at  St.  Albans,  hotel-burning  and 
wholesale  murder  at  New  York,  and  in  a  broad-cast  diffusion  of, 
pestilence  and  death  through  the  northern  cities,  by  the  efforts 
of  the  '*  philanthropic  "  Dr.  Blackburn,  who  labored  assiduously 
in  his  purpose  of  spreading  malignant  disease  by  means  of 
infected  clothing.  What  farther  depth  of  iniquity  needed  these 
men  to  sound  before  organizing  a  conspiracy — at  first  for  the 
avowed  purpose  of  abducting,  then  of  murdering  outright,  the 
President  whom  they  so  maliciously  hated  ?  That  they  did  enter 
this  scheme,  is  proved  beyond  doubt.  That  Jefferson  Davis, 
in  whose  "  confidential  employment "  all  this  while  they  were, 
was  consulted  as  to  the  plan  of  assassination,  and  gave  it  his 
approval,  is  shown  by  positive  testimony.  And  this  suits  the 
temper  he  had  shown  in  his  readiness  to  entertain  McCul- 
lough's  infamous  plan  for  introducing  into  the  "  confidential  " 
service  a  combustible  which  would  obviate .  the  "  difficulties 
heretofore  encountered  "  in  burning  hotels.  It  is  strikingly 
confirmed  by  his  language  on  hearing,  at  Charlotte,  North 
Carolina,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  assassinated.  Lewis  F. 
Bates,  of  that  town,  in  whose  house  Davis  was  then  staying, 
gives  the  following  testimony  on  this  point,  after  stating  that 
the  latter  received  a  dispatch  from  Breckinridge  announcing 
the  assassination : 

Q. — Look  at  this  (exhibiting  to  witness  a  telegram)  and  see 
whether  it  is  the  same  dispatch  ? 
A. — I  should  say  that  it  was. 
The  dispatch  was  then  read,  as  follows: 

"  GREENSBORO,  April  19, 1865. — His  Excellency,  President 
Davis  :  President  Lincoln  was  assassinated  in  the  theater  in 
Washington,  on  the  night  of  the  14th  inst.  Seward's  house 
was  entered  on  the  same  night,  and  he  was  repeatedly  stabbed, 
and  is  probably  mortally  wounded. 

(Signed,)  "  JOHN  C.  BRECKINRIDGE.*' 

Q. — State  what  Jefferson  Davis  said  after  reading  this  dis 
patch  to  the  crowd.  Endeavor  to  recollect  his  precise  lan 
guage  ? 

A. — At  the  conclusion  of  his  speech  to  the  people,  he  read 
this  dispatch  aloud,  and  made  this  remark :  "  If  it  were  to  be 
done,  it  were  better  that  it  were  done  well." 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    L1NCX5LN.  803 

Q.  —  You  are  sure  these  are  the  words  ? 

A  —  These  are  the  words. 

Q.  —  State  whether  or  not,  in  a  day  or  two  afterward,  Jeffer 
son  Davis,  John  C.  Breckinridge,  and  others,  were  present  in 
your  house  in  Charlotte  ? 

A.  —  They  were. 

Q.  —  And  the  assassination  of  the  President  was  the  subject 
of  conversation? 

A.  —  A  day  or  two  afterward  that  was  the  subject  of  their 
conversation. 

Q.  —  (}ail  you  remember  what  John  C.  Breckinridge  said? 

A.  —  In  speaking  of  the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln, 
he  remarked  to  Davis  that  he  regretted  it  very  much  ;  that  it 
was  unfortunate  for  the  people  of  the  South  at  that  time.  Davis 
replied  :  "  Well,  General,  I  don't  know  ;  if  it  were  to  be  done 
at  all,  it  were  better  it  were  well  done;  and  if  the  same  were 
done  to  Andrew  Johnson,  the  beast,  and  to  Secretary 
the  job  would  then  be  complete" 

Q.  —  You  feel  confident  that  you  recollect  the  words? 

A.  —  These  are  the  words  used. 


The  expedient  of  assassinating  Mr.  Lincoln  had  long 
a  favorite  one,  beyond  doubt,  with  many  of  the  Southern 
traitors.  It  was  no  less  unlawful,  they  might  naturally  reason, 
than  levying  war  against  the  Government.  That  it  was  less 
manly,  that  it  was  infamous  in  the  eyes  of  all  nations, 
weighed  little  with  many  who  had  so  long  brazenly  defied  the 
sentiment  of  the  civilized  world.  Mr.  Lincoln,  during  the  can 
vass  of  1860,  received  letters  threatening  his  life  —  in  them 
selves  of  no  consequence,  but  showing  how  easily  Rebel  notions 
even  then  took  such  a  direction,  and  might  sooner  or  later 
mature  into  act.  It  can  not  reasonably  be  doubted  that  there 
was  a  definite  plan  for  assassinating  Mr.  Lincoln  at  Baltimore, 
in  February,  1861.  Northern  Copperheads  and  Southern 
traitors  kept  the  propensity  alive  by  constant  denunciations  of 
the  President  as  a  tyrant,  and  by  historic  allusions,  hightened 
in  effect  by  poetic  citations  in  praise  of  tyrannicide.  These 
doctrines  were  fostered  by  the  Copperhead  secret  orders  — 
undoubtedly  in  affiliation  with  Thompson,  Clay  and  Tucker,  and 
receiving  from  them  pecuniary  aid.  This  spirit  was  rampant 
at  the  Chicago  Democratic  National  Convention,  as  shown  in 


804  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

previous  pages,  and  during  the  subsequent  canvass.  All  these 
ideas  apparently  originated  in  the  South,  and  were  propagated 
from  thence.  It  was  under  such  training  that  the  assassin  was 
prepared  for  the  conception,  and  nerved  to  the  execution  of 
his  monstrous  crime. 

When  the  youthful  Col.  Dahlgren  fell  a  victim  to  Southern 
hate,  in  Kilpatrick's  unsuccessful  raid  for  the  rescue  of  pris 
oners  at  Richmond,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1864,  there  was  pre 
tended  to  have  been  found  on  Dahlgren's  person  an  order  in 
his  name,  directing  that  the  city  be  destroyed,  "  and  Jeff.  Davis 
and  Cabinet  killed."  This  "  order,"  of  which  much  was  made 
in  the  Rebel  States  and  abroad,  has  been  satisfactorily  shown 
to  be  a  forgery,  and  it  now  but  serves  to  reveal  the  dark  under 
current  in  the  Southern  mind,  setting  in  the  direction  of  a  crime 
ultimately  consummated. 

There  is  positive  proof,  developed  on  the  trial  of  the  assassi 
nation  conspirators,  that,  at  the  time  of  this  raid  of  Kilpatrick, 
preparations  were  made  for  a  wholesale  massacre  of  several 
thousand  Union  prisoners,  in  case  he  had  taken  the  city,  by 
means  of  mines  filled  with  gunpowder  under  the  Libby  prison. 
This  fact  has  been  officially  conceded  and  justified  in  the  report 
of  a  Rebel  committee,  which  has  recently  come  to  light. 

A  lawyer  of  Alabama,  named  Gayle,  perhaps  quite  as  respect 
able  as  "philanthropist"  Blackburn,  published  a  notice  (the 
authorship  and  genuineness  of  which  are  proved),  on  the  1st 
of  December,  1864,  in  the  Selma  Dispatch,  in  these  words: 

ONE  MILLION  DOLLARS  WANTED  TO  HAVE  PEACE  BY  THE 
1ST  OF  MARCH. — If  the  citizens  of  the  Southern  Confederacy 
will  furnish  me  with  the  cash,  or  good  securities,  for  the  sum 
of  one  million  dollars,  I  will  cause  the  lives  of  Abraham  Lin 
coln,  William  H.  Seward  and  Andrew  Johnson  to  be  taken  by 
the  1st  of  March  next.  This  will  give  us  peace,  and  satisfy 
the  world  that  cruel  tyrants  can  not  live  iii  a  "  land  of  liberty." 
If  this  is  not  accomplished,  nothing  will  be  claimed  beyond  the 
sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  in  advance,  which  is  supposed  to 
be  necessary  to  reach  and  slaughter  the  three  villains. 

I  will  give,  myself,  one  thousand  dollars  toward  this  patriotic 
purpose.  Every  one  wishing  to  contribute  will  address  Box  X, 
Cahaba,  Alabama. 

DECEMBER  1, 1861 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  805 

During  the  same  winter  there  were  intimations  in  Southern 
quarters,  and  in  sympathetic  circles  abroad,  as  indicated 
through  the  public  prints,  that  some  great  event  was  about  to 
happen,  which  would  startle  the  world.  The  spirit  of  assassi 
nation  had  been  carefully  nursed.  The  crime  itself  had  been 
repeatedly  meditated  and  plotted.  This  fact  was  known  to 
Davis.  Men  in  his  "  confidential  employment,"  constantly  at 
work,  with  his  knowledge,  on  schemes  the  most  infamous,  were 
instigating  and  aiding  the  crime  of  Booth.  Davis  knew  this 
crime  to  be  intended,  gave  it  his  sanction,  and  rejoiced  with 
no  regret  except  that  the  plot  was  not  more  completely  carried 
into  effect.  The  assassination  was  not  the  mere  freak  of  a 
madcap  or  fanatic.  It  was  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the  spirit 
which  led  the  Rebellion,  and  which  advanced  on  the  same  line 
to  the  vilest  works  of  desperation.  The  barbarous  oligarch  and 
upstart  autocrat  who  had  deliberately  starved  thousands  of 
Union  prisoners,  could  have  no  compunction  at  seeing  a  chosen 
emissary  stealthily  murder  the  ruler  to  whose  authority  he 
must  otherwise  soon  be  forced  to  succumb. 

Never,  perhaps,  has  the  death  of  any  man  called  forth  so 
many  expressions  of  sorrow  and  respect,  or  inspired  so  many 
exalted  tributes  from  orators,  poets  and  authors,  as  well  as  from 
the  people  of  every  class.  In  British  America,  the  shock 
seemed  almost  as  universal  as  in  the  States.  From  all  parts 
of  Great  Britain,  from  Germany,  France,  Italy,  and  the  coun 
tries  beyond,  as  from  the  diplomatic  representatives  of  all 
nations  at  the  National  Capital,  have  come  unaffected  utter 
ances  of  sympathy  and  high  recognitions  of  the  goodness  and 
greatness  of  the  departed.  Letters  of  condolence  were  addressed 
to  Mrs.  Lincoln  by  Queen  Victoria  and  the  Empress  Eugenie, 
with  their  own  hands.  Numerous  public  bodies  and  popular 
meetings — parliaments,  associations,  and  gatherings  of  the  peo 
ple — throughout  Europe  as  well  as  this  country,  have  sent 
similar  tokens.  From  the  multitude  of  the  higher  tributes  to 
the  character  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  only  a  few  brief  extracts  can 
be  given  here. 

In  the  course  of  his  oration,  delivered  in  New  York  on  the 


806  LIFE   OF  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN1 

occasion  of  Mr.  Lincoln'^  death,  our  great  historian,  George 
Bancroft,  said : 

Those  who  come  after  us  will  decide  how  much  of  the  won- 
derful  results  of  his  public  career  is  due  to  his  own  good  com 
mon  sense,  his  shrewd  sagacity,  readiness  of  wit,  quick  inter 
pretation  of  the  public  mind,  his  rare  combination  of  fixedness 
and  pliancy,  his  steady  tendency  of  purpose  ;  how  much  to  the 
American  people,  who,  as  he  walked  with  them  side  by  side, 
inspired  him  with  their  own  wisdom  and  energy ;  and  how 
much  to  the  overruling  laws  of  the  moral  world,  by  which  the 
selfishness  of  evil  is  made  to  defeat  itself.  But  after  every 
allowance,  it  will  remain  that  members  of  the  government  which 
preceded  his  administration  opened  the  gates  of  treason,  and 
he  closed  them ;  that  when  he  went  to  Washington  the  ground 
on  which  he  trod  shook  under  his  feet,  and  he  left  the  republic 
on  a  solid  foundation ;  that  traitors  had  seized  public  forts  and 
arsenals,  and  he  recovered  them  for  the  United  States,  to  whom 
they  belonged ;  that  the  capital,  which  he  found  the  abode  of 
slaves,  is  now  the  home  only  of  the  free  ;  that  the  boundless 
public  domain  which  was  grasped  at,  and,  in  a  great  measure, 
held  for  the  diffusion  of  slavery,  is  now  irrevocably  devoted  to 
freedom  ;  that  then  men  talked  a  jargon  of  a  balance  of  power 
in  a  republic  between  slave  States  and  free  States,  and  now  tho 
foolish  words  are  blown  away  forever  by  the  breath  of  Mary 
land,  Missouri  and  Tennessee ;  that  a  terrible  cloud  of  politi 
cal  heresy  rose  from  the  abyss  threatening  to  hide  the  light  of 
the  sun,  and  under  its  darkness  a  rebellion  was  rising  into 
indefinable  proportions ;  now  the  atmosphere  is  purer  than  ever 
before,  and  the  insurrection  is  vanishing  away ;  the  country  is 
cast  into  another  mold,  and  the  gigantic  system  of  wrong, 
which  had  been.the  work  of  more  than  two  centuries,  is  dashed 
down,  we  hope  forever.  And  as  to  himself  personally,  he  was 
then  scoffed  at  by  the  proud  as  unfit  for  his  station,  and  now, 
against  the  usage  of  later  years,  and  in  spite  of  numerous 
competitors,  he  was  tho  unbiassed  and  the  undoubted  choice  of 
the  American  people  for  a  second  term  of  service.  Through 
all  the  mad  business  of  treason  he  retained  the  sweetness  of  a 
most  placable  disposition  ;  and  the  slaughter  of  myriads  of  the 
best  on  the  battle-field,  and  the  more  terrible  destruction  of 
our  men  in  captivity  by  the  slow  torture  of  exposure  and  star 
vation,  had  never  been  able  to  provoke  him  into  harboring  one 
vengeful  feeling  or  one  purpose  of  cruelty. 

How  shall  the  nation  most  completely  show  its  sorrow  at  Mr. 
Lincoln's  death  ?  How  shall  it  best  honor  his  memory  ?  There 
can  be  but  one  answer.  He  was  struck  down  when  he  was 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  807 

"highest  in  its  service,  and  in  strict  conformity  with  duty  was 
engaged  in  carrying  out,  principles  affecting  its  life,  its  good 
name,  and  its  relations  to  the  cause  of  freedom  and  the  pro 
gress  of  mankind.  Grief  must  take  the  character  of  action, 
and  breathe  itself  forth  in  the  assertion  of  the  policy  to  which 
he  fell  a  sacrifice.  The  standard  which  he  held  in  his  hand 
must  be  uplifted  again,  higher  and  more  firmly  than  before, 
and  must  be  carried  on  to  triumph.  Above  everything  else, 
his  proclamation  of  the  first  day  of  January,  1863,  declaring 
throughout  the  parts  of  the  country  in  rebellion  the  freedom 
of  all  persons  who  have  been  held  as  slaves  must  be  affirmed 
and  maintained. 

Referring  to  the  deed  of  the  assassin,  and  to  the  attempt  to 
sever  the  Union,  Mr.  Bancroft  said  : 

To  that  Union  Abraham  Lincoln  has  fallen  a  martyr.  His 
death,  which  was  meant  to  sever  it  beyond  repair,  binds  it  more 
closely  and  more  firmly  than  ever.  The  death  blow  aimed  at 
him  was  aimed  not  at  the  native  of  Kentucky,  not  at  the  citi 
zen  of  Illinois,  but  at  the  man  who,  as  President,  in  the  execu 
tive  branch  of  the  government,  stood  as  the  representative  of 
every  man  in  the  United  States.  The  object  of  the  crime  was 
the  life  of  the  whole  people  ;  and  it  wounds  the  affections  of 
the  whole  people.  From  Maine  to  the  South-west  boundary 
on  the  Pacific,  it  makes  us  one.  The  country  may  have  needed 
an  imperishable  grief  to  touch  its  inmost  feeling.  The  grave 
that  receives  the  remains  of  Lincoln,  receives  the  martyr  to  the 
Union  ;  the  monument  which  will  rise  over  his  body  will  bear 
witness  to  the  Union;  his  enduring  memory  will  assist  during 
countless  ages  to  bind  the  States  together,  and  to  incite  to  the 
love  of  our  one,  undivided,  indivisible  country.  Peace  to  the 
ashes  of  our  departed  friend,  the  friend  of  his  country  and  his 
race.  Happy  was  his  life,  for  he  was  the  restorer  of  the 
republic ;  he  was  happy  in  his  death,  for  the  manner  of  his 
end  will  plead  forever  for  the  Union  of  the  States  and  the 
freedom  of  man. 

The  venerable  Lewis  Cass,  a  life-long  political  opponent, 
after  excusing  himself  from  taking  an  active  part  in  the  great 
demonstration  at  Detroit,  on  account  of  infirm  health,  wrote  aa 
follows : 

But  in  the  numerous  assemblages,  which  the  impressive 
ceremonies  will  call  together,  there  will  not  be  one  who  will 
mourn  more  sincerely  than  I  do  the  deplorable  event  which  haa 


808  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

spread  sorrow  and  indignation  through  our  whole  country.  He 
whom  the  nation  loved  and  laments  was  called  to  his  high  sta 
tion  at  a  most  portentous  crisis,  at  the  commencement  of  a 
war,  almost  without  a  parallel  in  human  history  in  the  sacrifices 
and  exertions  it  required,  and  in  the  appalling  circumstances 
that  marked  its  progress. 

The  nature  of  the  contest,  an  attempt  to  break  up  the  hap 
piest  government  ever  enjoyed  by  man,  gave  rise  to  many  new 
and  difficult  questions  at  home  and  abroad,  and  added  strength 
to  the  passions  which  war  usually  calls  into  action.  The 
departed  patriot  entered  upon  his  new  field  of  duty  with  an 
unwavering  confidence  in  the  justice  of  his  cause  and  its  final 
triumphant  issue,  and  this  confidence  accompanied  him  during 
all  the  trials  to  which  "he  was  exposed,  inaugurated  the  policy 
he  felt  called  upon  to  adopt.  And,  as  in  the  progress  of  events, 
he  became  better  understood  by  the  course  of  his  administra 
tion,  he  became  better  appreciated  by  his  countrymen.  Though 
differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  measures  to  be  adopted  were 
inseparable  from  such  a  contest,  involving  many  issues  of  weal 
and  of  woe,  still  his  noble  qualities  inspired  general  confidence 
and  commanded  general  respect,  and  his  successful  administra 
tion  will  be  evidence,  in  all  time  to  come,  of  his  own  worth 
and  the  wisdom  of  his  measures 

The  poet-scholar,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerso  In  his  oration  at 
Boston,  used  these  words  : 

In  this  country,  on  Saturday,  every  one  was  struck  dumb, 
and  saw,  at  first,  only  deep  below  deep,  as  he  meditated  on  the 
ghastly  blow.  And,  perhaps,  at  this  hour,  when  the  coffin 
which  contains  the  dust  of  the  President  sets  forward  on  its 
long  march  through  mourning  States,  on  its  way  to  his  home 
in  Illinois,  we  might  well  be  silent,  and  suffer  the  awful  voices 
of  the  time  to  thunder  to  us.  Yes,  but  that  first  despair  was 
brief;  the  man  was  not  so  to  be  mourned.  He  was  the  most 
active  and  hopeful  of  men ;  and  his  work  had  not  perished ; 
but  acclamations  of  praise  for  the  task  he  had  accomplished 
burst  out  into  a  song  of  triumph,  which  even  tears  for  his 
death  can  not  keep  down. 

The  President  stood  before  us  a  man  of  the  people.  He 
was  thoroughly  American,  had  never  crossed  the  sea,  had  never 
been  spoiled  by  English  insularity  or  French  dissipation ;  a 
quiet,  native,  aboriginal  man,  as  an  acorn  from  the  oak ;  no 
aping  of  foreigners,  no  frivolous  accomplishments,  Kentuckiau 
born,  working  on  a  farm,  a  flatboatman,  a  captain  in  the  Black- 
hawk  war,  a  country  lawyer,  a  representative  in  the  rural 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  809 

Legislature  of  Illinois — on  such  modest  foundations  the  broad 
structure  of  his  fame  was  laid.  How  slowly,  and  yet  by  hap 
pily  prepared  steps,  he  came  to  his  place. 

%  %  *  *  A  plain  man  of  the  people,  extraordinary  for 
tune  attended  him.  Lord  Bacon  says :  "  Manifest  virtues 
procure  reputation*,  occult  ones,  fortune."  He  offered  no  shin 
ing  qualities  at  the  first  encounter ;  he  did  not  offend  by 
superiority.  He  had  a  face  and  manner  which  disarmed  sus 
picion,  which  inspired  confidence,  which  confirmed  good  will. 
He  was  a  man  without  vices.  He  had  a  strong  sense  of  duty 
which  it  was  very  easy  for  him  to  obey.  Then  he  had  what 
farmers  call  a  long  head;  was  excellent  in  working  out  the 
sum  for  himself;  in  arguing  his  case,  and  convincing  you  fairly 
and  firmly. 

Then  it  turned  out  that  he  was  a  great  worker;  had  prodig 
ious  faculty  of  performance  ;  worked  easily.  A  good  worker 
is  so  rare ;  everybody  has  some  disabling  quality.  In  a  host 
of  young  men  that  start  together,  and  promise  so  many  bril 
liant  leaders  for  the  next  age,  each  fails  on  trial ;  one  by  bad 
health,  one  by  conceit  or  by  love  of  pleasure,  or  by  lethargy, 
or  by  a  hasty  temper — each  has  some  disqualifying  fault  that 
throws  him  out  of  the  career.  But  this  man  was  sound  to  tho 
core,  cheerful,  persistent,  all  right  for  labor,  and  liked  nothing 
so  well. 

Then  he  had  a  vast  good  nature,  which  made  him  tolerant 
and  accessible  to  all ;  fair-minded,  leaning  to  the  claim  of  the 
petitioner ;  affable,  and  not  sensible  to  the  affliction  which  the 
innumerable  visits  paid  to  him,  when  President,  would  have 
brought  to  any  one  else.  And  how  this  good  nature  became 
a  noble  humanity,  in  many  a  tragic  case  which  the  events  of 
the  war  brought  to  him,  every  one  will  remember;  and  with 
what  increasing  tenderness  he  dealt,  when  a  whole  race  was 
thrown  on  his  compassion.  The  poor  negro  said  of  him,  on  an 
impressive  occasion,  "  Massa  Linkum  am  everywhere." 

Then  his  broad  good  humor,  running  easily  into  jocular  talk, 
in  which  he  delighted,  and  in  which  he  excelled,  was  a  rich  gift 
to  this  wise  man.  It  enabled  him  to  keep  his  secret,  to  meet 
every  kind  of  man,  and  every  rank  in  society;  to  take  off  the 
edge  of  the  severest  decisions,  to  mask  his  own  purpose  and 
sound  his  companion,  and  to  catch  with  true  instinct  the  tem 
per  of  every  company  he  addressed.  And,  more  than  all,  it  is 
to  a  man  of  severe  labor,  in  anxious  and  exhausting  crisises, 
the  natural  restorative,  good  as  sleep,  and  is  the  protection  of 
the  overdriven  brain  against  rancor  and  insanity. 

He  is  the  author  of  a  multitude  of  good  sayings,  so  disguised 
as  pleasantries  that  it  is  certain  they  had  no  reputation  at  first 


810  LIFE    OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

but  as  jests ;  and  only  later,  by  the  very  acceptance  and  adop 
tion  they  find  in  the  mouths  of  millions,  turn  out  to  be  the 
wisdom  of  the  hour.  I  am  sure  if  this  man  had  ruled  in  a 
period  of  less  facility  of  printing,  he  would  have  become  mytho 
logical  in  a  very  few  years,  like  JEsop  or  Pilpay,  or  one  of  the 
Seven  Wise  Masters,  by  his  fables  and  proverbs. 

But  the  weight  and  penetration  of  many  passages  in  his  let 
ters,  messages  and  speeches,  hidden  now  by  the  very  closeness 
of  their  application  to  the  moment,  are  destined  hereafter  to  a 
wide  fame.  What  pregnant  definitions ;  what  unerring  com 
mon  sense  ;  what  foresight,  and  on  great  occasions,  what  lofty, 
and  more  than  national,  what  humane  tone !  His  brief  speech 
at  Gettysburg  will  not  easily  be  surpassed  by  words  on  any 
recorded  occasion.  *  *  *  * 

It  can  not  be  said  there  is  any  exaggeration  of  his  worth.  If 
ever  a  man  was  fairly  teste'd,  he  was.  Gftiere  was  no  lack  of 
resistance,  nor  of  slander,  nor  of  ridicule.  The  times  have 
allowed  no  State  secrets;  the  Nation  has  been  in  such  a  fer 
ment,  such  multitudes  had  to  be  trusted,  that  no  secret  could 
be  kept.  Every  door  was  ajar,  and  we  knew  all  that  befell. 

Then  what  an  occasion  was  the  whirlwind  of  the  war.  Here 
was  place  for  no  holiday  magistrate,  no  fair-weather  sailor  ;  the 
new  pilot  was  hurried  to  the  helm  in  a  tornado.  In  four  years — 
the  four  years  of  battle  days — his  endurance,  his  fertility  of 
resources,  his  magnanimity,  were  sorely  tried  and  never  found 
wanting. 

There,  by  his  courage,  his  justice,  his  even  temper,  his  fertile 
counsel,  his  humanity,  he  stood  an  heroic  figure  in  the  center 
of  an  heroic  epoch.  He  is  the  true  history  of  the  American 
people  in  his  time.  Step  by  step  he  walked  before  them; 
slow  with  fheir  slowness  ;  quickening  his  march  by  theirs ;  the 
true  representative  of  this  continent;  an  entirely  public  man; 
father  of  his  country ;  the  pulse  of  twenty  millions  throbbing 
in  his  heart,  the  thought  of  their  minds  articulated  by  his 
tongue 

William  C.  Bryant,  our  venerable  poet,  composed  the  follow 
ing  immortal  hymn  for  the  obsequies  in  New  York 

ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

0,  slow  to  smite  and  swift  to  spare, 

Gentle  and  merciful  and  just! 
Who,  in  the  fear  of  God,  didst  bear 

The  sword  of  power — a  nation's  trust  I 


LIFE   OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN  811 

In  sorrow  by  thy  bier  we  stand, 

Amid  the  awe  that  hushes  all, 
And  speak  the  anguish  of  a  land 

That  shook  with  horror  at  thy  fall. 

Thy  task  is  done ;  the  bond  are  free ; 

We  bear  thee  to  an  honored  grave, 
Whose  proudest  monument  shall  be 

The  broken  fetters  of  the  slave. 

Pure  was  thy  life ;  its  bloody  close 

Has  placed  thee  with  the  sons  of  light, 
Among  the  noble  host  of  those 

Who  perished  in  the  cause  of  Right. 

Prof.  Goldwin  Smith,  of  Oxford  University,  in  England, 
said: 

America  has  gained  one  more  ideal  character,  the  most 
precious  and  inspiring  of  national  possessions.  *  *  *  * 
#  *  *  *  #  #  *  Lincoln  has  fallen  a  martyr  to  the 
abolition  of  slavery.  He  was  not  a  fanatical  abolitionist.  He 
would  have  done  nothing  unconstitutional  to  effect  immediate 
emancipation.  In  this  respect,  as  in  others,  he  was  a  true  rep 
resentative  of  the  hard-headed  and  sober-minded  farmer  of  the 
West.  But  he  hated  slavery  with  all  his  heart.  He  was  him- 
eelf  one  of  a  family  of  fugitives  from  its  dominions.  He  said 
that  "If  slavery  was  not  wrong,  nothing  was  wrong;"  and 
though  these  words  were  not  violent,  they  were  sincere.  He 
said  that  the  day  must  come  when  the  Union  would  be  all 
slave  or  all  free;  and  here  again  he  meant  what  he  said.  He 
did  not,  as  President,  suffer  himself  to  hold  fierce  language 
against  slavery;  nor  would  he,  though  hard  pressed  by  those 
for  whose  character  and  convictions  he  had  a  high  respect,  allow 
himself  to  be  led  into  premature  and  illegal  measures  for  its 
instant  extirpation.  But,  biding  his  time  with  patient  sagacity, 
he  struck  it  deliberately  and  legally  the  blow  of  which  it  has 
died.  It  struck  him  in  return  the  blow  which  will  make  him 
live  in  the  love  of  the  nation  and  of  mankind  forever. 

The  Count  de  Paris,  in  a  letter  to  Senator  Sumner,  used 
these  words: 

I  should  not  have  presumed  to  add  my  voice  to  the  unani 
mous  expressions  of  sympathy  offered  by  Europe  to  your 
fellow-citizens,  if  my  personal  relations  with  Mr.  Lincoln, 


812  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

which  henceforth  will  remain  among  the  most  precious  recol 
lections  of  my  youth,  had  not  added  something  in  my  eyes  to 
the  magnitude  of  that  public  calamity.  My  brother  and  myself 
will  both  always  gratefully  remember  the  way  in  which  he 
admitted  us,  four  years  ago,  into  the  Federal  army,  the  oppor 
tunity  he  then  gave  us  to  serve  a  cause  to  which  we  already 
felt  bound  by  our  family  traditions,  our  sympathies  as  French 
men,  and  our  political  creed. 

Those  who  saw  Mr.  Lincoln  during  the  great  ordeal  when 
everything  seemed  to  conspire  against  the  salvation  of  tho 
Ilepublic,  will  never  forget  the  honest  man  who,  without  per 
sonal  ambition,  always  supported  by  a  strong  perception  of  his 
duties,  deserved  to  be  called  emphatically  a  great  citizen.  And 
when  the  dreadful  crisis,  during  which  he  presided  over  the 
destinies  of  America,  will  belong  to  history — when  its  bloody 
track  will  disappear  under  the  rapid  growth  of  an  invigorated 
nation  and  a  regenerated  community,  people  will  only  remem 
ber  its  beneficial  results,  the  destruction  of  slavery,  the  pres 
ervation  of  free  institutions,  and  will  ever  associate  with  them 
the  name  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  In  this  struggle  with  slavery,  his 
name  will  remain  illustrious  among  those  of  the  indefatigable 
apostles  who  fought  before  him,  and  who  will  achieve  his  work. 
But  it  will  also  be  said  of  him  that  he  secured  the  preservation 
of  the  Union  through  a  tremendous  civil  war,  without  ceasing 
to  respect  the  authority  of  the  law  and  the  liberty  of  his  fel 
low-citizens  ;  that  in  the  hour  of  trial  he  was  the  Chief  Mag 
istrate  of  a  people  who  knew  how  to  seek  in  the  fullest  use  of 
the  broadest  liberties  the  spring  of  national  endurance  and 
energy. 

Victor  Hugo  characteristically  wrote  to  a  friend  in  Boston : 

At  the  moment  you  were  writing,  the  North  was  victorious 
and  Lincoln  alive.  To-day  Lincoln  is  dead.  That  death 
ennobles  Lincoln,  and  confirms  the  victory.  The  South  has 
gained  nothing  by  this  crime. 

Slavery  is  abolished. 

It  is  abolished  by  tho  glorious  means  with  which  it  has  been 
attacked,  and  through  the  execrable  means  by  which  it  has 
been  defended. 

Long  live  liberty !     Long  live  the  Ilepublic ! 

From  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  and  other  eminent  French  pub 
licists,  citations  of  earnest  eulogy  and  sympathy  might  be 
made,  to  an  almost  unlimited  extent.  Let  us  rather  return  to 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  813 

tne  utterances  of  an  eminent  American  statesman  and  scholar, 
Charles  Sumner,  whose  more  strictly  personal  tribute — for  he 
was  one  who  knew  Mr.  Lincoln  intimately  in  private  inter 
course — in  his  funeral  oration  at  Boston,  on  the  1st  of  June, 
is  specially  memorable.  In  the  course  of  his  address,  Mr. 
Sumner  said: 

In  person,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  tall  and  rugged,  with  little  sem 
blance  to  any  historic  portrait,  unless  he  might  seem,  in  one 
respect,  to  justify  the  epithet  which  was  given  to  an  early 
English  monarch.  His  countenance  had  even  more  of  rugged 
strength  than  his  person.  Perhaps  the  quality  which  struck 
the  most,  at  first  sight,  was  his  simplicity  of  manners  and  con 
versation — without  form  or  ceremony  of  any  kind,  beyond  that 
among  neighbors.  His  handwriting  had  the  same  simplicity. 
It  was  as  clear  as  that  of  Washington,  but  less  florid.  He  was 
naturally  humane,  inclined  to  pardon,  and  never  remembering 
the  hard  things  said  against  him.  He  was  always  good  to  the 
poor,  and  in  his  dealings  with  them  was  full  of  those  "  kind 
little  words  which  are  of  the  same  blood  as  great  and  holy 
deeds."  Such  a  character  awakened  instinctively  the  sympathy 
of  the  people.  They  saw  his  fellow-feeling  with  them,  and 
felt  the  kinship.  With  him  as  President,  the  idea  of  repub 
lican  institutions,  where  no  place  is  too  high  for  the  humblest, 
was  perpetually  manifest,  so  that  his  simple  presence  was  like 
a  proclamation  of  the  equality  of  all  men. 

While  social  in  nature,  and  enjoying  the  flow  of  conversa 
tion,  he  was  often  singularly  reticent.  Modesty  was  natural  to 
such  a  character.  As  he  was  without  aifectation,  so  he  was 
•without  pretence  or  jealousy.  No  person,  civil  or  military,  can 
complain  that  he  appropriated  to  himself  any  honor  that 
belonged  to  another.  To  each  and  all,  he  anxiously  gave  the 
credit  that  was  due. 

His  humor  has  also  become  a  proverb.  He  insisted,  some 
times,  that  he  had  no  invention,  bat  only  a  memory.  He  did 
not  forget  the  good  things  that  he  heard,  and  was  never  with 
out  a  familiar  story  to  illustrate  his  meaning.  When  he  spoke, 
the  recent  West  seemed  to  vie  with  the  ancient  East  in  ape) 
logue  and  fable.  His  ideas  moved,  as  the  beasts  entered  Noah's 
ark,  in  pairs.  At  times,  his  illustrations  had  a  homely  felicity, 
and  with  him  they  seemed  to  be  not  less  important  than  the 
argument,  which  he  always  enforced  with  a  certain  intensity 
of  manner  and  voice. 

He  was  original  in  mind  as  in  character.  His  style  was  hia 
own,  formed  on  no  model,  and  springing  directly  from  himself. 


814  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

While  failing,  often,  in  correctness,  it  is  sometimes  unique  In 
beauty  and  in  sentiment.  There  are  passages  which  will  live 
always.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that,  in  weight  and  pith, 
suffused  in  a  certain  poetical  color,  they  call  to  mind  Bacon's 
Essays.  Such  passages  make  an  epoch  in  State  papers.  No 
Presidential  message  or  speech  from  a  throne  ever  had  any 
thing  of  such  touching  reality.  They  are  harbingers  of  the 
great  era  of  humanity.  While  uttered  from  the  heights  of 
power,  they  reveal  a  simple,  unaffected  trust  in  Almighty  God, 
and  speak  to  the  people  as  equal  to  equal. 

*  *  *  There  was  one  theme  in  which  latterly  he 
was  disposed  to  conduct  the  public  mind.  It  was  in  the  treat 
ment  of  the  Rebel  leaders.  His  policy  was  never  announced,, 
and  of  course  it  would  always  have  been  subject  to  modifica 
tion,  in  the  light  of  experience.  But  it  is  well  known  that,  at 
the  very  moment  of  his  assassination,  he  was  much  occupied  by 
thoughts  of  lenity  and  pardon.  He  was  never  harsh,  even  in 
speaking  of  Jefferson  Davis ;  and  only  a  few  days  before  hia 
end,  when  one  who  was  privileged  to  speak  to  him  in  that  way 
said,  "  Do  not  allow  him  to  escape*  the  law — he  must  be 
hanged,"  the  President  replied  calmly  in  the  words  which  he 
had  adopted  in  his  last  Inaugural  Address,  "  Judge  not,  that 
ye  be  not  judged."  And  when  pressed  'again  and  again  by 
the  remark  that  the  sight  of  Libby  Prison  made  it  impossible 
to  pardon  him,  the  President  repeated  twice  over  these  same 
words,  revealing  unmistakably  the  generous  sentiments  of  his 
heart.  The  question  of  clemency  here  is  the  very  theme  so 
ably  debated  between  Caesar  and  Cato,  while  the  Roman  Senate 
was  considering  the  punishment  of  the  confederates  of  Cati 
line.  Caesar  consented  to  confiscation  and  imprisonment,  but 
pleaded  for  the  lives  of  the  criminals.  Cato  was  sterner.  It 
is  probable  that  the  President,  who  was  a  Cato  in  heart,  would, 
on  this  occasion,  have  followed  the  counsels  of  Caesar. 

The  leading  minds  of  England  had  long  since  come  to  see 
the  inadequacy  and  injustice  of  their  first  opinions  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln.  Of  the  many  faithful  estimates  of  his  public  conduct, 
after  his  death,  that  of  the  London  Spectator,  especially  in  the 
following  passages,  deserves  to  be  cited  : 

* 

We  all  remember  the  animated  eulogium  on  Gen.  Washing 
ton,  which  Lord  Macaulay  passed,  parenthetically,  in  his  essay 
on  Hampdcn.  "  It  was  when  to  the  sullen  tyranny  of  Laud 
and  Charles  had  succeeded  the  fierce  conflict  of  sects  and  fac 
tions,  ambitious  of  ascendancy,  or  burning  for  revenge  ;  it  was 


LIFE    OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  815 

when  the  vices  and  ignorance  which  the  old  tyranny  had  engen 
dered  threatened  the  new  freedom  with  destruction,  that  Eng 
land  missed  the  sobriety,  the  self-command,  the  perfect  sound 
ness  of  judgment,  the  perfect  rectitude  of  intention  to  which 
the  history  of  revolutions  furnishes  no  parallel,  or  furnishes  a 
parallel  in  Washington  alone."  If  that  high  eulogium  was 
fully  earned,  as  it  was,  by  the  first  great  President  of  the 
United  States,  we  doubt  if  it  has  not  been  as  well  earned  by 
the  Illinois  peasant-proprietor  and  "village  lawyer,"  whom,  by 
some  Divine  inspiration  of  Providence,  the  Republican  caucus 
of  1860  substituted  for  Mr.  Seward  as  their  nominee  for  the 
President's  chair.  No  doubt  he  has,  in  many  ways,  had  a 
lighter  task  than  Washington,  for  he  had  not,  at  least,  to  pro 
duce  a  government  out  of  chaos,  but  only  to  express  and  exe 
cute  the  purposes  of  a  people  far  more  highly  organized  for 
political  life  than  that  with  which  Washington  had  to  deal. 
But  without  the  advantages  of  Washington's  education  or 
training,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  called  from  an  humble  station,  at  the 
opening  of  a  mighty  civil  war,  to  form  a  government  out  of  a 
party  in  which  the  habits  and  traditions  of  official  life  did  not 
exist.  Finding  himself  the  object  of  Southern  abuse  so  fierce 
and  so  foul,  that  in  any  man  less  passionless  it  would  long  ago 
have  stirred  up  an  implacable  animosity ;  mocked  at  for  his 
official  awkwardness,  and  denounced  for  his  steadfast  policy  by 
all  the  Democratic  section  of  the  loyal  States,  tried  by  years 
of  failure  before  that  policy  achieved  a  single  great  success  ; 
further  tried  by  a  series  of  successes  so  rapid  and  brilliant  that 
they  would  have  puffed  up  a  smaller  mind  and  overset  its  bal 
ance;  embarrassed  by  the  boastfulness  of  his  people,  and  of  his 
subordinates  no  less  than  by  his  own  inexperience  in  his  rela 
tions  with  foreign  States ;  beset  by  fanatics  of  principle  on  one 
side,  who  would  pay  no  attention  to  his  obligations  as  a  consti 
tutional  ruler,  and  by  fanatics  of  caste  on  the  other,  who  were 
not  only  deaf  to  the  claims  of  justice,  but  would  hear  of  no 
policy  large  enough  for  a  revolutionary  emergency  ;  Mr.  Lin 
coln  has  persevered  through  all  without  ever  giving  way  to 
anger,  or  despondency,  or  exultation,  or  popular  arrogance,  or 
sectarian  fanaticism,  or  caste  prejudice,  visibly  growing  in  force 
of  character,  in  self-possession,  and  in  magnanimity,  till  in  his 
last  short  message  to  Congress,'  on  the  4th  of  March,  we  can 
detect  no  longer  the  rude  and  illiterate  mold  of  a  village  law 
yer's  thought,  but  find  it  replaced  by  a  grasp  of  principle,  a 
dignity  of  manner,  and  a  solemnity  of  purpose  which  would 
have  been  unworthy  neither  of  Hampden  nor  of  Cromwell, 
while  his  gentleness  and  generosity  of  feeling  toward  his  foes 


816  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

are  almost  greater  than  we  should   expect  from   either   of 
them.  *  *  *  *  *  * 

Mr.  Lincoln  presents,  more  powerfully  than  any  man,  that 
quality  in  the  American  mind  which,  though  in  weak  men  it 
becomes  boastfulness,  is  not  really  this  in  root,  but  a  strange, 
an  almost  humiliated  trust  in  the  structural  power  of  that 
political  nature  which,  without  any  statesman's  co-operation,  is 
slowly  building  up  a  free  nation,  or  free  nations,  on  that  great 
continent,  with  an  advance  as  steady  as  that  of  the  rivers  or 
the  tides.  It  is  the  phase  of  political  thought  most  opposite 
to,  though  it  is  sometimes  compared  with  the  Caesarism  that  is 
growing  up  on  the  European  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The 
Emperor  of  the  French  thinks  the  Imperial  organ  of  the 
nation  almost  greater  than  the  nation — certainly  an  essential 
part  of  it.  It  is  men  like  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  really  believe 
devoutly,  indeed  too  passively,  in  the  "logic  of  events,"  but 
then  they  think  the  logic  of  events  the  work  of  God.  The 
Caesar  thinks  also  of  the  logic  of  events,  but  he  regards  him 
self  not  as  its  servant  but  its  prophet.  He  makes  events  when 
the  logic  would  not  appear  complete  without  his  aid ;  points 
the  slow  logic  of  the  Almighty  with  epigram ;  fits  the  unroll 
ing  history  with  showy,  rhetorical  denouements ;  cuts  the  knot 
of  raveled  providences,  and  stills  the  birth  throes  of  revolu 
tion  with  the  chloroform  of  despotism.  Mr.  Lincoln  is  a  much 
slower  sort  of  politician,  but  we  doubt  if  any  politician  has 
ever  shown  less  personal  ambition  and  a  larger  power  of  trust. 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  entered  the  legal  profession  soon  after  he 
attained  to  manhood — struggling  with  many  difficulties  in 
educating  himself  for  his  chosen  work,  as  already  seen.  It 
was  to  this  profession  that  he  devoted  his  efforts  for  the  most 
of  his  life,  aiming  to  acquit  himself  well  in  his  honorable 
calling.  Judged  in  this  character  alone,  had  he  been  raised  to 
no  high  political  position,  he  would  have  ranked  among  the  first 
men  of  the  nation.  A  just  estimate  of  his  professional  char 
acter  can,  perhaps,  best  be  found  in  the  language  of  leading 
men,  with  whom  he  was  intimately  associated  at  the  bar  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century.  His  friend,  Hon.  David  Davis,  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court,  bears  this  testimony  : 

I  enjoyed  for  over  twenty  years  the  personal  friendship  of 
Mr.  Lincoln.  We  were  admitted  to  the  bar  about  the  same 
time,  and  traveled  for  many  years,  what  is  known  in  Illinois  as 
the  Eighth  Judicial  Circuit.  In  1848,  when  I  first  went  on  the 
bench,  the  circuit  embraced  fourteen  counties,  and  Mr.  Lincoln 


LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  817 

rent  with  the  court  to  every  county.  Railroads  were  not  then 
in  use,  and  our  mode  of  travel  was  either  on  horseback  or  in 
buggies. 

This  simple  life  he  loved,  preferring  it  to  the  practice  of  the 
law  in  a  city,  where,  although  the  remuneration  would  be 
greater,  the  opportunity  would  be  less  for  mixing  with  the 
great  body  of  the  people  who  loved  him  and  whom  he  loved. 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  transferred  from  the  bar  of  that  circuit  to 
the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  having  been 
without  official  position  since  he  left  Congress  in  1849.  In 
all  the  elements  that  constitute  the  great  lawyer  he  had  few 
equals.  He  was  great  both  at  nisi  prius  and  before  an  appellate 
tribunal.  He  seized  the  strong  points  of  a  cause,  and  presented 
them  with  clearness  and  great  compactness.  His  mind  was 
logical  and  direct,  and  he  did  not  indulge  in  extraneous  discus 
sion.  Generalities  and  platitudes  had  no  charms  for  him.  An 
unfailing  vein  of  humor  never  deserted  him,  and  he  was  always 
able  to  chain  the  attention  of  court  and  jury,  when  the  cause 
was  the  most  uninteresting,  by  the  appropriateness  of  his  anec 
dotes. 

His  power  of  comparison  was  large,  and  he  rarely  failed  in 
a  legal  discussion  to  use  that  mode  of  reasoning.  The  frame 
work  of  his  mental  and  moral  being  was  honesty,  and  a  wrong 
cause  was  poorly  defended  by  him.  The  ability  which  some 
eminent  lawyers  possess  of  explaining  away  the  bad  points  of 
a  cause  by  ingenious  sophistry,  was  denied  him.  In  order  to 
bring  into  full  activity  his  great  powers,  it  was  necessary  that 
he  should  be  convinced  of  the  right  and  justice  of  the  matter 
which  he  advocated.  When  so  convinced,  whether  the  cause 
was  great  or  small,  he  was  usually  successful.  He  read  law 
books  but  little,  except  when  the  cause  in  hand  made  it  neces 
sary,  yet  he  was  usually  self-reliant,  depending  on  his  own 
resources,  and  rarely  consulting  his  brother  lawyers  either  on 
the  management  of  his  case  or  on  the  legal  questions  involved. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  fairest  and  most  accommodating  of  prac 
titioners,  granting  all  favors  which  he  could  do  consistently 
with  his  duty  to  his  client,  and  rarely  availing  himself  of  an 
unwary  oversight  of  his  adversary. 

He  hated  wrong  and  oppression  everywhere,  and  many  a 
man,  whose  fradulent  conduct  was  undergoing  review  in  a  court 
of  justice  has  writhed  under  his  terrific  indignation  and  rebukes. 
He  was  the  most  simple  and  unostentatious  of  men  in  his 
habits,  having  few  wants  and  those  easily  supplied.  To  hia 
honor  be  it  said,  that  he  never  took  from  a  client,  even  when 
the  cause  was  gained,  more  than  he  thought  the  service  was 
worth  and  the  client  could  reasonably  afford  to  pay.  The  pco- 
52 


818  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

pie  where  he  practiced  law  were  not  rich,  and  his  charges  were 
always  small. 

When  he  was  elected  President,  I  question  whether  there 
was  a  lawyer  in  the  circuit  who  had  been  at  the  bar  as  long  a 
time  whose  means  were  not  larger.  It  did  not  seem  to  be  one 
of  the  purposes  of  his  life  to  accumulate  a  fortune.  In  fact, 
outside  of  his  profession,  he  had  no  knowledge  of  the  way  to 
make  money,  and  he  never  even  attempted  it. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  loved  by  his  brethren  of  the  bar,  and  no 
body  of  men  will  grieve  more  at  his  death,  or  pay  more  sincere 
tributes  to  his  memory.  His  presence  on  the  circuit  was 
watched  for  with  interest,  and  never  failed  to  produce  joy  and 
hilarity.  When  casually  absent,  the  spirits  of  both  bar  and 
people  were  depressed.  He  was  not  fond  of  controversy,  and 
would  compromise  a  lawsuit  whenever  practicable. 

Judge  Drummond,  from  the  bench  of  the  United  States  Cir 
cuit  Court  at  Chicago,  paid  the  following  tribute  to  the  memory 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  a  member  of  the  bar: 

With  a  probity  of  character  known  to  all,  with  an  intiective 
insight  into  the  human  heart,  with  a  clearness  of  statement 
which  was  itself  an  argument,  with  uncommon  power  and  felic 
ity  of  illustration — often,  it  is  true,  of  a  plain  and  homely 
kind — and  with  that  sincerity  and  earnestness  of  manner  which 
carried  conviction,  be  was,  perhaps,  one  of  the  most  successful 
jury  lawyers  we  have  ever  had  in  the  State.  He  always  tried 
a  case  fairly  and  honestly.  He  never  intentionally  misrepre 
sented  the  evidence  of  a  witness,  nor  the  argument  of  an  oppo 
nent.  He  met  both  squarely,  and,  if  he  could  not  explain 
the  one  or  answer  the  other,  substantially  admitted  it.  He 
never  misstated  the  law,  according  to  his  own  intelligent  view 
of  it.  Such  was  the  transparent  candor  and  integrity  of  fcJ3 
nature,  that  he  could  not  well,  or  strongly,  argue  a  sido  or  a 
cause  that  he  thought  wrong.  Of  course,  he  felt  it  his  duly 
to  say  what  could  be  said,  and  to  leave  tho  decision  to  others  ; 
but  there  could  be  seen  in  such  cases  the  inward  struggles 
of  his  own  mind.  In  trying  a  case,  he  might  occasionally  dwell 
too  long  upon,  or  give  too  much  importance  to,  an  inconsidera 
ble  point ;  but  this  was  the  exception,  and  generally  he  went 
straight  to  the  citadel  of  the  cause  or  the  question,  and  struck 
home  there,  knowing,  if  that  were  won,  the  out-works  would 
necessarily  fall.  He  could  hardly  be  called  very  learned 
in  his  profession,  and  yet  he  rarely  tried  a  cause  without  fully 
understanding  the  law  applicable  to  it ;  and  I  have  no  hesita- 


LIFE  OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  819 

tion  in  saying  he  was  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  I  have  ever 
known.  If  he  was  forcible  before  a  jury,  he  was  equally  so 
with  the  court.  He  detected,  with  unerring  sagacity,  the  weak 
points  of  an  opponent's  argument,  and  pressed  his  own  views 
with  overwhelming  strength.  His  efforts  were  quite  unequal, 
and  it  might  happen  that  he  would  not,  on  some  occasions, 
strike  one  as  at  all  remarkable.  But,  let  him  be  thoroughly 
roused — let  him  feel  that  he  was  right,  and  that  some  principle 
was  involved  in  his  cause — and  he  would  come  out  with  an 
earnestness  of  conviction,  a  power  of  argument,  and  a  wealth 
of  illustration  that  I  have  never  seen  surpassed. 

It  has  been  stated  since  he  became  President,  even  by  some 
of  his  political  friends,  that  he  had  no  marked  superiority  of 
mind.  Those  who  said  so  did  not  know  him,  or  regarded  him 
with  some  peculiarity  of  political  bias.  No  intelligent  man. 
who  ever  watched  Mr.  Lincoln  through  a  hard-contested  case, 
at  the  bar,  questioned  his  great  ability.  In  1838,  he  met  one 
of  the  ablest  debaters  of  the  country,  in  a  memorable  political 
contest,  and  discussed  questions  of  the  highest  importance,  and 
no  candid  or  impartial  man  ever  claimed  for  his  antagonist  any 
superiority  in  the  intellectual  conflict.  His  mind  was  emi 
nently  of  a  practical,  even  of  a  mechanical  turn,  and  he  tried 
a  difficult  patent  cause  with  a  skill,  clearness,  and  success  which 
excited  admiration.  He  was  never  a  diffuse  speaker.  His  lan 
guage  was  not  often  elegant,  or  his  style  classical,  but  his  meal 
ing  was  unmistakable ;  and  he  was  at  times  eloquent  with  the 
genuine  eloquence  of  reason  and  of  feeling.  Independent  of  all 
this,  there  was  pervading  the  whole  man  that  delightful  humor, 
that  genial  outflow  of  human  sympathy,  which  those  who  knew 
him  intimately  can  never  forget.  His  frankness,  his  integrity, 
his  kindness  of  manner,  his  sincerity  and  his  goodness  of  heart 
(and  his  heart  was  as  tender  as  a  woman's),  made  him  hosts  of 
personal  friends,  and  he  grappled  them  to  himself  with  hooks  of, 
steel.  He  would  do,  all  his  life,  more  for  them  than  for  him 
self.  Simple  in  his  habits,  without  pretension  of  any  kind,  and 
distrustful  of  himself,  he  was  willing  to  yield  precedence  and 
place  to  others,  when  he  ought  to  have  claimed  them  for  him 
self;  and  he  rarely,  if  ever,  sought  office,  except  at  the  urgent 
solicitation  of  his  friends.  As  he  never  won  a  cause  by  unfair 
means,  so  he  never  intentionally  did  a  wrong  to  any  one. 

e 
There  have  been  few  public  men,  with  regard  to  whom  more 

reminiscences  of  an  interesting  character  could  be  collected 
than  Abraham  Lincoln.  Unique,  individual  in  his  traits,  of  a 
melancholic  temperament,  underlaid  by  genial  humor,  warm- 


820  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN 

hearted  and  generous,  simple,  and  at  times  almost  childlike  in 
his  frankness  of  speech,  he  left  abiding  impressions  upon  every 
one  who  saw  him — even  during  the  most  casual  interview. 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  a  remarkable  memory — recalling  counte 
nances,  dates,  names  and  incidents,  after  long  years  might  be 
thought  to  have  effaced  them  from  his  mind.  A  gentleman 
who  had  been  introduced  to  him  at  the  White  House,  on  one 

occasion,  incidentally  mentioned  a  mutual  friend,  Mr.  C , 

in  Illinois,  whom  the  former  had  known  in  boyhood  in  the 
State  of  their  birth.  "I  have  known  him  for  now  almost  thirty 
years,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln.  "My  first  board  bill  in  Springfield 

began  on  the  15th  of  April,  1837  \  and  C came  along 

about  strawberry  time'1  The  coincidence  of  dates  between  this 
and  the  day  of  his  decease,  just  twenty-eight  years  afterward, 
lends  great  interest  to  the  fact  stated.  Referring  to  the  late 
Senator  Douglas,  at  one  time,  he  spoke  of  the  first  occasion  on 
which  he  met  that  distinguished  man — then  a  mere  youth,  but 
recently  come  to  Illinois.  It  was  at  Vandalia,  during  a  session 
of  the  Legislature,  of  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  member.  "  He 
was  then,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "  extremely  thin — being  so  short 
in  stature,  too — I  think  he  was  about  the  least  man  I  ever  saw" 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  great  quickness  of  perception,  and  fineness 
of  sense  beyond  what  many  seem  to  have  supposed.  One  even 
ing,  while  the  writer  was  conversing  with  him  in  his  room, 
there  was  a  rap  at  the  door,  and  the  President  at  once  said, 
•with  a  pleasant  smile,  "  That  is  Charles  Sumner  " — and  the 
Massachusetts  Senator  presently  entered  the  room.  On  one  of 
the  last  interviews  it  was  ever  my  privilege  to  have  with  Presi 
dent  Lincoln — rather  late  in  the  evening — he  seemed  unusu 
ally  care-worn  and  weary,  though  cheerful  in  tone  and  kind  in 
manner.  Detaining  him  but  a  short  time,  I  rose  to  go,  when  he 
requested  me  to  wait  for  an  instant,  until  he  was  gone.  "  I  must 
have  rest,"  said  he,  "  and  there  are  still  persons  waiting  out 
side  j  I  hear  their  voices  now."  He  then  hastily  retired  by  the 
private  way,  which  Tiad  recently  been  constructed  in  the  rear  of 
the  ante-room.  He  either  imagined  the  voices  spoken  of,  or 
else  his  organs  of  hearing  must  have  been  preternaturally  acute, 
Mr,  Lincoln's  powers  of  endurance  were  remarkable.  Had 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  821 

not  this  been  the  case,  he  could  hardly  have  survived  the  first 
three  months  of  his  Presidency.  Added  to  the  distractions  of 
the  time,  with  a  monster  rebellion  impending,  and  with  the 
uncertain  fidelity  of  many  about  him  in  positions  that  could 
hardly  be  immediately  filled  with  new  men,  he  gave  unusual 
attention  to  the  various  applications  and  recommendations  for 
place,  treating  all  with  courteous  attention,  and  sympathetically 
considering  their  "  claims;"  As  time  went  on,  his  cares  only 
increased.  An  immense  army  and  a  greatly  increased  navy 
were  to  be  organized,  and  a  multiplicity  of  business  arose, 
such  as  his  predecessors  never  knew,  while  none  of  the  official 
duties  common  to  them  were  diminished.  It  is  an  error  to  sup 
pose,  as  some  have  done,  that  he  had  not  superior  administra* 
tive  abilities.  "Without  these,  he  could  never  have  brought 
his  work  to  the  successful  close  which  he  lived  to  see.  It 
was  yet  believed  by  many  of  his  friends  that  he  might  have 
thrust  aside  more  of  the  details  of  his  office,  without  detriment 
to  the  public  service,  and  with  advantage  to  himself.  He 
thought  differently,  and  labored  conscientiously,  in  view  of  his 
responsibility  to  the  people,  to  satisfy  the  demands  upon  his 
personal  attention.  On  one  occasion  the  writer  found  him 
with  a  huge  roll  of  manuscript  before  him,  to  which  his  consid 
eration  had  been  earnestly  requested.  It  was  the  record  in  a 
court-martial  case,  of  vital  consequence  to  the  party  concerned, 
who  hoped  for  some  relief  in  the  last  resort.  The  amount  of 
business  to  which  he  gave  attention,  of  this  character  alone, 
was  perhaps  greater  than  any  one  of  ordinary  endurance  should 
be  charged  with  ;  yet,  to  a  ventured  suggestion  that  he  might 
feel  warranted  in  turning  this  work  over  chiefly  to  the  Bureau 
of  Military  Justice,  he  replied  with  emphasis  :  "  I  can  not  do 
it.  The  people  would  come  in  here  in  a  mass,  and  turn  me 
out  of  this  place  if  I  did  it."  He  conscientiously  felt  that  he 
was  under  obligation  to  exert  to  the  utmost,  the  personal  fac 
ulties  the  people  had  sought  to  employ  in  giving  him  executive 
power. 

These  and  his  manifold  other  labors  told  severely  upon 
him,  as  could  be  especially  seen  in  the  last  year  or  two  of  his 
life.  He  came  to  have  a  certain  chronic  weariness  of  the 


822  LIFE    OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

mind,  which  rest  or  recreation  could  only  superficially  relieve. 
As  he  sometimes  expressed  it,  the  remedy  "  seemed  never  to 
reach  the  tired  spot." 

Speaking  once  of  a  prominent  man  -who  had  the  year  heforo 
been  violent  in  his  manifestations  of  hostility  to  the  Adminis 
tration,  but  was  now  ostensibly  favoring  the  same  policy  pre 
viously  denounced,  Mr.  Lincoln  expressed  his  entire  readiness 
to  treat  the  past  as  if  it  had  not  been,  and  said  :  "  I  choose 
always  to  make  my  statute  of  limitations  a  short  one." 
..  His  aversion  to  calls  for  a  speech,  that  must  be  merely  "  off 
hand,"  was  decided ;  yet,  unwilling  altogether  to  disappoint 
the  crowds  who  perhaps  too  often  made  such  demands  of  him, 
he  seldom  excused  himself  altogether  from  speaking.  One 
evening,  when  the  writer  was  conversing  with  him  in  his  room, 
his  quick  ear  caught  the  sound  of  approaching  music,  and  his 
countenance  suddenly  changed,  as  he  inquired,  though  readily 
divining,  its  meaning.  This  was  presently  announced  by  an 
usher,  and  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  he  arose  to  go  forward  to  the  front 
window,  lingered  a  moment  in  his  room,  and  said :  "  These  ser 
enade  speeches  bother  me  a  good  deal,  they  are  so  hard  to 
make.  I  feel  very  much  like  the  steam  doctor,  who  said  he 
could  get  along  well  enough  in  his  way  of  practice  with  almost 
every  case,  but  he  was  always  a  little  puzzled  when  it  came  to 
mending  a  broken  leg."  The  serenading  party  happened  to 
be  a  delegation  of  colored  men,  whose  upturned  faces  and  hila 
rious  manifestations,  as  he  appeared  before  them  would  have 
made  a  study  worthy  of  the  greatest  artist.  They  were  rejoic 
ing  over  emancipation  in  Maryland ;  and  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  a 
really  felicitous  though  entirely  unstudied  speech,  never 
reported,  gave  most  appropriate  advice  to  his  auditors  as  to 
the  manner  of  turning  to  good  account  their  privileges  as 
freemen. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  never  willing  to  hear  any  disparagement 
of  another,  to  impair  his  influence  with  the  appointing 
power,  or  to  further  the  interests  of  a  rival  candidate  for 
place.  A  delegation  of  Californians  waited  on  Mr.  Lincoln 
soon  after  his  first  inauguration,  presenting  a  written  address 
intended  to  counteract  what  they  considered  an  undue  regard 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  823 

for  the  recommendations  of  a  distinguished  Pacific  Senator, 
since  deceased,  and  to  remonstrate  against  some  of  the  candi 
dates  of  his  choice.  The  paper  was,  perhaps,  not  too  dis 
creetly  worded,  and  when  it  was  put  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  hand, 
he  warmly  repelled  the  attack  on  his  friend,  and  thrust  the 
writing  into  the  fire,  as  his  answer  to  its  representations. 

Toward  even  those  who  had  given  him  ample  cause  for  hos 
tility,  he  uniformly  manifested  feelings  of  kindness.  He  was 
never  inclined  to  pursue  a  man  who  had  fallen  from  favor. 
After  the  removal  of  McClellan,  he  once  said  that  he  would 
most  gladly,  were  it  in  the  nature  of  things  possible,  assign, 
that  general  to  another  command,  and  relieve  the  unpleasant 
ness  of  his  position,  in  which  he  (Mr.  Lincoln)  found  no 
gratification. 

The  sad  failure  of  the  Peninsular  campaign,  as  the  first 
anniversary  of  the  Bull  Hun  disaster  approached,  made  a  deep 
impression  on  Mr.  Lincoln's  mind.  It  was  truly  a  critical 
time  for  the  nation.  In  his  great  anxiety  he  determined  to 
visit  the  army  in  person  at  Harrison's  Landing,  which  he  did 
on  the  8th  of  July  (1862).  Whatever  physical  recreation  he 
may  have  found  in  this  visit,  it  did  not  change  his  feeling  in 
regard  to  military  prospects.  It  was  no  fitting  time  to  divide 
the  North,  or  to  distract  the  army  by  displacing  the  unsuccess 
ful  commander,  whose  factitious  fame  still  gave  him  a  hold 
upon  the  army  and  the  country.  How  far  the  loyal  States 
would  respond  to  new  and  heavy  demands  for  more  troops 
remained  to  be  seen.  A  most  important  emergency  had  arisen, 
in  which,  were  it  possible,  some  new  power  must  be  brought  to 
his  aid.  It  was  under  these  circumstances,  and  while  on  board 
the  steamboat,  returning  from  Harrison's  Landing  to  Wash 
ington,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  wrote  the  first  draft  of  his  Emancipa 
tion  Proclamation.  This  he  retouched  soon  after  reaching 
Washington,  and  read  the  document  to  his  Cabinet.  After 
due  consideration,  he  approved  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Seward, 
that  the  proclamation  would  have  more  weight  at  some  other 
time,  when  the  military  situation  should  be  less  dubious.  The 
people  nobly  responded  to  the  call  for  recruits,  but  meanwhile 
the  division  of  our  forces  in  Virginia,  through  McClellan'a 


324  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

tardy  movements,  had  resulted  in  further  disasters.  The  battle 
of  Antietam  was  fought  on  the  17th  of  September.  "  I 
remember,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  the  conversation  on  which 
the  foregoing  statements  are  based,  "  when  I  heard,  in  the 
morning,  that  a  battle  was  going  on,  it  at  once  occurred  to  me 
that  if  we  gained  the  victory,  now  would  be  the  time  to  issue 
the  proclamation."  This  he  did,  as  is  well  known,  on  the  22d 
of  September. 

The  subjoined  incident  is  related  by  Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax, 
of  Indiana : 

One  morning,  over  two  years  ago,  calling  upon  him  on  busi 
ness,  I  found  him  looking  more  than  usually  pale  and  careworn, 
and  inquired  the  reason.  He  replied,  with  the  bad  news  he 
had  received  at  a  late  hour  the  previous  night,  which  had  not 
yet  be«n  communicated  to  the  press,  adding  that  he  had  not 
closed  his  eyes  or  breakfasted ;  and,  with  an  expression  I  shall 
never  forget,  he  exclaimed,  u  How  willingly  would  I  exchange 
places  to  day  with  the  soldier  who  sleeps  on  the  ground  in  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac." 

Auguste  Langel,  a  French  writer,  who  visited  this  country 
not  long  since,  gives,  among  other  reminiscences,  th§  following 
account  of  a  visit  to  Ford's  Theater — occupying  the  fatal  box 
in  company  with  Mr.  Lincoln  (some  months  before  his  death): 

I  was,  as  may  be  supposed,  more  occupied  with  the  Presi 
dent  than  the  performance.  He,  however,  listened  with  atten 
tion,  though  he  knew  the  play  by  heart.  He  followed  all  the 
incidents  of  it  with  the  greatest  interest,  and  talked  with  Mr. 
Sunmer  and  myself  only  between  the  acts.  His  second  son,  a 
boy  of  11,  was  near  him,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  held  him  nearly  the 
whole  time,  leaning  on  him,  and  often  pressed  the  laughing  or 
astonished  face  of  the  child  on  his  broad  chest.  To  his  many 
questions  he  replied  with  the  greatest  patience.  Certain  allu 
sions  of  King  Lear  to  the  sorrows  of  paternity  caused  a  cloud 
to  pass  over  the  President's  brow,  for  he  had  lost  a  young  child 
at  the  White  House,  and  never  was  consoled.  I  may  be  par 
doned  for  dwelling  on  recollections  so  personal,  which,  under 
other  circumstances,  I  should  communicate  only  to  a  few 
friends ;  for  it  was  on  that  very  spot  where  I  saw  him  with  his 
child  and  his  friends,  that  death  struck  down  one  so  full  of 
meekness,  as  gentle  as  a  woman,  as  simple  as  a  child.  It  was 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  825 

there  he  received  the  Parthian  arrow  of  vanquished  slavery, 
and  fell  the  noble  victim  of  the  noblest  of  causes. 

Rev.  Dr.  Thompson,  of  New  York,  mentions  these  incidents 
as  within  his  own  knowledge  : 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  asked  whether  he  thought  the  victory  at 
Atlanta  or  the  Chicago  platform  ccrntributed  most  to  secure 
his  re-election.  "  I  guess  it  was  the  victory,"  he  observed ; 
"  At  any  rate,  of  the  two,  /  would  rather  have  the  victory 
repeated"  The  death  of  the  guerrilla  Morgan  being  men 
tioned,  Mr.  Lincoln  remarked :  "  Well,  I  wouldn't  crow  about 
anybody's  death ;  but  I  guess  I  can  take  this  death  as  resign 
edly  as  I  can  anybody's."  Then  he  added,  with  indignation, 
that  Morgan  was  a  coward,  a  negro-driver,  a  kind  of  man  that 
the  North  knows  nothing  about. 

Mr.  Carpenter,  the  artist,  whose  painting,  "  The  Signing  of 
the  Emancipation  Proclamation,"  is  well  known,  makes  the  fol 
lowing  statement : 

It  has  been  the  business  of  my  life,  as  you  know,  to  study 
the  human  face,  and  I  say  now,  as  I  have  said  repeatedly  to 
friends,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  the  saddest  face  I  ever  painted. 
During  some  of  the  dark  days  of  last  spring  and  summer  I  saw 
him  at  times  when  his  careworn,  troubled  appearance  was 
enough  to  bring  tears  of  sympathy  into  the  eyes  of  his  most 
violent  enemies.  I  recall  particularly,  one  day,  when,  having 
occasion  to  pass  through  the  main  hall  of  the  domestic  apart 
ments,  I  found  him  all  alone,  pacing  up  and  down  a  narrow 
passage,  his  hands  behind  him,  his  head  bent  forward  upon  his 
breast,  heavy  black  rings  under  his  eyes,  showing  sleepless 
nights — altogether  such  a  picture  of  the  effects  of  weighty 
cares  and  responsibilities  as  I  never  had  seen.  And  yet  he 
always  had  a  kind  word,  and  almost  always  a  genial  smile,  and 
it  was  his  way  frequently  to  relieve  himself  at  such  times  by 
some  harmless  pleasantry.  I  recollect  an  instance  told  me  by 
one  of  the  most  radical  members  of  the  last  Congress.  It  was 
during  the  darkest  days  of  1862.  He  called  upon  the  Presi 
dent  early  one  morning,  just  after  news  of  a  disaster.  It  was 
a  time  of  great  anxiety,  if  not  despondency.  Mr.  Lincoln 
commenced  telling  some  trifling  incident,  which  the  Congress 
man  was  in  no  mood  to  hear.  He  rose  to  his  feet  and  said, 
"  Mr.  President,  I  did  not  come  here  this  morning  to  hear 
stories ;  it  is  too  serious  a  time."  Instantly  the  smile  dis- 


826  LIFE    OF    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

appeared  from  Mr.  Lincoln's  face,  who  exclaimed,  "  A , 

Bit  down  !  I  respect  you  as  an  earnest,  sincere  man.  You 
can  not  be  more  anxious  than  I  am  constantly,  and  I  say  to  you 
now,  that  were  it  not  for  this  occasional  vent  I  should  die  I" 

The  following  reminiscences  of  the  Hampton  Eoads  confer- 
rence,  are  taken  from  a  Southern  paper,  and  are  understood  to 
have  been  written  by  A.  EL  Stephens,  or  at  his  instance : 

Mr.  Lincoln  declared  that  the  only  ground  upon  which  he 
could  rest  the  justice  of  the  war — either  with  his  own  people 
or  with  foreign  powers — was  that  it  was  not  a  war  for  conquest, 
but  that  the  States  never  had  been  separated  from  the  Union. 
Consequently,  he  could  not  recognise  another  government  inside 
of  the  one  of  which  he  alone  was  President,  nor  admit  the 
separate  independence  of  States  that  were  yet  a  part  of  the 
Union.  "  That,"  said  he,  "  would  be  doing  what  you  have  so 
long  asked  Europe  to  do  in  vain,  and  be  resigning  the  only 
thing  the  armies  of  the  Union  are  fighting  for." 

Mr.  Hunter  made  a  long  reply,  insisting  that  the  recogni 
tion  of  Davis*  power  to  make  a  treaty  was  the  first  and  indis 
pensable  step  to  peace,  and  referring  to  the  correspondence 
between  King  Charles  the  First  and  his  Parliament,  as  a  relia 
ble  precedent  of  a  constitutional  ruler  treating  with  rebels. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  face  then  wore  that  indescribable  expression 
which  generally  preceded  his  hardest  hits,  and  he  remarked : 
"  Upon  questions  of  history  I  must  refer  you  to  Mr.  Seward, 
for  he  is  posted  in  such  things,  and  I  don't  profess  to  be  bright. 
My  only  distinct  recollection  of  the  matter  is,  that  Charles  lost 
his  head."  #  *  # 

The  special  report  made  by  Stephens,  Hunter  and  Campbell, 
on  this  conference,  as  quoted  in  the  article  just  cited  from,  says: 

Mr.  Seward  then  remarked :  "  Mr.  President,  it  is  as  well  to 
inform  these  gentlemen  that  yesterday  Congress  acted  upon  the 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  abolishing  slavery." 

Mr.  Lincoln  stated  that  was  true,  and  suggested  that  there 
was  a  question  as  to  the  right  of  the  insurgent  States  to  return 
at  once  and  claim  a  right  to  vote  upon  the  amendment,  to  which 
the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the  States  was  required. 

He  stated  that  it  would  be  desirable  to  have  the  institution 
of  slavery  abolished  by  the  consent  of  the  people  as  soon  as 
possible — he  hoped  within  six  years.  He  also  stated  that  four 
hundred  millions  of  dollars  might  be  offered  as  compensation 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  827 

to  the  owners,  and  remarked  :  "  You  would  be  surprised  were 
I  to  give  you  the  names  of  those  who  favor  that." 

Mr.  Hunter  said  something  about  the  inhumanity  of  leaving 
BO  many  poor  old  negroes  and  young  children  destitute  by 
encouraging  the  able-bodied  negroes  to  run  away,  and  asked, 
what  are  they — the  helpless — to  do  ? 

Mr.  Lincoln  said  that  reminded  him  of  an  old  friend  in 
Illinois,  who  had  a  crop  of  potatoes,  and  did  not  want  to  dig 
them.  So  he  told  a  neighbor  that  he  would  turn  in  his  hogs, 
and  let  them  dig  them  for  themselves.  "  But,"  said  the  neigh 
bor  "  the  frost  will  soon  be  in  the  ground,  and  when  the  soil  is 
hard  frozen,  what  will  they  do  then  ?"  To  which  the  worthy 
farmer  replied,  u  Let  'em  root!" 

Mr.  Stephens  said  he  supposed  that  was  the  original  of 
"  Root  Hog,  or  Die,"  and  a  fair  indication  of  the  future  of  the 
negroes. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  private  papers,  in  the  possession  of  his  family, 
include  many  letters,  memoranda,  and  other  embodiments  of 
his  thoughts,  which  will,  no  doubt,  be  hereafter  given  to  the 
reading  world.  It  must  suffice  to  add  here  some  portion  of  the 
writings  of  this  character,  not  embraced  in  the  preceding  pages, 
on  which  the  seal  of  privacy  does  not  rest.  A  few  brief 
speeches  are  also  added. 

ME.  LINCOLN  ON  TEMPERANCE. 

In  response  to  an  address  from  the  Sons  of  Temperance,  in 
Washington,  on  the  29th  of  September,  1863,  Mr.  Lincoln 
made  the  following  remarks : 

As  a  matter  of  course,  it  will  not  be  possible  for  me  to  make 
a  response  co-extensive  with  the  address  which  you  have  pre 
sented  to  me.  If  I  were  better  known  than  I  am,  you  would 
not  need  to  be  told  that,  in  the  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  tem 
perance,  you  have  a  friend  and  sympathiser  in  me. 

When  I  was  a  young  man — long  ago — before  the  Sons  of 
Temperance,  as  an  organization  had  an  existence,  I,  in  an 
humble  way,  made  temperance  speeches,  and  I  think  I  may  say 
that  to  this  day  I  have  never,  by  my  example,  belied  what  I 
then  said. 

In  regard  to  the  suggestions  which  you  make  for  the  purpose 
of  the  advancement  of  the  cause  of  temperance  in  the  army,  I 
can  not  make  particular  responses  to  them  at  this  time.  To 


LIFE   OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

prevent  intemperance  in  the  army  is  even  a  part  of  the  articles 
of  war.  It  is  part  of  the  law  of  the  land,  and  was  so,  I  pre 
sume,  long  ago,  to  dismiss  officers  for  drunkenness.  I  am  not 
sure  that,  consistent  with  the  public  service,  more  can  be  done 
than  has  been  done.  All,  therefore,  that  I  can  promise  you  is 
(if  you  will  be  pleased  to  furnish  me  with  a  copy  of  your  ad 
dress),  to  have  it  submitted  to  the  proper  department,  and 
have  it  considered  whether  it  contains  any  suggestions  which 
will  improve  the  cause  of  temperance  and  repress  the  cause  of 
drunkenness  in  the  army  any  better  than  it  is  already  done. 
I  can  promise  no  more  than  that. 

I  think  that  the  reasonable  men  of  the  world  have  long 
since  agreed  that  intemperance  is  one  of  the  greatest,  if  not 
the  very  greatest,  of  all  evils  among  mankind.  That  is  not 
a  matter. of  dispute,  I  believe.  That  the  disease  exists,  and 
that  it  is  a  very  great  one,  is  agreed  upon  by  all. 

The  mode  of  cure  is  one  about  which  there  may  be  differ 
ences  of  opinion.  You  have  suggested  that  in  an  army — our 
army — drunkenness  is  a  great  evil,  and  one  which,  while  it 
exists  to  a  very  great  extent,  we  can  not  expect  to  overcome 
so  entirely  as  to  leave  such  successes  in  our  arms  as  we  might 
have  without  it.  This,  undoubtedly,  is  true,  and  while  it  is, 
perhaps,  rather  a  bad  source  to  derive  comfort  from,  neverthe 
less,  in  a  hard  struggle,  I  do  not  know  but  what  it  is  some  con 
solation  to  be  aware  that  there  is  some  intemperance  on  the 
other  side,  too ;  and  that  they  have  no  right  to  beat  us  in 
physical  combat  on  that  ground. 

But  I  have  already  said  more  than  I  expected  to  be  able  to 
say  when  I  began,  and  if  you  please  to  hand  me  a  copy  of 
your  address,  it  shall  be  considered.  I  thank  you  very  heartily, 
gentlemen,  for  this  call,  and  for  bringing  with  you  these  very 
many  pretty  ladies. 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  "  SHORTEST  AND  BEST  SPEECH." 
There  appeared  in  the  Washington  Chronicle,  of  December 
7,  1864,  this  little  paragraph,  including  what  Mr.  Lincoln  him 
self  pronounced  his  shortest  and  best  speech — the  "report" 
being  in  his  own  words  as  he  gave  them : 

On  Thursday  of  last  week  two  ladies  from  Tennessee  came 
before  the  President,  asking  the  release  of  their  husbands,  held 
as  prisoners  of  war  at  Johnson's  Island.  They  were  put  off 
until  Friday,  when  they  came  again,  and  were  again  put  off 
until  Saturday.  At  each  of  the  interviews  one  of  the  ladiea 


LIFE    OP   ABRAUAM    LINCOLN. 

urged  that  her  husband  was  a  religious  man,  and  on  Saturday, 
when  the  President  ordered  the  release  of  the  prisoners,  he 
said  to  this  lady  :  "  You  say  your  husband  is  a  religious  man ; 
tell  him  when  you  meet  him  that  I  say  I  am  not  much  of  a 
judge  of  religion,  but  that,  in  my  opinion,  the  religion  that 
sets  men  to  rebel  and  fight  against  their  Government,  because, 
as  they  think,  that  Government  does  not  sufficiently  help  some 
men  to  eat  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of  other  men's  faces,  is  not 
the  sort  of  religion  upon  which  people  can  get  to  heaven." 

SPEECH  TO  OHIO  SOLDIERS,  AUGUST   18,  1864. 

The  following  speech  was  made  to  a  regiment  of  Ohio 
"hundred-days  men,"  who  paid  him  a  visit  of  respect,  as 
they  were  about  to  go  home,  at  the  close  of  their  service : 

SOLDIERS:  You  are  about  to  return  to  your  homes  and 
your  friends,  after  having,  as  I  learn,  performed  in  camp  a 
comparatively  short  term  of  duty  in  this  great  contest.  I  am 
greatly  obliged  to  you,  and  to  all  who  have  come  forward  at 
the  call  of  their  country.  I  wish  it  to  be  more  generally  un 
derstood  what  the  country  is  now  engaged  in.  We  have,  as 
all  will  agree,  a  free  government,  where  every  man  has  a  right 
to  be  equal  with  every  other  man.  In  this  great  struggle  this 
form  of  government  and  every  form  of  human  rights  are  en 
dangered,  if  our  enemies  succeed.  There  is  more  involved  in 
this  contest  than  is  realized  by  every  one.  There  is  involved 
in  this  struggle  the  question  whether  your  children  and  my 
children  shall  enjoy  the  privileges  we  have  enjoyed.  I  say 
this  in  order  to  impress  upon  you,  if  you  are  not  already  so 
impressed,  that  uo  small  matter  should  divert  us  from  our  great 
purpose.  There  may  be  some  inequalities  in  the  practical  ap 
plication  of  our  system.  It  is  fair  that  each  man  shall  pay 
taxes  in  exact  proportion  to  the  value  of  his  property ;  but  if 
we  should  wait,  before  collecting  a  tax,  to  adjust  the  taxes  upon 
each  man  in  exact  proportion  with  every  other  man,  we  should 
never  collect  any  tax  at  all.  There  may  be  mistakes  made 
sometimes;  things  may  be  done  wrong  while  all  the  officers  of 
the  Government  do  all  they  can  to  prevent  mistakes.  But  I 
beg  of  you,  as  citizens  of  this  great  republic,  not  to  let  your 
minds  be  carried  off  from  the  great  work  we  have  before  us. 
This  struggle  is  too  large  for  you  to  be  diverted  from  it  by  any 
small  matter.  When  you  return  to  your  homes,  rise  up  to  the 
hight  of  a  generation  of  men  worthy  of  a  free  government, 


830  LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

and  we  will  carry  out  the  great  work  we  have  commenced.  I 
return  to  you  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  honor  you  have  done 
me  this  afternoon. 

SPEECH   TO    OHIO    SOLDIERS,  AUGUST   31,  1864. 

On  a  similar  occasion,  at  a  later  day,  Mr.  Lincoln  made  tho 
following  speech  to  another  regiment : 

Soldiers  of  the  148^  Ohio:  I  am  most  happy  to  meet  you 
on  this  occasion.  I  understand  that  it  has  been  your  honorable 
privilege  to  stand,  for  a  brief  period,  in  the  defense  of  your 
country,  and  that  now  you  are  on  your  way  to  your  homes.  I 
congratulate  you,  and  those  who  are  waiting  to  bid  you  wel 
come  home  from  the  war ;  and  permit  me,  in  the  name  of  the 
people,  to  thank  you  for  the  part  you  have  taken  in  this  strug 
gle  for  the  life  of  the  nation.  You  are  soldiers  of  the  Republic, 
everywhere  honored  and  respected.  Whenever  I  appear  before 
a  body  of  soldiers,  I  feel  tempted  to  talk  to  them  of  the  nature 
of  the  struggle  in  which  we  are  engaged.  I  look  upon  it  as  an 
attempt  on  the  one  hand  to  overwhelm  and  destroy  the  national 
existence,  while  on  our  part  we  are  striving  to  maintain  the 
government  and  institutions  of  our  fathers,  to  enjoy  them  our 
selves,  and  transmit  them  to  our  children,  and  our  children's 
children  forever. 

To  do  this,  the  constitutional  administration  of  our  Govern* 
ment  must  be  sustained,  and  I  beg  of  you  not  to  allow  your 
minds  or  your  hearts  to  be  diverted  from  the  support  of  all 
necessary  measures  for  that  purpose,  by  any  miserable  picay 
une  arguments  addressed  to  your  pockets,  or  inflammatory 
appeal  made  to  your  passions  and  your  prejudices. 

It  is  vain  and  foolish  to  arraign  this  man  or  that  for  the 
part  he  has  taken,  or  has  not  taken,  and  to  hold  the  Govern 
ment  responsible  for  his  acts.  In  no  administration  can  there 
be  perfect  equality  of  action  and  uniform  satisfaction  rendered 
by  all.  But  the  Government  must  be  preserved  in  spite  of  the 
acts  of  any  man  or  set  of  men.  It  is  worthy  of  your  every 
effort.  Nowhere  in  the  world  is  presented  a  Government  of 
so  much  liberty  and  equality.  To  the  humblest  and  poorest 
among  us,  are  held  out  the  highest  privileges  and  positions. 
The  present  moment  finds  me  at  the  White  House,  yet  there  is 
as  good  a  chance  for  your  children  as  there  was  for  my  father's. 

Again,  I  admonish  you  not  to  be  turned  from  your  stern  pur 
pose  of  defending  our  beloved  country  and  its  free  institutions, 
by  any  arguments  urged  by  ambitious  and  designing  men,  but 
Stand  fast  to  the  Union  and  the  old  flag. 

Soldiers,  I  bid  you  God -speed  to  your  homes. 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  831 


LETTER  TO   GOV.  HAHN,  OP   LOUISIANA. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION,   ") 


WASHINGTON,  March  13,  1864. 
HON.  MICHAEL  HAHN — My  Dear  Sir:  I  congratulate  you  on 
having  fixed  your  name  in  history  as  the  first  Free-State  Gov 
ernor  of  Louisiana.  Now  you  are  about  to  have  a  convention, 
which,  among  other  things,  will  probably  define  the  elective 
franchise.  I  barely  suggest,  for  your  private  consideration, 
whether  some  of  the  colored  people  may  not  be  let  in,  as, 
for  instance,  the  very  intelligent  and  especially  those  who  have 
fought  gallantly  in  our  ranks.  They  would  probably  help,  in 
some  trying  time  to  come,  to  keep  the  jewel  of  liberty  in  the 
family  of  freedom.  But  this  is  only  a  suggestion,  not  to  the 
public,  but  to  you  alone. 

Truly  yours,  A.  LINCOLN. 

LETTER  TO   MRS.   ELIZA  B.   GURNEY. 

'0 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,       \ 
WASHINGTON,  September  4,  1864.  j 

ELIZA  B.  GURNEY — My  esteemed  Friend:  I  have  not  for 
gotten,  probably  never  shall  forget,  the  very  impressive  occa 
sion  when  yourself  and  friends  visited  me  on  a  Sabbath  fore 
noon,  two  years  ago,  nor  has  your  kind  letter,  written  nearly  a 
year  later,  ever  been  forgotten. 

In  all  it  has  been  your  purpose  to  strengthen  my  reliance 
upon  God.  I  am  much  indebted  to  the  good  Christian  people 
of  the  country  for  their  constant  prayers  and  consolations,  and 
to  no  one  of  them  more  than  to  yourself. 

The  purposes  of  the  Almighty  are  perfect  and  must  prevail, 
though  we  erring  mortals  may  fail  to  accurately  perceive  them 
in  advance. 

We  hoped  for  a  happy  termination  of  this  terrible  war  long 
before  this,  but  God  knows  best  and  has  ruled  otherwise.  We 
shall  yet  acknowledge  His  wisdom  and  our  own  errors  therein. 
Meanwhile  we  must  work  earnestly  in  the  best  light  He  gives 
us,  trusting  that  so  working  still  conduces  to  the  great  ends 
He  ordains.  Surely  He  intends  some  great  good  to  follow  this 
mighty  convulsion,  which  no  mortal  could  make  and  no  mortal 
could  stay.  Your  people,  the  Friends,  have  had  and  are  hav 
ing  very  .great  trials  on  principles  and  faith.  Opposed  to 
both  war  and  oppression,  they  can  only  practically  oppose 
oppression  by  war.  In  this  hard  dilemma  some  have  chosen  one 
horn  and  some  the  other.  For  those  appealing  to  me  on  con 
scientious  grounds,  I  have  done,  and  shall  do,  the  best  I  could 


832  LIFE  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

and  can,  in  my  own  conscience,  under  my  oath  to  the  law. 
That  you  believe  this  I  doubt  not,  and,  believing  it,  I  shall  still 
receive  for  our  country  and  myself  your  earnest  prayers  to  our 
Father  in  Heaven.  * 

Your  sincere  friend, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

LETTER  TO  A  WIDOW  WHO  HAD  LOST  FIVE  SONS  IN  THE  WAR 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         ] 
WASHINGTON,  November  21,  1864.  j 

PEAR  MADAM — I  have  been  shown,  in  the  files  of  the  War 
Department,  a  statement  of  the  Adjutant-general  of  Massa 
chusetts,  that  you  are  the  mother  of  five  sons  who  have  died 
gloriously  on  the  field  of  battle.  I  feel  how  weak  and  fruit 
less  must  be  any  words  of  mine,  which  should  attempt  to 
beguile  you  from  the  grief  of  a  loss  so  overwhelming.  But  I 
can  not  refrain  from  tendering  to  you  the  consolation  that  may 
be  found  in  the  thanks  of  the  Republic  they  died  to  save.  I 
pray  that  our  Heavenly  Father  may  assuage  the  anguish  of 
your  bereavement,  and  leave  you  only  the  cherished  memory 
of  the  loved  and  lost,  and  the  solemn  pride  that  must  be  yoursj 
to  have  laid  so  costly  a  sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  freedom. 
Yours,  very  sincerely  and  respectfully, 

A.  LINCOLN. 
To  MRS.  BIXBY,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

LETTER  TO  DEACON  JOHN  PHILLIPS — 104  TEARS  OLD. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,     | 
WASHINGTON,  November  21,  1864.  j 

MY  DEAR  SIR — I  have  heard  of  the  incident  at  the  polls,  in 
your  town,  in  which  you  acted  so  honorable  a  part,  and  I  take 
the  liberty  of  writing  to  you  to  express  my  personal  grati 
tude  for  the  compliment  paid  me  by  the  suffrage  of  a  citizen 
so  venerable. 

The  example  of  such  devotion  to  civic  duties,  in  one  whose 
days  have  already  been  extended  an  average  life-time  beyond 
the  Psalmist's  limits,  can  not  but  be  valuable  and  fruitful.  It 
is  not  for  myself  only,  but  for  the  country,  which  you  have,  in 
your  sphere,  served  so  long  and  so  well,  that  I  thank  you. 

Your  friend  and  servant,  A,  LINCOLN. 

DEACON  JOHN  PHILLIPS. 

AN  OLD  LETTER. 
The  following  letter  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  but  recently  published, 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  833 

written  when  he  was  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven.  He  was 
then  a  candidate  for  re-election  to  the  Legislature  of  Illinour 
having  previously  served  one  term  of  two  years : 

NEW  SALEM,  June  21,  1836. 

DEAR  COLONEL — I  am  told  that  during  my  absence  last 
week,  you  passed  through  this  place,  and  stated  publicly  that 
you  were  in  possession  of  a  fact,  or  facts,  which,  if  known  to 
the  public,  would  entirely  destroy  the  prospects  of  N.  W. 
Edwards  and  myself  at  the  ensuing  election ;  but  that,  through 
favor  to  us,  you  would  forbear  to  divulge  them.  No  one  has 
needed  favors  more  than  I,  and,  generally,  few  have  been  less 
unwilling  to  accept  them ;  but  in  this  case,  favor  to  me  would 
be  injustice  to  the  public,  and,  therefore,  1  must  beg  your  par 
don  for  declining  it.  That  I  once  had  the  confidence  of  the 
people  of  Sangamon  county,  is  sufficiently  evident,  and  if  I 
have  since  done  any  thing,  either  by  design  or  misadventure, 
which,  if  known,  would  subject  me  to  a  forfeiture  of  that  con 
fidence,  he  that  knows  of  that  thing  and  conceals  it,  is  a  traitor 
to  his  country's  interest. 

I  find  myself  wholly  unable  to  form  any  conjecture  of  what 
fact,  or  facts,  real  or  supposed,  you  spoke.  But  my  opinion 
of  your  veracity  will  not  permit  me,  for  a  moment,  to  doubt 
that  you,  at  least,  believed  what  you  said.  1  am  flattered  with 
the  personal  regard  you  manifested  for  me ;  but  I  hope  that, 
on  more  mature  reflection,  you  will  view  the  public  interest  as 
a  paramount  consideration,  and  therefore  determine  to  let  the 
worst  come. 

I  here  assure  you  that  the  candid  statement  of  facts  on  your 
part,  however  low  it  may  sink  me,  shall  never  break  the  ties 
of  personal  friendship  between  us. 

I  wish  an  answer  to  this,  and  you  are  at  liberty  to  publish 
both,  if  you  choose.  Very  respectfully,  A.  LINCOLN. 

Col.  ROBERT  ALLEN. 

AN   EARLY   SPEECH.  . 

In  a  debate  in  the  Illinois  House  of  Representatives,  in 
December,  1839 — near  the  opening  of  the  Harrison  canvass — 
Mr.  Lincoln  is  reported*  to  have  made  a  speech,  from  which 
the  subjoined  paragraphs  are  extracted: 

*  Without  doubting  its  genuineness  and  general  accuracy,  I  have 
not  been  able  to  verify  this  extract,  -which  has  appeared  in  the  public 
prints. 

53 


834  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Many  free  countries  have  lost  their  liberty,  and  ours  may 
lose  hers  ;  but  if  she  shall,  be  it  my  proudest  plume,  not  that 
I  was  the  last  to  desert,  but  that  I  never  deserted  her.  I  know 
that  the  great  volcano  at  Washington,  aroused  and  directed  by 
the  evil  spirit  that  reigns  there,  is  belching  forth  the  lava  of 
political  corruption  in  a  current  broad  and  deep,  which  ia 
sweeping  with  frightful  velocity  over  the  whole  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land,  bidding  fair  to  leave  unscathed  no  green 
spot  or  living  thing,  while  on  its  bosom  are  riding,  like  demons 
on  the  waves  of  hell,  the  imps  of  the  Evil  Spirit,  and  fiend 
ishly  torturing  and  taunting  all  those  who  dare  resist  its  destroy 
ing  course  with  the  hopelessness  of  their  effort;  and  knowing 
this,  I  can  not  deny  that  all  may  be  swept  away.  Broken  by  it, 
I,  too,  may  be;  bow  to  it  I  never  will.  The  probability  that  we 
may  fall  in-  the  struggle,  ought  not  to  deter  us  from  the  support 
of  a  cause  which  we  deem  to  be  just.  It  shall  not  deter  me. 

If  I  ever  feel  the  soul  within  me  elevate  and  expand  to  those 
dimensions  not  wholly  unworthy  of  its  Almighty  architect,  it 
is  when  I  contemplate  the  cause  of  my  country  deserted  by  all 
the  world  beside,  and  I  standing  up  boldly  and  alone,  hurling 
defiance  at  her  victorious  oppressors.  And  here,  without  con 
templating  consequences,  before  high  Heaven,  and  in  the  face 
of  the  whole  world,  I  swear  eternal  fidelity  to  the  just  cause, 
as  1  deem  it,  of  the  land  of  my  life,  my  liberty  and  my  love. 
And  who,  that  thinks  with  me,  will  not  fearlessly  adopt  the 
oath  I  take?  Let  none  falter  who  thinks  he  is  right,  and  we 
may  succeed.  But  if,  after  all,  we  shall  fall,  be  it  so.  Wo 
shall  have  the  proud  consolation  of  saying  to  our  conscience, 
and  to  the  departed  shade  of  our  country's  freedom,  that  the 
cause  approved  by  our  judgments,  and  adored  by  our  hearts  in 
disaster,  in  chains,  in  torture,  and  in  death,  we  never  failed  in 
defending. 

LETTER  TO  MR.  CHOATE,  OF  NEW  YORK. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         ) 
WASHINGTON,  December  19,  1864.  j 

MY  DEAR  SIR — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  recep 
tion  of  your  kind  invitation  to  be  present  at  the  annual  festival 
of  the  New  England  Society,  to  commemorate  the  landing  of 
the  Pilgrims,  on  Thursday,  the  22d  of  this  month. 

My  duties  will  not  allow  me  to  avail  myself  of  your  kind 
ness.  I  can  not  but  congratulate  you  and  the  country,  how 
ever,  upon  the  spectacle  of  devoted  unanimity  presented  by 
the  people  at  home,  the  citizens  that  form  our  marching  col 
umns,  and  the  citizens  that  fill  our  squadrons  on  the  sea — all 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN-  835 

animated  by  the  same  determination  to  complete  and  perpetu 
ate  the  work  our  fathers  began  and  transmitted. 

The  work  of  the  Plymouth  emigrants  was  the  glory  of  their 
age.  While  we  reverence  their  memory,  let  us  not  forget  how 
vastly  greater  is  our  opportunity.  I  am,  very  truly,  your  obe 
dient  servant,  A.  LINCOLN. 

JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE,  ESQ. 

LETTER  TO  DR.  JOHN  MACLEAN,  OF  PRINCETON  COLLEGE. 

in  December,  1864,  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  was  con 
ferred  upon  President  Lincoln,  by  a  vote  of  the  Board  of 
'.Trustees  of  Princeton  College,  in  New  Jersey,  of  which  fact 
he  was  duly  notified  by  the  President  of  that  institution,  Dr. 
Maclean.  Mr.  Lincoln  sent  the  following  letter,  in  acknowl 
edgment  of  this  honor : 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         } 
WASHINGTON,  December  27, 1864.  J 

MY  DEAR  SiR~I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  recep 
tion  of  your  note  of  the  of  the  20th  of  December,  conveying 
the  announcement  that  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey  had  conferred  upon  me  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws. 

The  assurance  conveyed  by  this  high  compliment,  that  the 
course  of  the  Government  which  I  represent  has  received  the 
approval  of  a  body  of  gentlemen  of  such  character  and  intel 
ligence,  in  this  time  of  public  trial,  is  most  grateful  to  me. 

Thoughtful  men  must  feel  that  the  fate  of  civilization  upon 
this  continent  is  involved  in  the  issue  of  our  contest.  Among 
the  most  gratifying  proofs  of  this  conviction,  is  the  hearty 
devotion  everywhere  exhibited  by  our  schools  and  colleges  to 
the  national  cause. 

I  am  most  thankful  if  my  labors  have  seemed  to  conduce  to 
the  preservvtion  of  those  institutions  under  which,  alone,  we 
can  expect  good  government,  and  in  its  train,  sound  learning 
and  the  progress  of  the  liberal  arts. 

I  am,  Sir,  very  truly,  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  LINCOLN, 

DR.  JOHN  MACLEAN. 

LETTER  TO   GOV.  FLETCHER,  OF    MISSOURI. 

EXECUTIVE  MANSION,         ") 
WASHINGTON,  February  20,  1865.  j 
Hit  Excellency  j  Gov.  Fletcher  : 

It  seems  that  there  is  now  no  organized  military  force  of  the 


836  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

enemy  in  Missouri,  and  yet  that  destruction  of  property  and 
life  is  rampant  everywhere.  Is  not  the  cure  for  this  within 
easy  reach  of  the  people  themselves  ?  It  oan  not  but  be  that 
every  man,  not  naturally  a  robber  or  cut-throat,  would  gladly 
put  an  end  to  this  state  of  things.  A  large  majority,  in  every 
locality,  must  feel  alike  upon  this  subject ;  and  if  so,  they  only 
need  to  reach  an  understanding,  one  with  another.  Each  leav 
ing  all  others  alone  solves  the  problem;  and  surely  each  would 
do  this,  but  for  his  apprehension  that  others  will  not  leave  him 
alone.  Can  not  this  mischievous  distrust  be  removed?  Let 
neighborhood  meetings  be  everywhere  called  and  held,  of  all 
entertaining  a  sincere  purpose  for  mutual  security  in  the  future, 
whatever  they  may  heretofore  have  thought,  said  or  done,  about 
the  war,  or  about  any  thing  else.  Let  all  such  meet,  and, 
waiving  all  else,  pledge  each  to  cease  harassing  others,  and  to 
make  common  cause  against  whoever  persists  in  making,  aiding 
or  encouraging,  further  disturbance.  The  practical  means  they 
will  best  know  how  to  adopt  and  apply.  At  such  meetings, 
old  friendships  will  cross  the  memory,  and  honor  and  Christian 
charity  will  come  in  to  help. 

Please  consider  whether  it  may  not  be  well»to  suggest  this  to 
the  now  afflicted  people  of  Missouri. 

Yours,  truly,  A.  LINCOLN. 

MR.  LINCOLN  TO  THE  MINERS  OF  THE  FAR  WEST. 

On  the  fatal  14th  of  April,  Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax,  then 
about  to  start  for  the  far-off  mining  regions,  received  from  Mr. 
Lincoln  a  verbal  message  for  the  miners,  which  was  thus  given 
in  a  speech  by  Mr.  C.  in  Colorado  : 

"  Mr.  Colfax,  I  want  you  to  take  a  message  from  me  to  tho 
miners  whom  you  visit.  I  have,"  said  he,  "very  large  ideas 
of  the  mineral  wealth  of  our  nation.  I  believe  it  practically 
inexhaustible.  It  abounds  all  over  the  Western  country — from 
the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific,  and  its  development  has 
scarcely  commenced.  During  the  war,  when  we  were  adding  a 
couple  of  millions  of  dollars  eveiy  day  to  our  national  debt,  I 
did  not  care  about  encouraging  the  increase  in  the  volume  of 
our  precious  metals.  We  had  the  country  to  save  first.  But, 
now  that  the  Rebellion  is  overthrown,  and  we  know  pretty 
nearly  the  amount  of  our  national  debt,  the  more  gold  and  sil 
ver  we  mine,  makes  the  payment  of  that  debt  so  much  the 
easier.  Now,1'  said  he,  speaking  with  much  emphasis,  "  I  am 
going  to  encourage  that  in  every  possible  way.  We  shall  have 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  disbanded  soldiers,  and  many  have 


LIFE   OF   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  837 

feared  that  their  return  home  in  such  great  numbers  might 
paralyze  industry  by  furnishing  suddenly  a  greater  supply  of 
labor  than  there  will  be  a  demand  for.  I  am  going  to  try  and 
attract  them  to  the  hidden  wealth  of  our  mountain  ranges, 
where  there  is  room  enough  for  all.  Immigration,  which  even 
the  war  has  not  stopped,  will  land  upon  our  shores  hundreds 
of  thousands  more  per  year,  from  over-crowded  Europe.  I 
intend  to  point  them  to  the  gold  and  silver  that  waits  for  them 
in  the  West.  Tell  the  miners,  from  me,  that  I  shall  promote 
their  interests  to  the  utmost  of  my  ability,  because  their  pros 
perity  is  the  prosperity  of  the  nation;  and,"  said  he,  his  eye 
kindling  with  enthusiasm,  "  we  shall  prove,  in  a  very  few  years, 
that  we  are,  indeed,  the  TREASURY  OP  THE  WORLD." 

HIS   SPEECH    AT   INDEPENDENCE   HALL. 

These  quotations  from  the  written  and  spoken  words  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  can  not  be  more  fitly  closed  than  with  the  remarkable 
speech  which  he  made  at  Independence  Hall,  in  Philadelphia,  on 
Washington's  birthday,  while  on  his  way  to  the  National  Capi 
tal,  to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  the  Presidency.  He  ha(J  taken 
his  life  in  his  hand,  as  he  well  knew,  in  thus  responding  to  the 
call  of  the  people.  He  seems  at  the  moment,  to  have  almost 
foreseen  the  end  which  awaited  him,  and  his  unpremeditated 
words  rise  into  prophetic  grandeur,  as  lie  stands  face  to  face 
with  the  possible — and  now  actual  result : 

I  am  filled  with  deep  emotion  at  finding  myself  standing 
here  in  the  place  where  were  collected  together  the  wisdom, 
the  patriotism,  the  devotion  to  the  principle  from  which  sprung 
the  institutions  under  which  we  live.  You  have  kindly  sug 
gested  to  me  that  in  my  hands  is  the  task  of  restoring  peace  to 
our  distracted  country.  I  can  say,  in  return,  sir,  that  all  the 
political  sentiments  I  entertain  have  been  drawn,  so  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  draw  them,  from  the  sentiments  which  origi 
nated  and  were  given  to  the  world  from  this  hall  in  which  we 
stand.  I  have  never  had  a  feeling,  politically,  that  did  not 
ppring  from  the  sentiments  embodied  in  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  1  have  often  pondered  over  the  dangers  which 
were  incurred  by  the  men  who  assembled  here  and  adopted  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  I  have  pondered  over  the  toils 
that  were  endured  by  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  army  who 
achieved  that  independence.  I  have  often  inquired  of  myself 
what  great  principle  or  idea  it  was  that  kept  this  Confederacy 


838  LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

so  long  together.  It  was  not  the  mere  matter  of  the  separa 
tion  of  the  colonies  from  the  mother  land,  but  something  in 
that  declaration  giving  liberty,  not  alone  to  the  people  of  this 
country,  but  hope  for  the  world  for  all  future  time.  It  was 
that  which  gave  promise  that  in  due  time  the  weights  should 
be  lifted  from  the  shoulders  of  all  men,  and  that  all  should  have 
an  equal  chance.  This  is  the  sentiment  embodied  in  tho 
Declaration  of  Independence. 

How,  my  friends,  can  this  country  be  saved  upon  that  basis  ? 
If  it  can,  I  will  consider  myself  o$e  of  the  happiest  men  in 
the  world  if  I  can  help  to  save  it.  If  it  can't  be  saved  upon 
that  principle,  it  will  be  truly  awful.  But  if  this  country  can 
not  be  saved  without  giving  up  that  principle,  1  was  about  to  say, 
1  would  rather  be  assassinated  on  the  spot  than  to  surrender  it. 

Now,  in  my  view  of  the  present  aspect  of  affairs,  there  is  no 
need  of  bloodshed  and  war.  There  is  no  necessity  for  it.  I 
am  not  in  favor  of  s.uch  a  course,  and  I  may  say,  in  advance, 
there  will  be  no  bloodshed  unless  it  be  forced  upon  the  Govern 
ment.  The  Government  will  not  use  force  unless  force  is  used 
against  it.  [Prolonged  applause,  and  cries  of  u  That's  the  pro 
per  sentiment."]  My  friends,  this  is  a  wholly  unprepared 
speech.  I  did  not  expect  to  be  called  upon  to  say  a  word  when 
I  came  here.  I  supposed  I  was  merely  to  do  something  toward 
raising  this  flag.  I  may,  therefore,  have  said  something  indis 
creet.  But  I  have  said  nothing  but  what  1  am  willing  to  live  by, 
and,  in  the  pleasure  of  Almighty  God,  die  by. 

From  the  cabin  to  the  White  House— from  a  lowly  birth  to 
an  honored  death,  at  the  summit  of  human  glory — these  pages 
have  imperfectly  traced  the  earthly  course  of  ABRAHAM 
LINCOLN.  He  is  now  where  praise  and  blame  alike  fall 
unheeded  "  on  the  dull,  cold  ear"  of  the  dead,  yet  one  comes 
reluctantly  to  any  final  summing  up  of  the  labors  and  the 
character  of  one  so  lately  gone,  and  still  so  spiritually  present. 
He  served  the  people.  He  saved  the  nation.  He  gave  his  life 
for  his  country.  His  name  will  be  one  of  heroic  grandeur  for 
all  time.  His  fame  will  be  perennial  as  the  sun.  While 
Liberty  lives,  this  her  chief  martyr  will  be  the  central  figure 
among  her  most  illustrious  devotees.  He  finished  his  work, 
and  its  renown  is  not  alone  for  a  transient  generation,  but  for 
the  wide  world  and  for  the  whole  future. 

What  Robert  Burns  has,  proverbially,  been  to  the  people  of 


LIFE   OP   ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  839 

his  native  land,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  of  all  lands,  as  a  poet, 
Abraham  Lincoln  early  became  to  us  as  a  statesman  and  a 
patriot,  by  his  intimate  relations  alike  with  the  humbler  and  the 
higher  walks  of  life.  By  his  own  native  energy  and  endow 
ment,  he  rose  from  a  place  of  humble  obscurity  to  a  command 
ing  position  and  power  among  his  fellow-men,  and  achieved  an 
enduring  fame.  The  experiences  of  the  "  toiling  millions," 
whether  of  gladness  or  of  sorrow,  had  been  his  experiences. 
He  had  an  identity  with  them,  such  as  common  trials  and  com 
mon  emotions  produced.  He  had  become  in  person,  no  lesa 
than  in  principle,  a  genuine  representative  man  in  the  cause  of,' 
free  labor. 

As  a  ruler,  no  man  ever  took  the  people  into  his  confidence 
so  unreservedly  and  fully — discarding  the  diplomatic  devices 
of  European  statesmanship,  which  erect  so  many  barriers 
between  the  governing  and  the  governed.  His  policy  was 
unfeignedly  democratic.  In  accepting  a  great  public  trust,  he 
endeavored  always  to  be  in  harmony  with  those  who  gave  it. 
He  carried  out  the  popular  will,  so  far  as  in  him  lay,  discard 
ing  the  impe'rial  idea  which  would  force  the  masses  into  sub 
jection  to  the  will  of  one  leading  mind.  He  was  "  controlled 
by  events,"  and  u  did  not  control  them,"  after  the  vain  imagin 
ation  of  a  Napoleon.  His  strength  lay  in  striving  to  embody 
and  execute  the  mind  of  the  nation,  not  to  direct  its  thought 
and  will.  The  greatness  of  Mr.  Lincoln  lay  not  in  contesting, 
defying,  or  deluding  the  masses  in  their  purposes,  but  in  giving 
those  purposes  development  and  effect. 

Mr.  Lincoln  knew  how  to  be  reticent,  as  occasion  required, 
and  how  to  be  honest  and  open  whenever  matured  decisions 
were  passing  into  speech  and  act.  He  was  never  precipitate  ; 
and  when  he  "  put  his  foot  down,"  it  was  never  to  recall  the 
step  deliberately  taken.  He  did  not  move  forward  rapidly 
enough  for  some ;  he  was  in  advance  of  many  ;  but  always 
keeping  near  what  may  be  termed  his  skirmishing  line,  he 
moved  forward  whenever  it  appeared  that  his  main  column 
could  safely  move  with  him.  He  was  not  of  the  material  of 
which  reformers,  a  whole  generation  in  advance  of  their  time, 


840  LIFE    OP    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

could  be  made ;  yet  he  recognized  their  uses,  and  was  never 
indifferent  to  whatever  in  their  aspirations  had  reality  of  pro 
mise. 

He  grew  upon  the  affections  and  confidence  of  the  people, 
which  he  had  no  art  for  suddenly  captivating.  He  was  never 
forced  upon  them  by  political  management.  His  honors  were 
duly  ripened  in  the  open  air  and  sunlight — never  forced  to  an 
artificial  ruddiness  or  unnatural  proportions  under  cover.  The 
incident  of  his  election  as  captain  of  volunteers  in  1832 — the 
confidence  of  his  fellows  outrunning  his  own  aspiration — is  a 
'type  of  all  his  advancements,  in  his  own  State  and  in  the 
nation.  From  the  time  of  his  first  appearance  in  the  Illinois 
Legislature,  he  was  a  man  of  mark  as  a  politician  in  the  best 
sense.  From  his  earliest  connection  with  the  bar  as  an  advo 
cate  and  counsellor,  more  than  ordinary  success  was  expected 
of  him.  A  sterling  native  ability  was  conceded  to  him.  He 
wanted  only  development  and  cultivation.  And  to  the  neces 
sary  fctudy  for  this  end,  it  was  at  once  remarked  how  closely  he 
applied  himself.  As  was  said  of  him  in  those  days,  when  not 
actively  engaged,  he  was  "always  thinking."  He  was  an 
*  improving  man."  Such  an  one,  with  great  inherent  capaci 
ties,  is  capable  of  the  highest  attainment.  Mr.  Lincoln's  life 
is  a  grand  exemplar  for  the  youth  who  worthily  aspires.  All 
the  space,  from  the  nethermost  to  the  topmost  round  of  the 
ladder — with  the  aid  of  no  adventitious  circumstances,  and  in 
spite  of  the  most  depressing  hindrances — was  thus  surmounted 
by  the  once  obscure  worker. 

This  great  success,  it  must  not  be  overlooked,  and  can  not 
bo  too  earnestly  impressed  upon  the  young,  was  partly  due  to 
the  remarkable  purity  of  his  private  life  and  to  the  rugged 
honesty  of  purpose,  in  his  earliest  days  as  in  his  latest,  which 
were  at  the  basis  of  his  character.  He  unhesitatingly  and 
unswervingly  believed  in  the  right,  the  true,  the  good — not 
simply  as  on  the  whole  preferable  to  their  opposites,  or  even  as 
infinitely  worthier  of  his  regard,  but  as  the  only  possible 
objects  of  hia  faith.  He  had  a  reverent  and  abiding  trust  in 
a  beneficent  and  all-controlling  Providence.  He  saw  the  pres 
ence  of  God  in  all  national  and  individual  life,  and  devoutly 


LIFE  07  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  841 

Bought  Ilia  guidance  and  spiritual  strength  in  all  his  trials. 
Though  never  demonstrative  on  this  subject,  and  recoiling  from 
any  doubtful  pretensions,  he  had  profoundly  earnest  religious 
sentiments  and  convictions.  His  conscience  was  ever  active, 
clear  and  strong.  His  faith  in  God,  and  his  worshipful  trust, 
came  out  more  and  more  visibly  during  the  later  years  of  his 
life.  Who,  that  knew  him  well,  can  point  to  any  man  in  his 
whole  circle  of  acquaintance,  however  wide,  as  a  truer  exem 
plar  of  the'  Christian  character  as  set  forth  in  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount  ?  In  certain  outward  restraints  or  formalities,  and 
in  merely  negative  virtues,  others  went  beyond  him,  but  few, 
very  few  in  this  world,  have  ever  more  truly  lived  the  life  of 
purity,  of  charity,  of  universal  good-will,  of  gentle  forgive 
ness,  of  self-denying  devotion  to  the  interests  of  humanity,  of 
kindness  to  the  poor,  of  sympathy  for  the  oppressed,  and  of 
submission  to  the  Divine  will,  as  enjoined  by  the  precept  and 
example  of  Christ. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  face  was  rather  striking  than  attractive  at  the 
first  view.  Its  plainness  was  proverbial.  But  the  power  of 
its  expression,  the  winningness  of  its  smile,  were  such,  that 
you  carried  away  the  impression  of  a  noble  and  pleasing  coun 
tenance.  It  was  written  all  over  with  the  history  of  his  strug 
gles  and  triumphs.  An  olive  complexion  preserved  the  mem 
ory  of  his  first  seven  years  in  a  Southern  clime.  His  deep-set, 
clear,  steady  eye,  told  of  earnest  study,  of  assured  attainment, 
of  confirmed  self-mastery.  He  had  no  unsubdued  passion — 
or,  if  a  sense  of  indignation  occasionally  got  the  better  of  him, 
it  was  not  from  wrong  to  himself  but  to  a  friend,  or  to  a  class, 
or  to  the  nation.  A  terrible  civil  war,  which  he  greatly 
dreaded,  and  labored  earnestly  to  avert,  impressed  numberless 
lines  on  his  brow  and  cheeks.  He  had  had,  too,  his  private 
sorrows,  which  deepened  the  native  sadness  of  his  counte 
nance — especially  the  loss  of  two  tenderly-loved  boys,  the  one 
before,  the  other  after,  his  elevation  to  the  Presidency.  A  wide 
range  of  emotions — the  extremes  of  sunlight  and  shadow — 
passed  .successively  over  these  masculine  features,  in  all  of 
which  strength  and  power  were  manifest. 

His  humor  was  proverbial,  yet  nothing  could  be  wider  of  the 


812  I.IPB  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

mark  than  to  represent  him  as  a  "jesting"  trifler.  A  trifle* 
he  never  was,  or  a  jester  in  any  proper  sense.  His  "stories" 
had  always  a  logical  relation  to  his  main  subject  of  converse- 
tion.  They  were  never  his  own  inventions.  Ho  resorted  to 
them  for  illustrations,  or  as  a  gentle  method  of  putting  off 
importunities,  or  of  avoiding  a  committal  for  which  he  was 
unprepared.  To  a  zealous  advocate  for  more  radical  measures 
in  regard  to  slavery,  for  instance,  early  in  the  war,  he  spoke  of 
the  vivid  impression  made  on  his  mind  by  one  of  the  fables  of 
JEsop — an  edition  of  which,  illustrated  by  plain  wood-cuts, 
he  read  in  very  early  life — in  which  certain  zealous  philanthro 
pists  are  represented  as  endeavoring  to  change  the  color  of  a 
negro's  skin  by  assiduous  washing ;  their  labors  effecting  noth 
ing  except  to  give  him  a  cold,  of  which  he  nearly  died.  Thia 
tale,  with  its  rude  illustration,  had  an  abiding  lesson  for  him, 
and  when  told  in  his  peculiar  manner,  its  moral  could  not  be 
without  effect,  in  at  least  parrying  complaints,  if  not  repress 
ing  untimely  zeal.  The  genuine  humor  which  he  possessed, 
is  of  the  kind  nearly  allied  to  genius,  and  its  almost  invariable 
accompaniment.  It  relieved  many  a  hard  exigency  of  his  life, 
and  saved  him  from  an  unbroken  gloom,  toward  which,  at  times, 
le  gravitated. 

It  is  idle  to  conjecture  what  might  have  been,  or  how  his 
life  could  have  been  spared  from  the  stealthy  malice  bent  on 
his  destruction.  His  work  was  really  finished.  The  "  wrath 
of  man  "  was  permitted  to  accomplish  its  design,  and  so  over 
ruled  as  to  serve  the  purposes  of  Providence.  To  that  over 
ruling  power,  the  nation,  and  all  who  mourn  the  great  bereave 
ment,  should  reverently  bow.  The  future  of  our  nation,  as 
the  past  has  been,  is  in  the  keeping  of  a  Being  supremely 
•wise  and  good,  "  who  knoweth  the  end  from  the  beginning, n 
and  ever  "  doeth  all  things  well." 


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THE  LOGIC  OP  SIR  WILLIAM  HAMILTON,  BART.,  Professor  of  Logic 
and  Metaphysics  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  Reduced  and  prepared 
for  use  in  Colleges  and  Schools,  by  HENBT  N  .  DAT,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Author 
of  the  "Art  of  Elocution,"  "Rhetorical  Praxis,"  etc.  1  vol.  12mo,  .  $1  25 

RHETORICAL  PRAXIS,  The  Principles  of  Rhetoric  Exemplified  and  Ap 
plied  in  Copious  Exercises  for  Systematic  Practice,  Chiefly  in  the  De 
velopment  of  the  Thought.  By  H.  N.  DAT,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Author  of 
"  Elements  of  the  Art  of  Rhetoric,"  and  formerly  Professor  of  Rhetoric 
in  "  Western  Reserve  College  ."  1  vol.  12mo, 112 

THE  ART  OP  ELOCUTION,  Exemplified  in  a  Systematic  Courso  of  Exercises. 

By  II.  N.  DAT,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.    Revised  Edition.    1  vol.  12mo,     .        .        .150 

THE  ART  OF  BOOK-KEEPING,  Methodically  Unfolded  in  its  Principles, 
and  Illustrated  by  Copious  Exercises,  By  H.  N.  DAT,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.  1 
vol.  12mo 75 

MOPFAT'3  .ESTHETICS,  An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Esthetics,  By 
Rev.  JAS.C.  MOFFAT,  D.  D.,  late  Professor  of  Greek  in  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  now  Professor  of  I  ixlesiastical  History  in  tho  Theological  Semi 
nary,  Princeton.  1  vol.  12mo.,  muslin.  43G  pages 1  25 

THE  SCIENCE  OF  EDUCATION  AND  ART  OF  TEACHING,  In  two 
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THE  TEACHERS'  INDICATOR  and  Parents'  Manual,  For  School  and 
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the  whole  field  of  Education,  from  tho  Pens  of  Boma  of  the  most  distin 
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THE  WHEAT  PLANT,  Its  Origin,  Culture,  Growth,  Development,  Compo 
sition,  Varieties,  Diseases,  etc.,  together  with  a  few  remarks  on  Indian 
Corn,  its  Culture,  etc.  By  JOHN  H.  KLIPPART,  Corresponding  Secretary  of 
the  Ohio  State  Board  of  Agriculture;  Member  of  the  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences,  Cleveland ;  Honorary  Mem.  West.  Acad.  Natural  Science,  Cin 
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BUCHAJS  AN  (Robert)  on  Grape  Cnlture,  and  LONQWOETH  (NICHOLAS)  on  the 

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HOOPER'S  (E,  J.)  WESTERN  FRUIT  BOOK,  A  Compendious  Collection 
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KERN'S  (G,  M.)  Practical  Landscape  Gardening.  With  reference  to  the  Im 
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THE  THREE  GREAT  TEMPTATIONS  of  Young  Men,  With  several  Lec 
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CROTHERS'  (Rev,  Samnel,  D,  D.)  Life  and  Writings,  By  Rev.  ANDREW 
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POETRY  OF  THE  VEGETABLE  WORLD,  A  Popular  Exposition  of  th« 
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PARR'S  (Edward)  ANCIENT  HISTORY,  Containing  the  History  of  the 
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Wilkinson  and  Burr  Revolution  ;  embracing,  also,  the  first  account  of 
the  "Spanish  Association  of  Kentucky,"  and  a  memoir  of  Blennorhas- 
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ROSECRANS'  CAMPAIGN  WITH  THE  FOURTEENTH  ARMY  CORPS  j 
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BAYARD  TAYLOR'S  CYCLOPEDIA  OF  MODERN  TRAVEL.    A  Record 

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THE  TRIALS  FOB  TREASON  AT  INDIANAPOLIS,  Disclosing  tho  Plans 
for  Establishing  a  North- Western  Confederacy,  Being  an  Official  Rec 
ord  of  the  Tri;il»  be/bra  tho  Military  Commission  convened  by  Special  Or 
der?  No.  129,  Headquarters  District  of  Indiana ;  Brevet  Major-Gcncral  A. 
P.  HOVKY,  Commander  of  the  District.  Brevet  Brigadier  General  SILAS 
COLGROVK,  President ;  II.  L.  BURNETT,  of  tho  Department  of  tho  Ohio  and 
Northern  Department,  Judge  Advocate  of  the  Commission.  Containing 
the  Testimony,  Arguments,  Finding  and  Sentence,  in  the  case  of  IlAum- 
SON  H.  DODP;  also  of  WILLIAM  A.  BOWLES,  ANDREW  HUMPHREYS,  HORACE 
HEfFHEN,  LAMBDIS  P.  MILLIGAN,  and  STEPHEN  HORSEY.  Developing  the 
Origin,  History,  Extent,  Names  of  Officers,  etc.,  of  tho  Secret  Orders  of 
Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  the  Circle  of  Honor,  tho  Order  of  American 
Knights,  and  Order  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty — their  Organization,  Rituals, 
Passwords,  Grips,  Oaths,  Obligations  and  Penalties  ;  their  ostensible  and  real 
purposes.  "With  accurate  Illustrations  of  tho  Greek  Fire  Shells,  Hand 
Grenades,  Rockets  and  Infernal  Machines  of  tho  Conspirators,  introduced 
iu  Evidence  on  the  Trials.  To  which  ia  added  tho  full  Report  of  Jndgd 
Advocate  Gereral  Holt  on  the  Order  of  American  Knights,  alias  tho  Soni 
of  Liberty ;  a  Western  Conspiracy  in  aid  of  tho  Southern  Rebellion. 
Edited  by  BENN  PITMAN,  Recorder  to  the  Military  Commission.  1  vol. 
Eve.,  with  five  Portraits.  KSS~8old  to  Subscribers  only. 


MEDICAL   BOOKS. 

BEACH'S  (Wooster,  M,  D.)  THE  AMERICAN  PEACTICE,  Condensed,  or 
the  Family  Physician,  being  the  Scientific  System  of  Medicine  on  Vegeta 
ble  Principles,  designed  for  all  Classes.  In  Nino  Parts.  This  work  em 
braces  the  character,  causes,  symptoms,  and  treatment  of  the  Diseases  of 
men,  women  and  children  of  all  climates.  By  W.  BEACH,  M.  D,  member  of 
the  Medical  Society  of  tho  City  and  County  of  New  York ;  of  tho  Medical 
and  Physiological  Seciety  of  Wetterau,  Germany  ;  of  Leipsic,  Saxony ;  of 
the  Medical  Society  of  Bamberg,  Bavaria  ;  member  of  the  Royal  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Berlin,  Prussia,  etc.,  etc.  Illustrated  with 
nearly  Two  Hundred  Engravings.  Fifty-fifth  Edition,  Revised.  Com 
plete  in  one  volume,  octavo,  873  pages.  Sheep,  .  ..  .','•  .  .  fo  04 

.BEACH'S  (Wooster,  M,  D.)  AMERICAN  PRACTICE  OF  MEDONE,  Be- 
vised,  Enlarged,  and  Improved ;  being  a  Practical  Exposition  of  Pathology., 
Therapeutics,  Surgery,  Materia  Medica  and  Pharmacy,  on  Reformed 
Principles;  embracing  the  most  useful  portions  of  the  former  work,  with 
corrections,  additions,  new  remedies,  and  improvements;  and  exhibiting 
the  results  of  the  author's  investigations  in  Medicine  in  this  country,  and 
iu  a  year's  tour  in  Europe.  By  W.  BEACH,  M.  D.  Illustrated  with  Threo 
Hundred  Engravings,  colored  to  life.  Iu  three  vols.,  royal  8vo.  Sheep,  35  00 

BEACH'S  (Wooster,  M,  D.)  IMPROVED  SYSTEM  OF  MIDWIFERY, 
Adapted  to  the  Reformed  Practice  of  Medicine.  Illustrated  by  numer 
ous  Colored  Plates.  To  which  ia  annexed  a  Compendium  of  tho  Treat 
ment  of  Female  and  Infantile  Diseases,  with  remarks  on  Physiological  and 
Moral  Elevation.  By  W.  BJEACH,  M.  D.  Now  and  Revised  Edition.  I  vol. 
large  quarto.  Sheep,  .  .  .  <  ,  •••'"«  .  "»  -.-.»  •  .800 

JONG'S  American  Eclectic  Obstetrics,  By  JOHN  KINO,  M.  D.,  Professor  of 
Obstetrics  uud  the  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children,  in  the  "Eclectic  Med 
ical  Inetitute  of  Cincinnati.'1  With  Seventy  Illustrations.  1  vol.  royal 
8vo.  Sliecji,  800  pagea,  , ,  ...  6  00 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  MOORE,  WILSTACII  &  BALDWIN. 

THE  AMERICAN  DISPENSATORY,  By  JOHN  KINO,  M.  D.,  Professor  of 
Obstetrics,  and  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children,  in  the  "Eclectic  Medical 
"Institute,  Cincinnati."  The  SixthEdition,  Revised  and  Enlarged.  PART! 
contains  an  account  of  a  largo  number  of  medicinal  plants  indigenous  to 
Ibis  country,  many  of  which  were  for  the  first  time  presented  to  tho  profes 
sion  in  this  work,  giving  their  botanical  descriptions,  general  chemical  histo 
ries,  therapeutical  properties  and  uses,  together  with  a  largo  amount  of 
information  relative  thereto,  of  practical  value  to  the  chemist,  pharma- 
^ceutist  and  pli3r8ician.  PART  II  contains  practical  pharmacy,  and  a  descrip 
tion  of  the  various  pharmaceutical  compounds  in  use  among  Medical 
Reformers,  especially  of  that  class  to  which  the  author  belongs,  known  as 
Eclectics.  The  various  chemical  and  pharmaceutical  processes  described 
arc  mainly  those  of  recent  date,  and  such  as  have  been  found  by  ample 
experience  to  bo  tho  best ;  these  are  fully  and  clearly  explained,  so  that 
every  apothecary  may  be  enabled  to  prepare,  -without  difficulty,  all  or  any 
of  the  more  modern  preparations  of  Reformers,  whenever  ordered.  PAKT 
III  is  devoted  to  tho  various  mineral  medicines,  their  chemical  histories, 
therapeutical  virtues  and  uses,  together  with  a  vocabulary  explaining  the 
Latin  words  and  abbreviations  frequently  met  with  in  medical  prescrip 
tions  ;  tables  of  doses ;  weights  and  measures ;  chemical  composition  of 
mineral  waters  ;  specific  gravities ;  hydrometrical  equivalents ;  solubility 
of  salts,  acids,  bases,  etc.,  etc.,  all  of  which  are  of  much  utility  and  indis 
pensable  to  tho  chemist  and  pharmaceutist.  Tho  work  contains  a  full  and 
complete  index,  so  arranged  that  any  medicine,  compound,  or  table,  etc., 
may  be  promptly  found  without  any  delay  or  difficulty.  1  vol.,  royal 
8vo.,  1500  pages, |10  00 

ZING'S  Chart  of  Urinary  Deposits,    Paper,  56 

GUNN'S  NEW  FAMILY  PHYSICIAN ;  or,  Home  Book  of  Health,  Forming 
a  Complete  Household  Guide;  giving  many  Valuable  Suggestions  for 
avoiding  Disease  and  Prolonging  Life,  with  plain  directions  in  cases  of 
emergency,  and  pointing  out  in  familiar  language  the  Causes,  Symptoms, 
Treatment  and  Cure  of  Diseases  incident  to  Men,  Women  and  Children, 
•with  the  simplest  and  best  Remedies  ;  presenting  a  Manual  for  nursing  the 
Sick,  and  describing  minutely  tho  properties  and  uses  of  hundreds  of  well- 
known  Medicinal  Plants.  By  JOHN  C.  GUNN,  M.  D.,  author  of  "Gunn's 
Domestic  Medicine."  With  supplementary  treatises  on  Anatomy,  Physi 
ology  and  llygiene,  on  Domestic  and  Sanitary  Economy,  and  on  Physical 
Culture  and  Development.  Hundredth  Edition,  Revised  and  Enlarged. 
ICewly  Illustrated  and  Re-stereotyped.  1  vol.  royal  octavo,  1218  page*» 
Sold  to  Subscribers  only. 

JONES,  The  American  Eclectic  Practice  of  Medicine,  By  I.  G.  JONES,  M. 
D.,  late  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine,  in  tho  "  Eclec. 
tic  Medical  Institute  of  Cincinnati,"  etc.,  etc.  Extended  and  Revised  at 
the  request  of  the  author,  by  WM.  SHERWOOD,  M.  D.,  formerly  Professor 
of  General,  Special  and  Pathological  Anatomy,  in  the  "Eclectic  Medical 
Institute  of  Cincinnati,"  etc.  2  vols.  8vo.  Sheep,  1000  pages,  .  .  .  16  06 

KOST'S  Elements  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics.  Adapted  to  tho 
American  Eclectic  or  Reformed  Practice,  with  numerous  Illustrations. 
By  J.  KOST,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica,  Therapeutics  and  Bot 
any,  in  the  American  Medical  College,  Cincinnati,  etc.,  etc.  1  vol.  Svo., 
700  pages.  Sheep,  .  ,  , .  6  00 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  MOORE,  WILSTACH  &  BALDWIN. 

BOUDDER'S  PRACTICAL  TREATISE  ON  THE  DISEASES  OF  WOMEN. 
By  JOIIN  M.  SCUDDKR,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  General,  Special  and  Patholog 
ical  Anatomy,  in  the  "Eclectic  Medical  Institute  of  Cincinnati."  Illui- 
trated  by  Colored  Plates,  and  numerous  Wood  Engravings.  With  am 
Introduction  by  GEORGE  W.  BICKLET,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Physiology^ 
Institutes  of  Medicine,  and  Medical  Jurisprudence,  in  the  "  Eclectic  Med 
ical  Institute  of  Cincinnati,"  etc.  And  a  paper  on  the  Diseases  of  th» 
Breasts,  by  ROBERT  S.  NEWTON,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  "  Ecletf- 
tic  Medical  Institute  of  Cincinnati,"  etc.  1  vol.  8vo.  Sheep,  .  .  .  4  OO 

KOST'S  TREATISE  ON  THE  PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE.  Adapted  to 
the  Reformed  System,  comprising  a  Materia  Medica,  with  numerous  Illus 
trations,  by  JOHN  KOST,  M.  D.,  author  of  "Elements  of  Materia  Medica 
and  Therapeutics."  1  vol.  8vo.  Sheep.  625  pages, 3  60 

SYME'S  Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery,  By  JAMES  SYME,  Professor  of 
Clinical  Surgery,  University  of  Edinburgh,  Surgeon  to  the  Queen,  etc. 
Edited,  with  Illustrations,  by  ROBERT  S.  NEWTON,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Sur 
gery  in  the  "Eclectic  Medical  Institute  of  Cincinnati."  1  vol.  8vo.,  903 
pages.  Sheep, 6  00 

EENOUARD'S  (Dr  P,  V,,  of  Paris)  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE,  From  ita 
Origin  to  the  Nineteenth  Century,  with  an  Appendix  containing  a  Philo 
sophical  and  Historical  Review  of  Medicine  to  the  present  time.  Trans 
lated  from  the  French  by  CORNELIUS  G.  COMEGYS,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  the 
Institutes  of  Medicine,  in  the  "  Ohio  Medical  College."  1  vol.  octavo,  719 

pages.    Sheep 4  00 

BS&"  This  work  is  without  a  rival  in  the  language,  and  has  been  noticed  in 
the  highest  terms  of  Praise  by  all  the  leading  English  Medical  Journals,  ad 
well  as  by  the  American,  and  recommended  by  Drs.  Jackson,  Duuglison, 
and  other  Professors  in  Philadelphia  and  elsewhere. 


MUSIC  BOOKS,  Etc, 

JUST  HEADY.  HALLOWED  SONGS,  A  collection  of  tho  most  popular 
Hymns  and  Tunes,  both  old  and  new,  designed  for  Prayer  and  Social  Meet 
ings,  Revivals,  Family  Worship,  and  Sabbath  Schools.  By  THEO.  E.  PER 
KINS,  PHILIP  PHILLIPS  and  SYLVESTER  MAIN, 1  00 

SPRING  BLOSSOMS,    A  Collection  of  Music  for  Sunday  Schools.    With  Eu- 

diments.  By  PHILIP  PHILLIPS.    1  vol.  128  pagea.    Paper,  sewed,        .        .       25 
Bound, 30 

ORIOLA }  A  New  and  Complete  Hymn  and  Tnne  Book  for  Sabbath  Schools. 
By  WILLIAM  B.  BRADBURY,  Author  of  "The  Shawm,"  "Jubilee,"  "Tho 
.School  Carol,"  "Golden  Chain,"  "Golden  Shower,"  etc.  Thirtieth  Edi 
tion,  Enlarged.  272  pages 00 

ORIO.    All  the  Sunday  School  Hymns  from  "Oriola,  u  complete  Hymn  and 

Tune  Book  for  Sabbath  Schools."    By  WM.  B.  BRADBURY.    32mo.,  277pp.        25 

THE  HARP.  A  collection  of  choice  Sacred  Music  ;  derived  from  the  compo 
sition  of  about  one  hundred  eminent  German,  Swiss,  Italian,  French, 
English,  and  other  European  Musicians;  also,  original  tunes  by  German, 
English  and  American  authors.  Many  of  them  having  been  arranged  or 
composed  expressly  for  this  work.  By  LOWELL  MASON  and  T.  B.  MASON,  1  0« 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  MOORE,  WILSTACH  &  BALDWIN. 

THE  MISSOURI  HAEMONY }  or,  a  Collection  of  Psalms,  Hymns,  Tunes  and  An- 
tlieins,  from  Eminent  Anthors,  with  an  Introduction  to  tha  Grounds  and 
Rudiments  of  Music,  in  four  part*.  By  ELDEM  D.  CAKDEH.  New  Kuitioa, 
revised,  enlarged,  and  corrected  by  CHARLES  WARREN.  Newly  Stereotyped 
in  Patent  Notes, & 

THE  SACEED  MELODEON ,  Containing  a  great  variety  of  approved  Church 
Music,  selected  chiefly  from  the  old  Standard  Authors,  with  many  original 
compositions ;  on  a  New  System  of  Notation,  designed  for  the  MHO  of 
Churches,  Singing  Societies,  and  Academies.  Ono  Hundredth  Edition. 
By  A.  S.  Hayden ...  1  1C 


IN    PEESS. 

JLPTEB  THE  WAS  |  Down  the  Coast  and  Up  the  Mississippi,  By  ["  Agate  "J 
WUITELAW  REID,  Special  Correspondent  of  the  Citidnnati  Gaeelte.  1  hand- 
eome  Tolume,  12mo.,  of  about  500  pages.  Illustrated.  When  the  tour  of 
inspection  to  the  cities  of  the  Southern  Coast  was  decided  on  by  Chief  Jus 
tice  CHASE  and  several  officials  of  tho  Treasury  Department,  the  Judge 
complimented  his  friend,  tho  Congressional  Librarian,  with  an  invitation 
to  accompany  him  on  tho  trip.  Duly  provided  with  a  pass  from  President 
Johnson,  Mr.  REID  accompanied  the  party,  on  board  the  Government 
Steamer  Wayanda,  and  spent  a  month  or  more  in  the  voyage  to  New  Or 
leans,  and  in  visiting  with  the  distinguished  gentlemen  tho  coast  citiea  of  ths 
rebellious  States.  Occurring  immediately  after  the  Rebel  armies  had  been 
disbanded,  he  became  possessed  of  many  facts,  and  witnessed  many  inci 
dents  replete  with  interest,  which  ho  has  here  given  to  tho  public  in  his  own 
agreeable  manner.  As  "Agate,"  ho  is  well  known  as  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  descriptive  writers  in  tho  country. 

THE  ASSASSINATION  OF  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN. 

Kow  stereotyping  and  Boon  to  be  published  by  authority  </f  tho  Secretary  of 
War  and  the  Judge  Advocate  General,  the  only  authorized  edition  of 

THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  CONSPIRATORS, 

David  E.  Herold,  Edward  Spanglcr,  Lewis  Payne,  Michael  O'Laughlin, 
Samuel  Arnold.  Mary  E.  Surratt,  George  A.  Atzerodt,  Samuel  A.  Mudd, 
before  a  Military  Commission,  at  Washington,  specially  convened  by  Pres 
ident  Johnson.  President  of  tho  Commission,  Major-General  David  Hun 
ter  ;  Judge  Advocate,  Brigadier-General  Joseph  Holt,  Judge  Advocate 
General ;  Special  Judge  Advocates,  Hon.  J.  A.  Bingham  and  Brevet  Colonel 
H.  L.  Burnett  ;  Special  Provost  Marshal  of  the  Commission,  Major-Gen 
eral  Hartranft.  Containing  the  Testimony,  Documents  introduced  in 
Evidence,  Discussion  of  Points  of  Law,  Arguments  of  Counsel  for  the 
Accused,  and  tho  Reply  of  Special  Judge  Advocate,  Hon.  John  A.  Bins- 
ham  ;  also,  the  Findings  and  Sentences  of  tho  Accused ;  with  Portraits, 
on  steel,  engraved  by  Ritchie.  Compiled  and  arranged  ly  BENN  PITMAN,  Re 
corder  to  the  Commission.  1  vol.  royal  octavo,  double  columns.  This 
Trial  developed,  not  only  the  Plot  and  the  details  of  tho  Assassination  of 
President  Lincoln,  but  a  scries  of  crimes  a"nd  plots  to  which  the  moro 
nuscrupulous  traitors  resorted  when  tho  Rebellion  gave  token  of  failure 
by  a  contest  of  arms  on  the  battle-field. 


i 


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